Michael S. Roth '78

Helping our Community Partners

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Kari and I went to two fundraisers last week for great organizations in Middletown. That’s one of the “perks” of being Wesleyan’s president: one gets invited to serve on various committees, and one gets to know a variety of organizations doing good work in the region. This year I was an “honorary chair” for the celebration and fundraiser commemorating the 35th anniversary of Oddfellows Playhouse. Oddfellows was founded by a group of Wesleyan students in the 1970s to serve young people in Middletown by providing them with the opportunity to create first-rate theater. They have an educational, social and community mission, and they have remained true to the founders’ vision over a long period of time. The Gala and auction raised significant amounts of money that will have a direct impact on the lives of young people in this area.

The day after the Oddfellows event we were headed to a fundraising dinner for The Connection, a social services and community development organization. Wesleyan philosopher Steve Angle is on their board of directors, and he explained to me that the organization has always had a philosopher there since the 1970s when Phil Hallie served this role. The Connection addresses substance abuse, crime, and community disrepair across the state, and the fundraising event seemed like a great success. Lots of money was raised (and The Shiny Lapel Trio played some great dance music!).

Wesleyan is an important part of Middletown and Middlesex County, and for many years the university has been active in promoting community development. I am one of the Chairs of the upcoming United Way Campaign, which marks the organization’s 75th anniversary. Wes faculty and staff have been consistently generous supporters of United Way, and we will do our best to raise a record amount to mark the 75th! Thanks in advance for everyone who contributes to this effort!

Even our daughter Sophie has gotten into the act. She was just called for her bat mitzvah, and she suggested that people consider a donation to Wesleyan’s Green Street Arts Center in lieu of a gift. Green Street raised some money, and we have another reason to be proud of our not-so-little girl.

[tags]Oddfellows Playhouse, Green Street Arts Center, United Way Campaign, The Connection[/tags]

Not-So-Quiet Campus

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One can already begin to feel the summer rhythms on the Wesleyan campus. During the day the science labs are filled with Hughes Fellows as well as other undergraduates busy with research projects. Yesterday I met with Professor Scott Plous, whose Social Psychology Research Network is an extraordinarily active webportal for resources in this field. The website that Scott and his small team have built (with support from the National Science Foundation and other sources) now gets more than 100,000 hits each day! I also got together with Jay Hoggard, a superstar vibraphone player and Wes prof just back from a concert in the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Many faculty are on their way to archives, libraries or other data sources, using these precious summer months to gather information for their projects. I see other professors heading to their offices where manuscripts wait for further attention. At the end of the summer, books and articles emerge…

The summer months are also the time for some of our major facilities projects. We are making Crowell Concert Hall much more accessible for our handicapped students and visitors, which is a major undertaking. We are also renovating research and teaching labs in the chemistry and physics departments. And everyone will be able to see the newly painted dome of the Van Vleck Observatory on Foss Hill. Less visible will be the many energy conservation projects we’ll complete before September.

In the late afternoon frisbee and soccer players take over Andrus Field. With World Cup fever sweeping the land, there seem to be more and more folks gathering to kick the ball around. Last night on an evening stroll Kari and I came across a couple of poets here for the Wesleyan Writer’s Conference. Each year poets, prose writers, publishers and editors come to campus for readings, workshops and convivial information sharing. Now in its 54th year, the Writer’s Conference, led by Anne Greene, manages to combine the inspirational and the practical in just the right measure.

Earlier this week we saw Professor Jonathan Cutler with a group of students on the porch of my old stomping grounds, Alpha Delta Phi. They seemed to be having a great time.  Mathilde ran over to say hello. Little did we know we were interrupting a class in our new summer session! Jonathan and the students had their materials on the table, probably trying to concentrate on the social construction of reality (or something like that). The small summer classes offer plenty of opportunities like this for intense focused work in small groups.

Calm perhaps, but hardly lazy months of summer.

[tags]Scott Plous, Social Psychology Research Network, Jay Hoggard, Wesleyan Writer’s Conference, Anne Green, Jonathan Cutler[/tags]

New Chief Investment Officer

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This morning I sent the following announcement to the Wesleyan community:

It is my pleasure to announce the appointment of Anne Martin as Wesleyan’s Chief Investment Officer. Her appointment is the culmination of an intensive search that began in October and included many individual candidates as well as investment management firms. We explored a variety of models for the management of Wesleyan’s portfolio before concluding that we had found the outstanding candidate in Ms. Martin, of the Yale University Investments Office. We are confident that her experience, financial acumen, and disciplined approach to portfolio management will serve Wesleyan well.

