Month: October 2014

Conversations, Education, Awards

by

At the beginning of the week, Ruth Weissman and I hosted over 90 faculty members for a lunchtime conversation about how best to coordinate residential education with what we do in the classroom. There were great ideas about how to link formal studies with the educative experience we want to happen through residential liberal education. There was general agreement that Wesleyan would be most empowering if we improved the coordination between the academic and co-curricular dimensions of campus learning.

After teaching on Tuesday, I headed to Los Angeles for an alumni event titled “How to Destroy Higher Education.” That was the title The Daily Beast gave one of my op-eds, and in LA I was to address the topic with Matthew Weiner ’87 and Dana Delany ’78. Lots of alumni and parents came out to the new offices of UTA, where we were hosted by Jeremy Zimmer P’12.

Wes Los Angeles Event

Dana spoke about a class on Proust that continues to be important to her decades later, and Matt said that all his work comes out of the cultural immersion championed by the College of Letters. We had a great time.

Talking with Dana and Matt

Alumni and parents from across the decades had a great time reconnecting or meeting for the first time.

Los Angeles Wes Event

alu_act_2014-1030092405[1][1]

(All photos by Maiz Connolly.)

I left LAX before dawn yesterday to head for Toronto, where Dr. Satoshi Omura was being honored with Canada’s prestigious Gairdner Prize. Dr. Omura is a great friend of Wesleyan and one of the world’s leading bioorganic scientists. His dedication to the idea that nature contains the compounds to help us deal with our greatest challenges has led to extraordinary improvements in public health. He discovered and developed the drug ivermectin, which is on track to eradicate onchocerciasis, or River Blindness. Millions of people across the globe have been taking ivermectin, and the results have improved countless lives.

Satoshi Omura

In the program for this prestigious event, Professor Omura is wearing a Wesleyan cap, a wink back to the institution where he studied chemistry with Max Tischler in the early 1970s. I was so pleased to be part of the celebrations for this wonderful scientist!

Now, I’m off to Chicago for another discussion of why liberal education matters!

This is Why.

Dark Money Destroying Democracy

by

I’ve already posted about the great work of the Wesleyan Media Project, but I want to point everyone to their new website, AttackAds.org

Many of us are turned off by the negative political advertising that dominates the airwaves– so much of it from groups that don’t have to disclose where their money comes from. The new WMP website puts it this way:

“…a growing body of evidence suggests that ads work better if they are sponsored by unknown groups, which further encourages the growth of dark money. Not only is there no transparency that could help voters better filter the barrage of messages, but there is less accountability in elections. You cannot punish a group in the same way that you can a candidate or a party by not voting for them. This is a problem for democracy. It doesn’t have to be this way, however. This site is intended to help educate Americans on the problems of dark money, who the dark money organizations are, and what you can do about it.”

Negative advertising has become so pervasive and so detached from honesty, that the following may not even seem like a parody:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/-ighWfU8lJU[/youtube]

But here’s the key: IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY!

Defend the possibility of democracy: VOTE NEXT WEEK!!

 

Wesleyan Environmental Start-Up Needs Workers

by

You may have seen the very cool “wishing wells” designed to provide water at campus events so that we can eliminate bottled water from campus. One of the creators of the water wells, Wesleyan senior Brent Packer, recently sent me the following message:

Wishing Wells is a budding environmental start-up born from a Wesleyan design competition. We’re expanding quickly & are looking for ambitious students to join our team.

Plastic waste is a serious issue. There is currently 100 million tons of plastic disintegrating in our oceans causing tremendous harm to marine life. The energy used to create the annual American demand for plastic water bottles uses enough energy to fuel 1.3 million cars for 1 year.

Universities across North America are stepping up to the challenge to eliminate plastic water bottle waste. Many, including Wesleyan, have banned bottled water from campus; however, they still have trouble hydrating guests at large campus events such as Reunion & Commencement, football games, music festivals, etc. Their only options were to rent/ purchase a high cost hydration structure or to break their commitment by purchasing thousands of water bottles… until now.

Wishing Wells provide chilled, filtered water requiring nothing more than ice and a hose connection. From just a handful of Wesleyan events, these lost-cost structures have already saved over 10,500 water bottles. With backing from a Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship seed grant, we’re looking to spread this technology as effectively as possible. With ambitious plans to open-source publish our designs online, partner with Middletown manufacturers, and tour to neighboring Universities/ organizations, we need other students with the same entrepreneurial drive to make this happen.

Apply online @ wwells.org by November 1

Brent tells me that three “sleep-deprived seniors” have been getting the organization ready for the next level. They want to have impact far beyond Wesleyan, which will include: “open-source publishing our design plans online, partnering with a Middletown manufacturer to begin selling prefabricated Wishing Wells, and performing extensive outreach to other Universities/ organizations.”

Talking about Liberal Education In Memphis

by

I arrived in Memphis yesterday to meet colleagues from Rhodes College. Along with Ursinus College, College of the Holy Cross and Lawrence University, Rhodes is engaging faculty and students in conversations about the meaning of liberal arts education today. Many have read my recent book, Beyond the University: Why Liberal Education Matters, and I’ll be giving a lecture on this topic later today. Professor Jonathan Judaken interviewed me on the local NPR station about these issues, and you can check that out here.

