alumni

A Ruby Read for Late Summer

by

As August begins I find myself trying to fit more contemporary reading into my research and writing schedule. It’s always a pleasure to catch up on recent books by Wesleyan authors, and I have Sebastian Junger ’84, Dominique Browning ’77 and Ayelet Waldman ’86 on my list. One of the novels I really enjoyed this summer was written by a guy who was on my frosh hall at Wes, Joseph Wallace ’79. When we were just beginning our college careers we talked incessantly about writing and music, and more than a little bit about baseball.  Joe joined Alpha Delta Phi around the same time I did, and he has been writing (often about baseball) ever since. This year Touchstone published Diamond Ruby, a wonderfully entertaining historical novel set in New York during Prohibition. Ruby Thomas, the main character in the book, is a cracker-jack pitcher who has to struggle to survive after the great influenza epidemic. She takes care of her young nieces and herself by continually surprising spectators with her pitching prowess, from a Coney Island sideshow attraction to pitching against the Babe in Yankee Stadium. Ruby’s character is inspired by Jackie Mitchell, a young woman who actually did strike Ruth out before she was banned from baseball for being a woman. Ruby’s intelligence, courage and determination go far beyond her performance on the diamond, and it makes for a great story.

I’m always eager to read our Wesleyan authors, and I’m filled with pride as I mark their accomplishments. This morning, for example, I was delighted to see Maureen Dowd interview Sam Wasson ’03 in the New York Times about today’s (awful) romantic comedies. Sam’s recent book on Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a big hit. But I don’t want to give the impression that I only read books by Wesleyan authors. I’ve reviewed a new book about the Dreyfus Affair for the San Francisco Chronicle, and Milan Kundera’s new collection of essays, Encounter, for the Los Angeles Times (to appear later this summer).  I’m also a big fan of Jennifer Egan’s writing, and her new novel, A Visit from the Goon Squad, has been a troubling, joyful and invigorating read.

This summer, though, it has been especially sweet to think back to 1975 and my hallmate’s writing plans as I read Diamond Ruby. As the baseball season heats up and summer winds down, Joseph Wallace’s new novel is perfect company.

[tags]Sebastian Junger ’84, Dominique Browning ’77, Ayelet Waldman ’86, Joseph Wallace ’79, Diamond Ruby, Maureen Dowd, Sam Wasson ’03, The New York Times, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Jennifer Egan, A Visit from the Goon Squad[/tags]

What a Year! Hello Summer!!

by

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]

Nashville (and Pittsburgh) Cats

by

Sitting in Nashville International Airport, I think back on the Wesleyan folks I’ve met during this trip. Some graduated more than 5 decades ago, others left Middletown only in the last couple of years. Before heading to Nashville I spent a day in Pittsburgh, where Ned Churchill ’59 and Jo-Ann Churchill hosted a reception for local alumni and parents. The conversation turned to the wonderful students who are now attracted to Wes, but also to some of the frustrations alumni experience in having to explain where exactly they spent their undergrad years. Ohio Wesleyan, or West Virginia? No, thundered Ned (who had spent many years running marketing for Heinz) “we went to THE Wesleyan University,” in mock tribute to the offensive lineman who declaim on television reports that they attended THE Ohio State University. There’s something wonderful about Ned’s pride in alma mater, a pride that made even more sense when I heard about the various accomplishments of the alumni in the room.

In Nashville our reception was at the home of Dr. George Allen ’63 and Dr Shannon Hersey. George had been Chair of the Neurosurgery department at Vanderbilt’s medical center, having graduated from Wesleyan with a passion for science, invention and car racing. While training an amazing percentage of the nation’s neurosurgeons at Vanderbilt and Johns Hopkins, George has discovered treatments and created medical devices for addressing serious conditions like the aftermath of stroke. He continues to see patients and work with young physicians, and in conversation reflected on how his Wesleyan years created the intellectual foundation on which he has continued to build for now almost fifty years.