 

Ms. Martin is one of six directors of Yale’s endowment, working with Chief Investment Officer David Swensen. She has had primary oversight of Yale’s venture capital, energy, and commodities investments, and has supervised 20 active managers responsible for more than $2 billion. Ms. Martin is a former general partner of Rosewood Capital in San Francisco, where she focused on Internet, software, and business service investments. She also has worked as a managing director of Deutsche Bank.

 

She is a graduate of Smith College and holds an M.B.A. from Stanford Business School. A former member of the U.S. National Rowing Team, she won a gold medal in the 1986 World Championships and participated in the 1988 Olympics.

 

Under her guidance Wesleyan will embark on a new era of portfolio management. She will work out of North College beginning August 1st. Please join me in welcoming her!

[tags]Anne Martin, Chief Investment Officer[/tags]

New Leadership in Academic Affairs

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Yesterday I sent the following email to the Wesleyan community:

I am pleased to announce that Rob Rosenthal, John E. Andrus Professor of Sociology, has agreed to serve as Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs for the 2010/2011 academic year. Rob brings to this position experience gained as chair of the faculty, as director of the Service Learning Center, and as a celebrated scholar-teacher.

 

Rob’s appointment is effective July 1, 2010. Although he will be off campus for a good part of the summer, he will be available for consultation during that time.

 

Wesleyan is fortunate that Rob will serve in this position while the university undertakes a search for a chief academic officer. At the start of the fall 2010 semester, I will be able to update you on the status of that search.

I am particularly grateful to Rob for taking on this assignment because I know he is also eager to complete his work with the Pete Seeger papers. Rob’s mix of interests in politics, community development, service learning, music and social movements has long benefited Wesleyan students — most recently in his work as an advisor to undergraduates putting together a school and women’s health center in Kenya.

I would also like to express my gratitude to Joe Bruno, who served as Provost for four years. He generously aided me in my first years as President and helped to steer the university through the recent economic upheavals. Not surprisingly, he has already been very helpful in orienting Rob in his new role. The Wesleyan community is fortunate indeed to have the benefit of these scholar-teachers who are also great university citizens.

[tags]Rob Rosenthal, interim Provost, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Joe Bruno, Service Learning Center[/tags]

What a Year! Hello Summer!!

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We just concluded the 2009-2010 academic year by saying good-bye to the class of 2010, and it was a wonderful Commencement. Our student speaker, Latasha Alcindor ’10, delivered a stirring and poetic oration, and John W. Hickenlooper ’74, MA ’80 gave us a funny, thoughtful and moving address. I was particularly delighted to participate in the conferring of honorary doctorates on President Ruth Simmons of Brown University, composer Richard K. Winslow ’40, philosopher Stanley Cavell of Harvard University, and Mayor Hickenlooper.

One of the benefits of combining Reunion Weekend with Commencement is that we do have the opportunity to welcome back to Middletown old friends. I said to many a senior yesterday: “Your 5th Year Reunion isn’t that far off!” But still, Commencement always fills me with mixed emotions. It is a very happy occasion for our graduates, but at the same time I know I will miss seeing many of our students in classes or during my walks around campus.

This year we will have more students on campus for our Summer Session. There is still room in many of the classes, so if you are still making plans, check out: http://www.wesleyan.edu/summer/courses.html

[tags]2010 Commencement, John Hickenlooper ’74, Summer Session[/tags]

A Framework for Planning

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In the spring of 2009 I had extensive discussions with faculty, students and staff about the distinctive aspects of the Wesleyan experience, and then I spent the summer developing a framework for strengthening these aspects. In the fall of 2009 we posted Wesleyan 2020: Preliminary Reflections on Planning. Since September, responses and suggestions have been coming to us regularly from faculty, staff, students, and alumni — mainly through a number of fora and other meetings devoted to discussion of the plan. On the basis of these discussions, we have a revised document Wesleyan 2020: A Framework for Planning which is posted below.  As a “framework for planning” it is not so much a checklist as a flexible paradigm to guide our decision making. It will doubtless engender more responses in the future, and we are prepared to revise it as a “living document.” I hope that the trustees, who have been deliberating on the goals and strategies in this plan for some time, will agree that this revised document broadly reflects the ideas of those who care about the future of our university and that it will help us make the right decisions going forward.

To all of you who responded to Wesleyan 2020 formally or informally, directly or indirectly, I express my thanks.  To all who care about Wesleyan, I look forward to your help in building Wesleyan’s future.

[tags]Wesleyan 2020: Preliminary Reflections on Planning, Wesleyan 2020: A Framework for Planning[/tags]

Recognition of Wes Work on Climate Change

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This week we received a most welcome letter from Department of Environmental Protection of the State of Connecticut. It read, part:

Dear President Roth:
Congratulations! On behalf of the Governor’s Steering Committee on Climate Change, I am pleased to inform you that Wesleyan University has been selected to receive a 2010 Connecticut Climate Change Leadership Award. You were nominated for this award by William S. Nelligan.

