“The last few weeks have been especially hectic,” I told my older son recently, when we had our regular phone conversation to bridge the distance between West Coast and East. “Do I say that every week,” I wondered. He, too, is increasingly busy, as are so many of the people around us. When do we take the time to stop and think? During this period of economic frustration and limited political horizons, when do we allow ourselves to feel gratitude for what we do have? For example, I am so grateful for those conversations with my son, and for knowing that he is having similar conversations with my mother. I am so grateful for my family.
Sometimes feelings of gratitude are bound up with feelings of vulnerability. When we realize how fragile life can be, we can be more open to experience that spirit of thankfulness. This season my family has faced some health challenges, and as we’ve gotten through them, I realize more than ever how lucky I am to have a caring, resourceful and loving family.
Sometimes feelings of gratitude are bound up with feelings of accomplishment. As we work hard on things that matter to us, we can be more open to experience a sense of gratitude and belonging. I work side by side with a very talented team, and I work on a campus infused with the energy of faculty, staff and students. I recognize how fortunate I am to work among people who aim to make a positive difference in the world.
Sometimes feelings of gratitude are bound up with feelings of hopefulness. When we realize how lucky we are to have family and friends who care for us, when we recognize how fortunate we are to be able to accomplish significant goals through cooperative work, we can be more open to feelings of hope for a meaningful future.
As we find the times to be thankful (especially in these tough periods), may our gratitude for present blessings be bound up with a sense of caring purpose.
The extended Wes family has gathered together this weekend, celebrating scholarship, athletics, teaching and all things Red and Black. The seminars were often full and always lively, and they brought together the great energy that characterizes the classes here. I ran into Orin Snyder ’83, who had just come from a packed discussion, led by the Wesleyan Lawyers Association, of the changing legal network for social media. And Alberto Ibarguen ’66 P’97 HON’11 was equally enthused about his session celebrating 50 years of the Peace Corps. The history of the Peace Corps at Wesleyan spills naturally into our new PATRICELLI CENTER FOR SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP. We cut the ribbon on the new Center on Saturday morning. Later in the day on Saturday I ran into some starry-eyed parents who were quite in awe of the presentation by Wes film faculty Jeanine Basinger, Scott Higgins and Steve Collins on “what makes movies great”! Jeanine was quoted extensively in this morning’s New York Times on Leonardo diCaprio (and a few days ago could be found in the Wall Street Journal). Our film folks are everywhere, but there’s nothing like seeing them on the home turf!
This weekend saw a grand celebration of the extraordinary work in experimental music by Alvin Lucier. Lucierfest brought out artists, musicians and writers who have been inspired by this pioneering composer and teacher. And speaking of things musical, I was delighted to catch Randy Newman’s benefit performance in the chapel on Friday night. We veered from ironic complicity to emotional commitment as he sampled his catalogue.
The efforts of our student athletes were so impressive this weekend, even if they left us saying, “wait ’til next year!” The cross country teams had very strong showings: the women were 6th of 40 teams and the men were 9th of 44 teams. The women’s soccer team played well but fell to Amherst in the semi-finals of the NESCAC tournament. Our great goalie Jess Tollman ’15 kept the Lord Jeffs at bay for the first half, a fitting end to her strong first year. Our star forward Laura Kurash ’13 was named District Academic All American. This was our first time advancing this far in the tournament, and we are very proud of the women who battled all semester.
And speaking of a battle…our football team put up a mighty effort against the Purple Ephs in front of an enthusiastic homecoming crowd. We came very close to pulling off a great upset against Williams, thanks to a strong team effort. Matt Coyne passed for 192 yards, and star freshman running back LaDarius Drew ’15 was a workhorse despite the cast on his injured hand. Seniors Brett Bandazian and Jordan Greene had 10 tackles apiece, and our punter Jesse Warren ’15 had a world-class game. Coach Mike Whalen ’83 and the entire team are working together to build a great program. We are very proud of them!
All our athletes today are inspired by the great achievements of Wes students in the past. On Saturday night we inducted an all-star group into the Wesleyan Athletics Hall of Fame. When Moira James ’78, along with Dennis Robinson ’79 and the Athletics Advisory Council, came up with the idea of the hall of fame, I knew it would be a way of recognizing and reconnecting with our alumni greats. They also probably figured it would inspire contemporary success. And they were right!
I wish I were able to attend all the events, and it’s been a joy to welcome so many back to campus after a challenging week. Go Wes!