At our reception I met Ljerka Vidic Rasmussen, a Ph.D. from our Ethnomusicology program now teaching in Tennessee. We talked about the importance of our grad programs for the whole campus and about her mentor and our mutual friend Professor Mark Slobin. Prince C. Chambliss ’70, an attorney in Memphis gave me his recently published book, Prince of Peace, a memoir of growing up in Birmingham and attending Wes in the late 1960s. He recounts that in the year before he started college Wesleyan admitted only 9 African-American students out of a class of 500 men. In his year, the efforts to open up the admission process to under-represented groups resulted in a class with 50 black men. In his memoir Prince Chambliss recalls the difficulties and mistakes in those years, but ends his chapter on Wesleyan with these words: “Wesleyan will always be on the cutting edge, leading the way for others to follow.” I hope we can live up to that!

After the reception last night Dr. Dan Viner ‘93 (a philosophy major at Wes who now has a substantial medical practice in Nashville) took me out to hear what he promised would be real Nashville music at The Station Inn. What a treat! Roland White (who backed up Bill Monroe and then Lester Flatts back in the day) had a great band that was occasionally livened up when an audience member got on stage to join in. It was a great way to close my trip to our extended Wesleyan family.

(Even better was returning to see that our men’s lacrosse team had beat Amherst (behind the eight goals [!] of  Lonny Blumenthal ’10) and that our softball team had swept a double-header from the Lord Jeffs (behind the amazing hitting of Alexis Kral ’12 and Meaghan Dendy ’10). Go Wes! The Wes!!

[tags]Ned Churchill ’59, Dr. George Allen ’63, Vanderbilt, Ljerka Vidic Rasmussen, ethnomusicology, Prince C. Chambliss ’70,  Dr. Dan Viner ‘93, Lonny Blumenthal ’10, Alexis Kral ’12, Meaghen Dendy ’10[/tags]

Trustee Meetings: A Grand Gift, MoCon, Tuition, Liberal Arts

by

This past weekend the Board of Trustees was on campus. Despite the blizzard in the Northeast, trustees managed to get here for key meetings, engaging conversations and for some important decisions. One of the great moments of the weekend was the dinner to honor Wesleyan volunteers. At this celebration I was delighted to announce that Joshua Boger ’73, P ’06, P’09 and Amy Boger, M.D., P’06, P’09 have pledged 12 million dollars to our fundraising efforts. This will establish the Boger Scholarship Program and the Joshua Boger University Professorship of The Sciences and Mathematics. The first recipient of the chair appointment will be David L. Beveridge, professor of chemistry.

Here are some other highlights from the Board’s meetings.

The Campus Affairs Committee has an extraordinarily wide portfolio of concerns. They receive reports on Admissions (plenty of good news there!), co-curricular initiatives and core academic affairs. We discussed some of the current departmental models for assessing student learning and heard a report on the summer session pilot program. This committee also forwarded its recommendation to grant tenure to two stellar young scholar-teachers: Matthew Kurtz in Psychology and Typhaine Leservot in Romance Languages and the College of Letters.  Matt works on the neuroscience of cognitive rehabilitation for schizophrenia, and Typhaine’s research concerns changing modes of literary analysis (postcolonial, feminist) for contemporary Francophone writing. Congratulations to both!

The Finance Committee has a lion’s share of the work at the February meeting because it’s here that we propose our tuition for next year in the context of our budget projections. For next year the Board approved a 5% increase in tuition and fees, and we also project an 11% increase in our financial aid expenditures. We had plenty of discussion about how we might find ways to reduce costs so as to restrain future tuition increases without sacrificing the quality of student experience. This is a high priority going forward.

A topic that came up in various venues throughout the weekend concerned the future of McConaughy Hall. I knew the building well as a student, living just across from its front doors as a frosh. I remember with real fondness its grand staircase and wonderful light, and I also think back to some great parties and concerts I attended there. The building has been empty since I began my presidency, and since that time I’ve been trying to find an alternative use for it. The structure turns out to be terribly inefficient, and in great disrepair. Still, I had hopes that we might transform it (as we have done with Davenport and Fayerweather, and will do with Squash) for some community use.