Now in its fifth year, the Connecticut Climate Change Leadership Awards Program is an ongoing effort to increase public awareness of climate change solutions and recognize Connecticut individuals and organizations that have taken exemplary actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change….

We are pleased to acknowledge Wesleyan’s successes in reducing greenhouse gas emissions through many different initiatives on campus. As we recognize your work and dedication, we hope that others will follow your lead.

Congratulations to Bill Nelligan and to the students, staff and faculty who have been actively involved in moving our university to more sustainable practices. We have a long way to go in reducing our energy use and the amount of waste we produce. But it’s very encouraging to receive acknowledgment for our efforts in this direction.

[tags]2010 Connecticut Climate Change Leadership Award, Bill Nelligan[/tags]

Finals Week

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The campus during the day is quieter than usual. The library is full, but the Usdan Center is calm. Maybe it’s the brisk wind that’s dropped temperatures down again this week, but Foss Hill is not attracting the same number of students seeking sun and good company. It’s Finals Week at Wesleyan. Time to finish up those papers and study for those exams.

I remember well the pressures and pleasures of staying up all night writing, or looking for that one book or article that you imagine will clinch the argument you are trying to make. I remember friends heading into their science labs hoping to gather the data points necessary to complete experiments, and others who were consulting various oracles to take their best guess as to what Prof. X might ask on the notoriously difficult exam. If I close my eyes, I can still feel the thrill of turning to the last page of a paper I wrote to see the comments and the grade. I remember my excitement at learning that Prof. Abelove thought I might have something interesting to say about Freud. And I also remember a comment from a visiting philosopher – Michael Davis —  suggesting that, if I were going to make the claim that Nietzsche was among the most important philosophers ever (a claim I was in no position to make after one philosophy course!), I ought to at least spell his name right. Ouch!

But mostly I remember the camaraderie of this time of year, when friends stood by you as you stressed out, or celebrated with you when you got things done. It always felt just a little sad to finish up the work of the semester since it often meant that we would all be heading off in different directions for the summer. This year, of course, there is the possibility of staying around to take summer classes; and for those not graduating there’s always the anticipation of returning to campus to find new challenges, and old friends, in the fall.

[tags]finals, term papers, Summer Session, Nietzsche, Michael Davis, Freud[/tags]

Softball Champs!!

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The Courageous Cardinal softball team recovered from losing the opening game on title day and came back to trounce Bowdoin 10-1 to claim the NESCAC conference championship. Meaghan Dendy ’10 and Dana Levy ’12 combined to hold Bowdoin to a single run, and Taylor Zavadsky ’10 had four RBIs.

Congratulations to coach Jen Lane and all the Wes Women!!

[tags]NESCAC, softball, championship, Meaghan Dendy ’10, Dana Levy ’12, Bowdoin, Taylor Zavadsky ’10[/tags]

Playoffs Bound

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This weekend Wesleyan has three great teams moving into the NESCAC playoffs.

Women’s softball had a decisive series up in Middlebury last weekend. Having been shutout in Friday night’s contest, they needed to sweep a double-header to keep their season going, which they did with great efforts from several key players including Meaghan Dendy ’10 and Dana Levy ’12. This weekend they travel up to Williamstown where their first opponent will be Tufts.

The baseball team opens its tournament on Saturday at Tufts. After the Dresser Diamond dedication last Saturday, the Cardinals split a double-header with Trinity on Sunday. Brett Yarusi ’12 tossed a six-hitter for the first shutout vs. Trinity since 1984, but the Red and Black lost a big lead in the second game late in the afternoon. It’s been a strong season for Wes baseball, and there is plenty of optimism heading into the tournament.

The men’s lacrosse season has been full of highs and lows, but rarely can one find more excitement than there was in last week’s upset victory of top-seeded Conn College. Jon Killeen ’10 scored the game winner and was named NESCAC player of the week.  This is the first time in NESCAC history that an 8th seed knocked off the #1 team. But we are the defending conference champs, and we’ll have a chance to show our mettle against a tough Tufts opponent in the semis on Saturday.

If you can’t get up to Massachusetts, you can find many of the games on webcasts (see http://www.wesleyan.edu/athletics/ for more information). Cheer for the Red and Black, from near or far!

[tags]softball, lacrosse, baseball, playoffs, Jon Killeen ’10, Meghan Dendy ’10, Dana Levy ’12, Brett Yarusi ’12[/tags]