Olivia Drake
Lauren RubensteinThe Atlantic education writer Alia Wong turned to President Michael S. Roth for his perspective in a three-part series on "Where the College Admissions Process Went Wrong." One critical problem is that the intense focus on the college application process means that rather than preparing themselves for college or for life, students are preparing simply for the "moment of admission." “What we want is to have students who want to come and work hard because they can leverage their experience at the university and do something after they leave,” said Roth. “One of my predecessors used to say to students, ‘If these turn…
Writing in The Washington Post, President Michael S. Roth decries the push for students to turn away from "college as exploration" and toward "college as training." "Everywhere one looks, from government statistics on earnings after graduation to a bevy of rankings that purport to show how to monetize your choice of major, the message to students is to think of their undergraduate years as an economic investment that had better produce a substantial and quick return," he writes. This movement is understandable, given the "scourge of student indebtedness" in our country, yet parents, pundits and politicians are misguided in their insistence that students…
On March 22, President Michael Roth will participate in a discussion at the 92nd Street Y in New York City with Mark Edmundson of the University of Virginia. The discussion, titled, "Unorthodox: On Philosophy," will cover Sigmund Freud's most valuable contributions, why his work matters, why it has faded from view, and whether his thoughts will make a comeback. The talk starts at 7 p.m. The event is part of a series of programs that take place both at the Jewish Museum and at the 92nd Street Y in conjunction with the exhibition Unorthodox. According to the website, "The accompanying public…
On March 15, Wesleyan's Posse Veteran Scholars program was spotlighted on PBS Newshour, in an episode featuring interviews with President Michael S. Roth and several students. Wesleyan is first mentioned around 3 minutes with Michael Smith '18 speaking. According to the show, more than 1 million vets are using GI benefits, but most attend public or for-profit schools. The number of veterans attending top-tier colleges "is so small, it's not even known." A few years ago, the Posse Foundation—which has a long history of sending groups, or posses, of talented students "who don't fit the mold" to top colleges—started a program focused on…
Are the liberal arts still relevant? President Michael Roth answered this question and more as a guest on "Essential Pittsburgh," a show on Pittsburgh's NPR station. As he argues in his book, Beyond the University: Why Liberal Education Matters, Roth explains, "There's an American tradition of liberal education that goes back as far as the origins of the country and emphasizes the pragmatic dimensions of broad, contextual study. It's not so much that you take Latin and Greek or that you study religion rather than, let's say, biology, it's that whatever you study, you study it in connection to other things, understanding how what you're focused on…
At its annual meeting on Jan. 21, the Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) presented President Michael Roth with the Frederic W. Ness Book Award for his book, Beyond the University: Why Liberal Education Matters, published in 2014 by Yale University Press. The Ness Award is given annually to a book that best illuminates the goals and practices of a contemporary liberal education. In Beyond the University, Michael S. Roth recounts the historic debates over the benefits—or drawbacks—of a liberal education. In this provocative contribution to the disputes, Roth focuses on important moments and seminal thinkers in America’s long-running argument over vocational vs. liberal…
Bill HolderA new task force announced by President Michael Roth will explore the establishment of a multicultural/gender/first-generation resource center as part of Wesleyan's broader effort to improve equity and inclusion on campus. The task force will be tri-chaired by Gina Ulysse, professor of anthropology, professor of feminist gender and sexuality studies; Antonio Farias, vice president for equity and inclusion and Title IX officer; and Shardonay Pagett ’18. Their initial recommendations are expected to be published in February with final recommendations by May 1. "It need hardly be said that making our campus more equitable and inclusive is a communal goal and…
In an essay published on The Washington Post's "Answer Sheet" blog, President Michael Roth responds to those in the media who see political correctness "run amok" on college campuses. "I work with students everyday, and I have had protesters at my office, and I don’t see their realities reflected in public discourse," he writes. Roth sees political correctness as a "charismatic bogeyman with strange powers to titillate liberal and conservative writers alike." (more…)
Writing in the The Washington Post, President Michael Roth questions the predominant media narrative painting college students as "pampered with coddled minds." Roth argues that such denigration of young people by older generations is an age old tradition, dating back to the founding fathers shaking "their heads about dueling and drinking on campus." He writes: When I look around my campus and visit others, I don’t find pampered students with coddled minds. I find math majors in the gym every day preparing for a soccer match or a swim meet. I find writers pulling all-nighters to finish a project working side by…
The Friends of the Davison Art Center organized an Autumn Soirée fundraiser on Oct. 22 at the President's House. Attendees enjoyed a special evening of music and art hosted at the home of President Michael Roth and University Professor of Letters Kari Weil. “Kari and I are lifetime members of the Friends of the Davison, and we were happy to express our support in this way,” President Roth said. "The Center benefits the Wesleyan community, of course, but also so many in the area who care for the arts.” Professor of Music Neely Bruce performed an intimate piano concert. As…
President Michael Roth is the author of an op-ed in The Hartford Courant about the debate raging at Wesleyan over questions of race, oppression and free speech. The controversy was sparked by an op-ed written by a sophomore and published in The Wesleyan Argus in September, which raised questions critical of the Black Lives Matter movement. Many students were upset by the op-ed and called for boycotting the Argus. Roth writes: They made the important point that opinion pieces like these facilitate the ongoing marginalization of a sector of our student population; and they angrily accused the Argus of contributing to that marginalization. I'm very glad these important…