I haven’t found an alternative use for MoCon. But given all the strong feeling, which I share, about trying to find alternative uses, I’ve delayed signing contracts for its demolition. The building has been here for almost 50 years, and I don’t take this decision lightly. But I also will not spend significant university funds every year without having a real function for the building. So, I am reviewing options (with appropriate professional guidance) one more time. I appreciate the input I’ve gotten, and I will be writing again soon on this subject.

At the main Board meeting we held an open discussion concerning changes in the liberal arts curriculum. How should we steer liberal arts learning in the future? I was particularly interested in hearing what fields the Board thought should be added to a liberal arts education, and which areas should be cut or reduced in importance. For example, I’ve been exploring the possibility of developing a liberal arts approach to engineering, and I’m also interested in how design thinking can have a more prominent role in our curriculum. Integrating our arts programs more fully into our academic programs (as with our new efforts in creative writing) is an important priority for many of us at Wes. I can ask readers here what I asked the Board: What would you like to see Wesleyan doing more of, less of?

Our conversation centered on three main areas for growth, and, truth be told, no real places for cutting: (1) public policy domestically and internationally, (2) engineering and design, (3) and the study of the impact of technology on culture and society. Dean Don Moon reminded us that while it might be good to have these general conversations at the Board level, each year the Wesleyan faculty develops dozens of new courses. The curriculum has been evolving and will continue to do so. We can thank our scholar-teacher model for that! It’s through their research that our professors develop new ideas that energize the classroom, and we are all the better for it!

Freeman Travels 2010

by

For the last week I’ve been in Japan and Korea with Graeme Freeman from the Freeman Foundation and Terri Overton from Admissions interviewing students for our Freeman Scholarship program. The program has now been going for 15 years, and it has brought to Wesleyan many exceptionally talented young people from 11 different Asian countries. Year in, year out they arrive on campus with a thirst for learning, faith in a liberal arts education, and an extraordinary capacity for focused, challenging work.

This was my first trip to Tokyo and Seoul, and it also included a number of alumni gatherings. I had the pleasure of meeting Katsuhiko Hiyama ’60 (Kay) who is hoping to come back for his 50th reunion this year. Kay described to me how his Wesleyan education has been a lifelong resource for him as he worked in four different continents, and he also shared with me his love of jazz. I also met some recent alums, including Joyce Haejung Park ‘04, who majored in math and is now working for Chartis in Seoul. Although Sam Paik ‘90 and Professor Jung-Ho Kim ‘85 are frequent visitors to campus, it was great to see them on their home turf. And I met with alumni working in media, finance, education and public service. All described to me how they continue to draw on their Wes education.

Interviewing Freeman finalists is a great cure for cynicism. These high school seniors display a love of learning and a devotion to education that is truly inspiring. Although in many cases they have already registered significant success in school (I’ve never met as many perfect 800 scorers in a short period of time), the dominant theme was the desire to explore new areas of inquiry and to encounter a variety of cultural experiences. They were interested in CSS, COL and the new College of the Environment, in addition to our offerings in music, science, philosophy, and, yes, even East Asian Studies. One young woman was led to her interest in the liberal arts through reading Aristotle on her own; another student was passionate about break dancing and religion. All in all they are an amazing group!

In my first year as President I set a goal of doubling the number of international students at Wesleyan. The financial crisis has slowed this down, but after a trip like this one, I am more convinced than ever that bringing students from outside the United States is a great benefit to them and to the entire Wes community.

Here are a couple of pictures of my recent alumni guides, who also helped out with interviews.

