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Roth on Wesleyan

Launching the Class of 2026

August 29, 2022 by Michael S. Roth '78

Such an exciting week at Wesleyan as we welcome members of the Class of 2026 and help them launch their college journeys. Meeting new people from around the world, discovering new perspectives, and hearing about experiences so different from their own—this is just the beginning. Every year I hear from students who get to know people they never would have expected to meet and others who discover folks who share so many of their interests.

In these first weeks of the semester, people will notice there is a lot of old-fashioned construction on campus. You can’t miss the work on the Public Affairs Center and the new art gallery next to Olin Library, but you might not know that underneath there are new pipes that will dramatically increase our energy efficiency. Up at Long Lane (behind the softball field), you can see the new building for the Neighborhood Preschool, and before long we hope to begin construction on the new Life Sciences Building. Read more about this work in The Connection.

But for most students, new or old, it’s not the buildings that matter most at the beginning of the semester. It’s the opportunity to learn by forming new friendships and indulging their curiosity through the breadth of Wesleyan’s open curriculum. There are so many exciting things to study and people to learn from that I hesitate to highlight any in particular, but here are some that students might not discover immediately on their own as they launch their academic careers:

  • Stephen C. Angle and Jim Cavallaro: Human Rights Advocacy Minor
  • Erika Franklin Fowler: Wesleyan Media Project
  • Martha S. Gilmore: Planetary Science (Venus missions)
  • Sonali Chakravarti at Allbritton: Public participation in legal institutions
  • Amy B. Bloom and the Shapiro Writing Center: Distinguished Writers in Residence
  • Jennifer Tucker: Center for the Study of Guns and Society
  • Demetrius L. Eudell: Carceral Connecticut Project
  • Tracy Heather Strain and Randall M. MacLowry: Wesleyan Documentary Project
  • Clifton Nathaniel Watson: E2020 and Civic Engagement

Students beginning their college careers this fall are doing so at a time of great turbulence in the world. From the brutal invasion of Ukraine to the ongoing climate crisis, from the lingering COVID-19 pandemic to the threats against democracy…. These are very demanding times. Reading the news, I am often filled with despair at the challenges that face us. But when I meet the students beginning their journeys at Wesleyan, I can’t help but feel more hopeful. By learning to work together, we have a chance to defend democracy, promote public health, and create culture peace not culture war. We can reject the polarization that often stymies our political system and embrace discovery in an atmosphere of intellectual diversity and compassionate solidarity. Pragmatic liberal education brings joyful resolve into our lives at Wesleyan and far beyond the campus.

Best wishes for the start of the semester!

Categories Uncategorized Tags Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life, Civic Engagement, community, E2020, Liberal Education, Wesleyan Media Project, Wesleyan University
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Frank G. Binswanger Jr. ’50, P’76, ’78, GP’13, ’15
Players-of-the-Week!
Michael S. Roth

Michael S. Roth became Wesleyan University's 16th president on July 1, 2007.

We welcome comments from readers, but reserve the right not to publish certain comments, such as those that are anonymous or appear to be spam.

Follow @mroth78 on Twitter

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N. K. Jemisin 1 day ago

I had nothing but contempt for the College Board before this -- profiteering and education shouldn't mix -- but this craven whitewash of our history in order to appease the neoklans is intolerable. You've become the latest example of the very racism we face, @CollegeBoard. Retweeted by Michael S Roth

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Cathy Davidson 10 hours ago

Thank you @OAH. Anyone who studies McCarthyism had to stand up to this now. Right @ACLS1919, @MLAnews, @AmerStudiesAssn @AAUP, @ncte… twitter.com/the_oah/status… Retweeted by Michael S Roth

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Michael S Roth 10 hours ago

Nobody tell @RonDeSantisFL that #BruceSpringsteen is in FL indoctrinating young & old youtu.be/EygSxgytxm4

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Michael S Roth 11 hours ago

Read @BadDebutante⁩ “Smart students..can handle paradox. I plan to carry on teaching…The point of education is to produce not just pliant cogs but thinking citizens with knowledge of the rich & expansive ways to be human. That is genuine freedom.” theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

