Working Hard in Spring Break

Like many Wesleyans, I’ve had a very busy spring break. Along with colleagues from Advancement, I was in India to meet with alumni, current and prospective students and their families. It was great to be back in India after a few year hiatus (mostly because of the pandemic), and I even gave a talk in Bangalore about The Student: A Short History. 

Many of our athletes were also traveling, though not quite as far as my journey. Tennis, baseball and softball found climates warmer than Middletown, while our lacrosse teams were, as one would expect, toughing it out in New England’s unpredictable weather. We have some nationally ranked spring teams, and they are off to a great start. Izzy Weintraub ’26, CK Giancola ’24, James Marsden ’26, and Jack Raba GLS have already picked up players-of-the-week honors from NESCAC.

Back on campus one can almost feel the heat generated by the scores of students busily working to finish up their senior theses. The art shows and music recitals will be starting soon, so be on the lookout for announcements. Be sure to catch a product design exhibit (Malcolm Davol), an architectural installation (Eliza Austin) and a photographer making 3D objects (Emlyn Mileaf-Patel). Scholars are busy working away, whether they are writing about Deleuze and Nietzsche (Tohma Mitsuya), abortion rights and French postmodernism (Margot Deguet Delury), sex toys and pedagogy in Santiago, Chile (Cate Levy), the legacies of fascism in France and Spain (Rebecca Drucker), or a Renaissance poem on the life of Jesus, modeled on Virgil (Tom Broadus). Jocelyn Wang is applying her computer science skills to evaluate how we can develop new approaches to defining speciation among bacterial strains.

So much work, so little time! Soon spring will be here in earnest. Meanwhile, Kari, Lola and I are expecting a little snow before heading back to Middletown. Lola wants to bring her stick!