I’ve never been in Memphis before, and I’m looking forward to checking out some of the sights before heading back to Middletown tomorrow. Last night we had dinner at BB King’s club on Beale Street.

FullSizeRender[3]

Please Support Middlesex United Way

by

This is the time when I ask the Wesleyan community to respond generously to requests to support the Middlesex United Way. Although all of us have many organizations we support, our gifts to United Way raise Wesleyan’s collective voice in support of programs that help our neighbors in need. Wesleyan faculty and staff have long been known as contributors to this community endeavor – a tradition meriting renewed effort. Our goal this year is $130,000 and 50% participation – an ambitious and worthy goal. Those of you who are out of town and want to support these efforts can look here.

When you give to Middlesex United Way, your dollars stay close to the campus community. United Way’s local volunteers distribute your dollars to help neighbors in need – neighbors such as 60 Middletown families at risk of homelessness who remained in their homes thanks to one-time assistance through the Middlesex County Coalition on Housing and Homelessness Prevention Fund. Our dollars have helped the Women & Families Center’s Sexual Assault Crisis Services support more than 800 people, and have contributed to school readiness programs for young children in all 15 towns in Middlesex County. In addition to providing vital assistance locally, Middlesex United Way is an effective catalyst for change, bringing many organizations together to improve all our lives.

This year’s campus United Way campaign also will feature an online auction running from Nov. 1 – Nov. 15. If you can provide goods, gift cards or services, please contact Karen Warren (kwarren@wesleyan.edu).

Changing lives in this way depends upon our support, and your gift matters. Every gift, at any level, matters. If you are continuing your support, thank you. If you are considering a gift for the first time, I hope you will respond with a generous heart.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJYk01iACKs&list=UU1ZDG4cz35KMsmvgsMMlmkw&index=1[/youtube]

Time to Come Home to Wesleyan

by

It’s Homecoming weekend, and this evening the Athletic Hall of Fame will induct a new class of distinguished Wes athletes.

  • Joe Barry Morningstar ’39, a three-sport standout (football, basketball and baseball) for whom Wesleyan’s annual men’s basketball outstanding player award is named;
  • Cochrane Chase ’54, a tremendous football and wrestling talent during his undergraduate career;
  • Marion J. Stoj, M.D. ’74, a high-scoring forward in men’s soccer who earned All-America honors;
  • Thomas Vincent Reifenheiser III ’94, the most accomplished men’s tennis player in Wesleyan history, who earned NESCAC crowns and national Division III ITA titles and also played squash, two seasons as the team’s No. 1 player;
  • Sarah D. Hann, D.V.M. ’95, an outstanding distance runner for the Cardinals with a NESCAC cross-country title and All-America laurels to her credit, who went on to international repute as a runner after graduation;
  • J. Elmer Swanson, who joined the Cardinal staff in 1963 as track and cross-country coach, adding the women’s teams in both sports to his portfolio when they turned varsity during the 1970s, and served as a mentor to hundreds of Wesleyan student-athletes during his 30 years as a full-time head coach.

More alumni will arrive Saturday morning for what promises to be a glorious fall weekend. There will be plenty of competition to enjoy, and you can check out the full schedule here.

Saturday is also our second annual Middletown Day. Starting at 11 a.m., visitors can enjoy family entertainment (face painting, balloon art, a bounce house for little visitors, and a DJ), and snacks.

middletownday

And one more thing:  Beat Amherst!!

 

Finding Wesleyan at Elementary School

by

Yesterday I went to Middletown’s Macdonough Elementary School to read to second graders. It’s anti-bullying month, and I was to share Margery Cuyler’s and Arthur Howard’s Bullies Never Win.

FullSizeRender[1]

When I arrived at the school in the North End, I immediately noticed the sign-in sheet for Wesleyan people in the principal’s office. It was a long list of volunteers. I already knew that Wes students devote hundreds of hours to working with the boys and girls at Macdonough, but it was still a fine surprise to see how many were there just that day. As I walked to my classroom, I saw football players and musicians, activists and scholars…all taking time away from campus to improve the experience of these local kids.

The class I read to was attentive and curious. Who was this old guy who had come to read to them? When I was introduced, a boy from the back of the room asked in an awestruck voice: “Are you president of the whole country?” Everybody giggled as I began to explain — he was just kidding around.

I read the story to them, and we had a great discussion about why bullying was wrong — and how you could ask for help without being a “tattle tale.” As I left, I saw those same Wes students still tutoring their kids…making a real difference right here in Middletown. How lucky I am to be part of their schooling.

FullSizeRender[2]

Choosing the Right School, Choosing Wesleyan

by

This is the season when lots of families are visiting college campuses across the country — looking for the one that feels like the perfect match. Juniors start off slowly, and often with some hesitation. After all, they have plenty of time to play the field, checking out big campuses at which one can get happily lost in the crowd and small ones that promise supportive community. Seniors by now are often in the frantic stage (my daughter Sophie is a senior), trying to determine if they are really sure enough about a school to apply early decision. For parents and students alike, this can feel like a lot of pressure.

