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Sam Friedman and Friends Making Beautiful Music

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Had the great pleasure today to hear Sam Friedman’s ’13 concert, “Just Breathe” at Russell House. Sam was joined by Howe Pearson ’12, Derek Frank ’15, Zack Rosen ’11 and vocalist Jackie Soro ’14 (Sam Wagner, who hung out here without picking up a diploma, joined on drums). From blues to more experimental polyrhythms, Sam led a magical hour of music.

 

Singer Jackie Soro '14
Singer Jackie Soro ’14

I first met Sam when he played piano at our holiday parties in the President’s House. His astonishing senior recital was a display of harmonica virtuosity and musical imagination. These were on display today. His teacher (and wonderful jazz musician) Noah Baerman wrote, “Wesleyan isn’t thought of as a place to get an undergraduate education that directly relates to a performance career in music. However, the resources are vast for someone with the right mix of discipline and broad-mindedness. The poster-boy for this in recent years is Sam Friedman, a multi-instrumentalist and multi-genre powerhouse.”

From now until the end of the semester there will be several opportunities to hear and watch amazing performances. I can’t write about most of them, but I am so glad they are happening.

THIS IS WHY.

Sam Friedman '13 breathes music
Sam Friedman ’13 breathes music
Sam Friedman '13 plays the blues
Sam Friedman ’13 plays the blues

Great Wes Day at the Game

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It was a wonderful day for football at Corwin Stadium, for our last game of the season. By tradition, we play Trinity College to end the season, and for many years they have made us end on a somber note. Not today! In another exciting game, the Cardinals were victorious, besting their opponents by a point. I took photos with the intrepid cheer leaders, the volleyball team, and began dreaming of spring as the softball team sold raffles. But the fall season ended pretty well today. Here are a few pics (feel free to send me more!):

Wes seniors and families
Wes seniors before the game
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After the game
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Seniors and Final Score
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Coach Mike Whalen
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Team Sings Fight Song

Bruce Corwin, Wesleyan’s biggest fan, is in Los Angeles recovering from a transplant…. but glued to the game on his computer. His son tells me he took this photo just as Justin Sanchez saved the victory with a great tackle with time running down.

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THIS IS WHY.

 

 

Africa Innovation Summit- Fri Nov 7

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Olayinka Lawal ’15 and Ibironke Otusile ’15 are spreading the word about a conference they are hosting on Friday on the extraordinary development of economy and society in Africa.

NOVEMBER 7, 2014

 

Image: via http://innovation.itu.int/

 

Wesleyan’s African Students Association will host the first Africa Innovation Summit on November 7, 2014. With co-sponsorship from Wesleyan’s Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship and other campus partners, this event will provide a platform for exposure and conversation about the growth of innovation on the African continent, and it will celebrate those who are paving a new path for progress in Africa.

Event details

Friday, November 7, 2014
2:30-8 p.m.
Daniel Family Commons, Usdan University Center
75 Wyllys Avenue, Middletown, CT

$5 Wesleyan Students
$10 General Admission
Space is limited and tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Free tickets are available to those who volunteer to help staff the event. Contact Olayinka Lawal ’15 to inquire.

Thank you to our sponsors: African Students Association, Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship, African Studies Cluster, Office of Academic Affairs, WesleyanWorldWednesdays, African American Studies Program, and the Center for African American Studies 

Schedule

2:30 p.m. Check-in and Keynote
3 p.m. Panel #1
4 p.m. Panel #2
5 p.m. Panel #3
6 p.m. Dinner
7 p.m. Dessert Reception hosted by the African Students Association

This schedule is subject to change. More complete details will be posted prior to the event, and a final program will be available upon arrival.

Speakers

Keynote
Hirut M’cleod ’00, World Bank

Children & Youth panel
Steve Kallaugher ’73, Young Heroes
Gabrielle Fondiller ’07, Hatua Likoni
Marina King ’16, Shining Hope for Communities
Moderated by Alice Hadler, Associate Dean for International Student Affairs

Healthcare panel
Tiffany Aquino, Unite for Sight
Shadrack Frimpong, Healthy Africa
Chelsea Tweneboah ’15, Cape Coast Regional Hospital, Ghana
Moderated by Laura Ann Twagira, Assistant Professor of History

Business & Development panel
Jim Brenner ’79, Broad Cove Partners
Mikako Tai ’11, Africa America Institute
Oladoyin Oladapo ’14, JooMah
Moderated by Anthony Keats, Assistant Professor of Economics

With video greetings from
Kathlyn Patillo ’12, African Leadership Academy

Others to be announced. Bios and photos coming soon.

Contacts

Olayinka Lawal ’15 and Ibironke Otusile ’15

 

Please Vote! It’s Election Day!!

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We’ve all heard about the supposed apathy of young voters, about the cynicism and the fatigue. It doesn’t have to be this way. There is an important election in Connecticut today and crucial races all over the country. Please exercise your right to vote!

Here is some information on where you can vote, if you are registered in Middletown. Most students vote at the Senior Center just past the bookstore at 150 William Street. You can check on your polling place below.

POLLING HOURS:

6 a.m.-8 p.m.

POLLING PLACES:

Voter Registration Lookup

Polling (Voting) Locations

VAN TRANSPORTATION:

9 a.m.-8 p.m. (departures every ten minutes from Usdan University Center)

VOTER ID REQUIREMENTS:

Drivers’ license, WesID, utility bill, paycheck or other ID needed (Identification Requirements)

ELECTION DAY REGISTRATION:

Connecticut now offers Election Day Registration (EDR). You can register and vote in person on Election Day at your town’s Election Day Registration location. Election Day Registration only applies to regular elections; it does not apply to primaries, referenda or special elections. Contact your local Registrars of Voters for information about location, hours of operation, and the identification requirements.

 

Movember and Men’s Health

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Recently Jesse Galganov ’17 came to see me to tell me about his efforts to raise money to combat several major issues in men’s health: mental illness, prostate cancer and testicular cancer. It’s called the Movember effort. Jesse has already raised big bucks in previous years, and you may see tangible signs of his persuasive powers: lots of guys with moustaches.

Here’s the scoop:

The Movember Foundation is the leading global organization committed to changing the face of men’s health.

We achieve this by challenging men to grow moustaches during Movember (the month formerly known as November) to spark conversation and raise funds and awareness for men’s health issues, specifically prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mental health problems.

The Movember community has raised over $550 million to date and funded over 800 programs in 21 countries. This work is saving and improving the lives of men affected by prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mental health problems.

Meaningful strides have been taken toward achieving our goals, but there is more work to be done. We’re committed to raising vital funds and awareness to improve the lives of men and their families.

What can you do to help besides experimenting with facial hair? Join the Wesleyan Movember network, dontate to their charities and raise awareness about men’s health.

 

WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY

You can find out more about Movember projects here.

 

 

Conversations, Education, Awards

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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

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(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

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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

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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

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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.

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Please Support Middlesex United Way

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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.

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