Alumni guides in Tokyo
Kohei Saito ’09 & Toshihiro Osaka ’09
Seoul Alumni Guides
Hyung Jin Choi ’07 & Sunho Hwang ’05

[tags]Freeman Scholarship Program, Katsuhiko Hiyama, alumni[/tags]

Admissions and Recognition

by

As January is coming to an end, I am writing this on a plane back to Connecticut from Texas. I’ve been in Houston and Dallas the last couple of days, meeting with alumni, parents and even a few pre-frosh. When I began my presidency in 2007, we  increased our communications efforts in areas of the country where Wesleyan wasn’t as well known as it is on the Coasts, and we placed a special emphasis on Texas. We have many alumni there who work in the technology, education, medicine and energy fields, to name just a few. We’ve held well-attended events in Houston and Dallas the last two years, and this week’s gatherings were energetic and popular. The Roff family, our host in Houston, has had six family members at Wes, and the Barth clan there can count seven! We discussed the planning framework, Wesleyan 2020, in both cities, and even the torrential rains in Dallas didn’t dampen the high spirits at the reception hosted by the Wolins (P ’12).

I was pleased to report that in the last three years we have tripled the number of applicants from Texas. This is one chapter in a very impressive admissions story. Last year applications were way up, and so a reasonable person might have expected some pull back from these numbers in 2010. But the application pool has increased again, this year by about 6%. That means that our pool has grown about 30% in two years! Most important, the quality of the pool is very strong, and we are meeting our goal of increasing geographical diversity. Early decision applications are at an all time high. It’s a tribute to our community that so many talented people want to be part of it!

Why are so many more people applying to Wesleyan? It isn’t easy to point to any specific factors with confidence. Clearly, we have benefitted from positive press thanks to the great work of our faculty, students, staff and alumni.  Our admissions and communications departments have been in high gear making sure that we get the word out about what makes Wesleyan an extraordinary institution. The campus looks great, and investments in our physical plant have had compelling results. We have been emphasizing some of the distinctive aspects of a Wes education, and above all, students and their families have been talking to others about their own experiences. Enhanced recognition  is important not only because it allows us to put together ever more diverse and talented classes, but also because it increases the value of  Wesleyan diplomas for all our alumni.

We don’t need to “sell Wesleyan,” or develop some slick marketing messages. After all, by emphasizing our distinctiveness we are also saying that Wes isn’t for everybody. The culture of openness and experimentation, exuberance and achievement, creativity and focus…this culture is different from  the ones that have developed at other fine schools. We want to get the word out, but we don’t need to present ourselves as just another highly selective school for successful high school seniors.

Now that we have well over 10,000 applications for next year’s class, the admissions staff has to read each one of them with the time consuming care that comes with a holistic application process. I thank them in advance for all the hard work that will go into putting together the class of 2014!

[tags]applications, Wesleyan 2020[/tags]

A New Semester!

by

I’ve been on the road for Wesleyan most of the time since New Year’s, and I am delighted to return to campus for the start of the new semester. My first class in “The Past on Film” (a course on philosophy, history and the movies) is today.

While I’ve been traveling, people have been busy here on campus preparing for the new semester. Many of our athletes have been involved in regular competition since the beginning of 2010. The men’s hockey team recently recorded its first win over Williams at home in many years. It was a convincing victory! Our men’s water polo team was recently named “Team of the Decade” by the Collegiate Water Polo Association. Congratulations to Coach of the Year Mac Clonan ’05.

Our faculty have been busy preparing new courses for the spring, many of which are part of the Small Class Initiative that has added dozens of seminars to our offerings. Manju Hingorani and Katja Kolcio are offering a class called “Body Language: Choreographing Biology,” while inaugural Koeppel Fellow, alumna and editor of the Forward Jane Eisner ’77 is teaching one of our first journalism classes “The Journalist as Citizen.” Sonali Chakravarti is teaching a government class on political theory and transitional justice, while the great vibraphonist Jay Hoggard offers “Language of the Jazz Orchestra.” As I look through the catalogue, I wonder if I can find the time to audit even as I work on my own class.