I love meeting with prospective students as I walk around campus. Their questions reveal something of their hopes for the future, and I am always interested in learning what they are looking for in a campus. I usually stress that Wesleyan isn’t for everybody, and that this is a place that values individuality, intellectual experimentation and cultural curiosity. Students who are interested in going beyond their comfort zone to meet new people, discover new fields of inquiry and learn from unexpected sources… these are the young people most likely to feel that sense of “match” with Wesleyan.

While Wesleyan has gotten significantly more selective over the last 8 years, the university has also made strong efforts to improve access. We’ve been actively seeking applicants from parts of the country that had not previously sent the university many students, and it includes making sure we meet full need without requiring heavy borrowing. Indeed, last year while significantly increasing our spending on financial aid, we expanded our “no loans” policy to include any student whose household income was under 60,000. Meeting full need with little required loans — those remain key elements of our approach to financial aid.

As students visit Wesleyan, I hope they get a strong sense of how we combine academic rigor with intellectual flexibility. I also hope they get a feel for the extraordinary student culture here: its compassionate solidarity, social engagement, and its supportive, inspiring ambiance.

Choosing the right college can feel overwhelming; its true importance lies in finding a place that will launch one into meaningful work, deep friendships and lifelong learning. When I wrote the following (the conclusion to my recent book Beyond the University), I was thinking of Wesleyan and the transformative education students can find here:

Through doubt, imagination, and hard work, students come to understand that they really can reshape themselves and their societies. Liberal education matters because by challenging the forces of conformity it promises to be relevant to our professional, personal and political lives. That relevance isn’t just about landing one’s first job; it emerges over the course of one’s working life. The free inquiry and experimentation of a reflexive, pragmatic education help us to think for ourselves, take responsibility for our beliefs and actions, and become better acquainted with our own desires, our own hopes. Liberal education matters far beyond the university because it increases our capacity to understand the world, contribute to it, and reshape ourselves. When it works, it never ends.

 

Discussing Liberal Education in Texas

by

I write this from Dallas, where last night Kari, Ed Heffernan ’84 and I discussed liberal education with about 30 Wesleyans. There were alumni from the last few years, from 60 years ago — and a high school senior who told us that Wes is his “dream school.” Ed is here explaining why his big data company, Alliance Data Systems, looks for well-rounded students who can contribute to his enterprise over the long haul (they just hired a bunch of Wes grads).Wesleyan DallasEarlier in the day I met with a group of high school teachers, administrators and guidance counselors in Dallas. They had great questions about the importance of a liberal education, and I was particularly impressed by the student journalists from the Greenhill School.

On Wednesday I was in Houston, where Michelle Lyn ’84, P’12,’15, Rusty Hardin ’64 and I spoke with a group of dedicated Wes folks about how liberal education has informed our lives. Michelle is a doctor working in pediatric medicine, married to a Wes alum, with two kids who have gone here. She talked about the importance of a broad education for the work she does and for her life in her community. Rusty gave a full-throated defense of a liberal education allowing one to experiment with tolerance and curiosity.

Tolerance and a delight in inquiry and ambiguity — that’s a pretty good prescription for learning. I saw all that when Dan Routman P’16 gave me a tour of the Nasher Sculpture Collection. Here I joined a group of kids trying out the super cool chairs by designer Thomas Heatherwick.

FullSizeRender

Wesleyan Media Project

by

For the past several years, Professor Erika Franklin Fowler has been conducting sophisticated research with her students on American electoral politics. This isn’t surprising; Prof. Fowler is in the Government Department, after all. Like many of her colleagues in that distinguished group, her work has reverberations far beyond campus. In this election cycle, journalists across the country are using analysis from the Wesleyan Media Project. Directed by Prof. Fowler with colleagues from Bowdoin College and Washington State University, the Wesleyan Media Project conducts quantitative and qualitative research to understand more fully the role of spending in races across the country. As the Knight Foundation puts it, “by tracking this data year by year, the project is establishing a reference point that journalists, scholars and citizens can rely on to trace the root of campaign funding and hold officials more accountable.”

More than 20 student researchers are providing real time analysis of spending patterns at a time when many are trying to hide campaign donations. In Sunday’s New York Times, for example the WMP’s work was cited in an article exploring how Democratic donors are coordinating their efforts on a few key messages while G.O.P. spending is far more diffuse. The goals of the WMP are as simple as they are important: “to develop a definitive database that tracks all advertising by source (corporation, union, interest group, party, or candidate), and to enhance the ability of scholars, citizens, and journalists to hold government accountable by providing public information on how special interests are attempting to influence American democracy in general and political campaigns in particular.”

Prof. Fowler was recently interviewed in or quoted on MSNBC, PBS Newshour, Wisconsin Public Radio, WNPR’s “Where We Live”, International Business Times, and Fox CT, among others. Other highlights include stories in the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and USA Today.

This is engaged learning at its best! Stay tuned for more research from the Wesleyan Media Project on Oct 13. THIS IS WHY.