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Scott Shepard 2 days ago

Beware of members of the elite (NYT editorial board) telling members of the unwashed masses that they don't need no college education. twitter.com/mroth78/status… Retweeted by Michael S Roth

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Jeffrey Goldberg 1 day ago

Governor DeSantis does not want you to read this article: theatlantic.com/magazine/archi… Retweeted by Michael S Roth

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Michael S Roth 14 hours ago

"the College Board has decided that American students don’t have to know about important contemporary controversies in American life..it eliminated topics like reparations because they were “quite dense” & because students preferred primary sources." nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-ope…

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Wesleyan University 16 hours ago

Who are the many voices that make Wesleyan Wesleyan? Meet Tony Zosherafatain '10—director and producer of GLAAD-award nominated "Trans in Trumpland"—as we catch up with him over 8 questions. Retweeted by Michael S Roth

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Michael S Roth 15 hours ago

Congratulations! twitter.com/lisabrowndraws…

PS that's my husband. https://t.co/CYGNlWYe94

— Lisa Brown (@lisabrowndraws) February 2, 2023
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Dr. Maya C. Popa 18 hours ago

From Anne Carson's Orestes by Euripides: Retweeted by Michael S Roth

test Twitter Media - RT @MayaCPopa: From Anne Carson's Orestes by Euripides: https://t.co/gPGC20TxD5
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Matt Jordan 21 hours ago

Excited to launch my new book from @uvapress with a talk on Feb 21 @penn_state . #Sound #twitterstorians #technology psu.edu/news/bellisari… Retweeted by Michael S Roth

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Shapiro Writing Center 19 hours ago

Come see Raquel Gutierrez, Tuesday 2/7, 6pm Albritton 311. twitter.com/raquefella/sta… Retweeted by Michael S Roth

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Michael S Roth 18 hours ago

newsletter.blogs.wesleyan.edu/2023/01/31/we-…

“We Write a World Around Those Moments”: A Q&A with Mahogany L. Browne, Shapiro-Silverberg Distinguished Writer in Residence
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Michael S Roth 19 hours ago

Read @mobrowne students "wrote about trans identity, first-generation American stories, matriarchs, queerness, family structures, belonging, and the possibility of new homes. @wesleyan_u allowed me some time to think about what I would like to do" #WesCreative

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Michael S Roth 19 hours ago

“Our message is clear: Education is too important to our students, to the people of Florida, and to the future of our nation to be put at risk by political whim.” chronicle.com/article/desant…

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Michael S Roth 21 hours ago

Read @rossmbenjamin⁩ “I came to realize that only by putting aside my demands for clarity and coherence could I do justice to what was strange, disconcerting, and even baffling in Kafka’s writing” via @NYTOpinion nytimes.com/2023/02/02/opi…

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Michael S Roth 21 hours ago

.⁦@NickKristof⁩ “our linguistic contortions..aren’t actually addressing our country’s desperate inequities or achieving progressive dreams but..are creating fuel for right-wing leaders aiming to take the country in the opposite direction” @NYTOpinion nytimes.com/2023/02/01/opi…

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Michael S Roth 1 day ago

Gora on Rushdie: “political concerns have always been embedded…in the play of Rushdie’s own style, in the irreverent exhilaration of a prose that works by piling one thing upon another, a digressive grammatical plenitude in which there is room for all.” nytimes.com/2023/02/01/boo…

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Caitlin Flanagan 2 days ago

To exclude Ta-Nehisi Coates from any high school course on African American studies is to deny American teenagers a rich part of their own heritage. King Baldwin Coates Do these men build on, or challenge each other's ideas? Jesus Christ, America. Save yourself. Retweeted by Michael S Roth

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Michael S Roth 1 day ago

Congrats! twitter.com/JenLouiseWilso…

Thank you so much @bookcritics for this honor! https://t.co/omESdJlGBW

— Jennifer Wilson (@JenLouiseWilson) February 1, 2023

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