Kate CarlisleA $50,000 grant to Wesleyan from the National Endowment for the Arts will support dance programs at the Center for the Arts and poetry initiatives at Wesleyan University Press. The award, announced by the NEA Dec. 11, recognizes the university’s commitment to the arts across all forms of artistic expression. It includes a $30,000 grant to the CFA, the ninth NEA award to the dance programs. That represents a 50 percent increase over the 2012-2013 season grant supporting the Breaking Ground Dance Series. “Support from the National Endowment for the Arts has been central to our ability to fulfill our…
Olivia DrakeAmber Smith '14 understands the importance of having connections with others who understand the hardships faced as an amputee. Smith, an African American studies major, was born with an upper extremity amputation of her left forearm. On Nov. 6, Smith received a 2013 Ella T. Grasso Leadership in Action Grant from the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame. The award will serve as seed money for starting up her social enterprise, "I AMputee," an online community designed for amputees and their families to connect with those of similar circumstances in an effort to create positive, reciprocal relationships grounded in common experience. I AMputee's…
Wesleyan’s Center for the Arts is the recipient of a $400,000 grant recognizing the CFA as an innovator and leader among arts organizations. The unsolicited gift from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation is one of five – totaling $3.5 million - given to arts centers around the country. It recognizes these centers for their “adaptability” to changing conditions in the arts sector and is intended to support the groups’ ongoing capacity to respond to these changes, according to the foundation. “We understand that most organizations do not have enough, if any, “change capital’ – funds they can devote to maximizing…
A rallying call of "Because Wesleyan Is Our Cause" united alumni, parents, and current senior students on Giving Tuesday Dec. 3. Together, they contributed more than $54,000 to the Annual Fund during the global day of giving back. This was Wesleyan's first year participating in Giving Tuesday, which encourages people around the world to kick off the holiday season with gifts of money, service or time to their favorite causes. "The response was wonderful," said Chuck Fedolfi ’90, director of the Wesleyan Fund. "Support from alumni, parents and friends is what keeps Wesleyan strong; it’s our edge, our margin of excellence." Altogether,…
In this issue of The Wesleyan Connection, we speak with Jacqueline "Jackie" Soro from the Class of 2014. Q: Jackie, where are you from and what brought you to Wesleyan? A: I'm from Oak Park, Illinois, just outside of Chicago — one of the few Midwesterners on campus (I think there are more international students than Midwesterners, so I'm a rare bird)! I came to Wesleyan because I knew I wanted to attend a small, community-centered school somewhere other than the Midwest, and also because I decided that I didn't want to go to art school. I wanted a place where…
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Bill FisherRick Gilberg '74, P'16, P'14 describes his Wesleyan education as a "game-changer." The son of working-class parents who never attended college, Gilberg was able to attend Wesleyan only with the support of a generous financial aid package. A religion major in the College of Letters, he says the opportunity enabled him to discover sides of himself he never knew existed. Gilberg is now a labor attorney in New York with two children attending Wesleyan. Watch the video below: [youtube]http://youtu.be/M4HH70Toq3s[/youtube] #THIS IS WHY
A neuroscience major who is also pursuing the writing certificate, Rama Nakib '16 comes to Wesleyan from Iraq. Around campus, she is a monitor in the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery, performs slam poetry, writes for the student-run blog Wesleying, and is known for her sewing and tailoring skills, which she shares with other students. After graduation, Rama wants to pursue a medical career while remaining involved in activism for women's rights in the Middle East. Watch this video and more on Wesleyan's Video @ Wesleyan site. [youtube]http://youtu.be/Jq1EesAwZFs[/youtube] #THISISWHY
#THISISWHY
Fulbright Fellow Janette Suherli could attend graduate school anywhere in the world, but the Indonesian resident decided to persue her master's degree in astronomy here at Wesleyan. "I learned about Wesleyan when I was in high school, and now I'm here because the Astronomy Department offers a great research program with well-known faculty members. The research and learning environment encourages me to be better everyday," she said. Suherli, who came to Wesleyan this fall, is one of three international Fulbright recipients who chose to complete their graduate studies at Wesleyan. Christine May Yong of Malaysia, plans to be at Wesleyan…
In this issue of The Wesleyan Connection, we speak with Edgar Pliaskis from the Class of 2014. Q: Where are you from and what attracted you to Wesleyan? A: I was born in Vilnius, Lithuania and moved to the U.S. about 10 years ago. For me, Wesleyan was always a small school and away from a big city—a beautiful environment to earn a degree and make lifelong friends. Q: What are you majoring in and why? A: I am double majoring in economics and Italian. I picked Italian because I was always interested in languages—Italian is a very beautiful language…