I was in in Washington the last few days visiting with alumni there and in Baltimore. Kari and Sophie joined me for the weekend, and now we are all trying to catch up on our homework! A highlight of the trip was a tour of the White House on Saturday. It brought us back to the hopeful energy of a year ago, and it also reminded us of the challenges now facing the whole country. This morning, as I post this blog, I confess to a few doubts as to whether we will be able to pull together to meet those challenges, but then as I see the picture of Kari, Sophie and myself, optimism revives.  How happy we were to be there at the White House!

photo

[tags]men’s water polo, Manju, Hingorani, Katja Kolcio, Jane Eisner, Sonali Chakravarti, Jay Hoggard[/tags]

Studying Abroad

by

I’m traveling with Board Chair Joshua Boger and his wife Amy this week to meet with some alumni overseas. We’ve been in Bangalore the last few days and had an extraordinary visit with Azim and Rishad Premji at their Wipro headquarters. Rishad graduated from Wesleyan in ’99, and just last year we awarded his father Azim an honorary doctorate for his outstanding philanthropic work. The Azim Premji Foundation is focused on making a national impact on the educational system here – with particular attention given to helping girls erase the literacy gap. I also learned about the Foundation’s programs helping very young children of migrant workers, as well as an ambitious plan to open the Azim Premji University in a few years. This university will have teacher training as its core mission. I’ve been deeply impressed by the foundation officers and their work.  They taught me so much in a short time, and I’m optimistic about their chances of success.

Wipro is a major international technology services company based in India, and it is increasingly taking on work in “green industries.” Joshua, Amy and I met with a group of Wipro executives responsible for the professional development of the staff (over 100,000 employees!). They are practically running a university at Wipro, and it was fascinating to hear about their approach to continuing education through seminars, lectures and mobile device access. I took plenty of notes!

Our conversations with Azim Premji and Rishad Premji focused on how to raise Wesleyan’s profile in India and on how a liberal arts education can prepare graduates very well to become imaginative engineers.  I look forward to continuing these conversations as we enhance internationalization at Wes and develop connections between our programs and the broad spectrum of engineering (from infrastructure to technology and sustainability).

We had the chance to see a bit of Mysore today, and we’re off tomorrow before dawn. Next stop, London, for a brief visit with the Wes community there.

india_palace

india_bull

[tags]Azim Prenji, Rishad Prenji, Wipro, philanthropy, Wesleyan overseas, internationalization[/tags]

Getting In… Checking things Out

by

Last night admissions deans from eight schools gathered for an online forum at Wesleyan sponsored by Unigo and the Wall Street Journal. Thousands watched live as Jordan Goldman ’04 and members of the audience asked questions aimed at clarifying how highly selective institutions go about selecting a first-year class. Check out the video of the event (and some good footage of the campus).

The selection process is increasingly intense. Last year our applicant pool was as strong as ever, and it was more than 20% larger. Most university observers expected us to have some decline in apps this year, which is the normal rhythm at schools like ours. But the latest figures show that we have continued to grow — this year by more than 10% over last. The geographical and cultural diversity of the pool continues to improve, and the academic credentials of our applicants are truly impressive. I’m glad I don’t have to read the files!

One of the exciting aspects of last night’s event was the international web audience for it. The university has been using the web to share some of the great events on campus. Last year’s wonderful Navaratri Festival performance has now had more than 100,000 views on Youtube.

This weekend there are plenty of non-virtual chances to check out Wes culture. Friday at 8 pm, dance professor Nicole Stanton performs a piece created collaboratively with students and colleagues at Schönberg Dance Studio. Saturday at Freeman one can see several of our teams (track, swimming, squash, hockey) competing. I am looking forward to seeing Ariela Rotenberg’s ’10 senior thesis project, Our Day Will Come , at the Patricelli ’92 Theater. Maybe I can stay offline for a few days…

[tags]Unigo, Wall Street Journal, admissions process, applicant pool, Jordan Goldman ’04, Navaratri Festival performance, Professor Nicole Stanton, Ariela Rotenberg ’10[/tags]