Late Afternoon A CappellaLate Afternoon A Cappella
UPDATE: What a great thing to hear the many a cappella groups at the First Annual Stone A Capella Concert, celebrating Chip Stone ’49, p’79, P’82, GP ’11, GP ’15. A highlight for us was Chip and daughter Sarah Stone Maynard ’79 P ’11 singing a duet about the dangers of drugs to start things off.
Life at Wesleyan is returning to normal, but the aftermath of the storm is still very much with us, including lack of power and heat for a significant number of students on campus – and for many faculty and staff in the region. Connecticut Light and Power states on its website that power will be restored to all of Middletown by the end of the day Sunday; we’ve been told that power along Church and High streets may be restored as early as tomorrow.
I’d like to reiterate what I said yesterday evening: We are making alternative sleeping quarters available for these students who need them. Those who want to bunk with friends in the residence halls are encouraged to do so. Those who would like the university to find them a place to sleep until power is restored should contact Residential Life at: 860 685-3550. We will use common spaces and lounges in our residence halls and will open other venues as needed.
The Science Library will be open 24 hours today and tomorrow for students, faculty, and staff needing a warm place to work. The Freeman Athletic Center now offers the Wes community the possibility of really getting warm by getting some exercise. After some initial difficulties with the water heaters, I think we can now offer decent showers, too! Faculty, staff and students in need of a hot shower (even if they don’t want to exercise) are welcome to use the Freeman facilities.
Some Wes students have had the good idea of asking what else we can do for employees who need a helping hand during this crisis. Much of this is already being done informally and effectively, but if faculty or staff have particular requests, they can address them to Human Resources. We will do our best to be helpful.
Classes resumed today, and I was very pleased to hear from some colleagues that the attendance was very good. In my own class, I was delighted to see the eighty-some-odd students ready to talk about Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse. I guess I am an old-fashioned teacher who can’t think of anything he’d rather do than talk about a great book with a group of thoughtful students.
To all the faculty, staff, and students who have pitched in to help in many ways, and to the many others who have provided us with essential support services — thank you! I also want to convey my gratitude to the families of students and to our alumni who have expressed their care and concern. I deeply appreciate your patience and the support you have been showing one another. It is good to acknowledge that ours is a compassionate community, and that this becomes especially visible in times of need.
We are excited to be welcoming many visitors during Homecoming/Family weekend. There is a big football game against Williams, and many interesting lectures and programs. The Mighty Wes Women’s Soccer Team will be playing at Amherst in the semifinals of the NESCAC tournament. They have had a great run, and we wish them all the best. GO WES!
I don’t plan any further updates for now, but I do look forward to blogging about China, liberal education, theater and athletics. Anything but electricity.
As I wrote to you earlier today, Wesleyan is open and classes will be held on Wednesday. The situation with power and heat on campus remains fluid; there have been some power disruptions, and there will likely be more before everything is back to normal. But with the tolerance and goodwill of the Wesleyan community, we will find ways around obstacles and work together to resume our academic endeavors.
From a student perspective, we know these are not ideal conditions for resuming coursework. Student life has been disrupted, from access to the Internet to just having a warm place to sleep. From a faculty perspective, these have also been stressful times. Many professors still do not have power at home, and this has compromised their work and communications. Thus we resume classes in a context that is far from ideal. But we do think that having classes, even when assignments are not completed, is preferable to not having classes. We do expect that deadlines for work this week will be extended and examinations postponed into next week, while taking care not to then create an unrealistic compression of deadlines in the weeks to follow. Professors will be discussing particular arrangements with their students. Specific questions should be addressed to individual faculty members and, if need be, the divisional and class deans. I am so grateful for faculty who are finding ways to communicate with their students and plan their classes.
The Freeman Athletic Center now has electricity, and we will be bringing the facility online tomorrow. In regard to housing, the residence halls now have power. There will be a planned interruption overnight in some of the residence halls, but the impact should be minimal. Allow me to repeat what I said in this morning’s update concerning the wood-frames and program housing:
We realize that a significant number of our students living in program houses and in the wood-frames are still without power. We are making alternative sleeping quarters available for these students. Those who want to bunk with friends in the residence halls are encouraged to do so. Those who would like the university to find them a place to sleep until power is restored (and those who want to offer to take in a student needing a warm room) should contact Residential Life at: 860 685-3550. We will use common spaces and lounges in our residence halls and will open other venues as needed.
The Wesleyan staff, many of whom have already worked so hard during this crisis, will be reporting to work in full tomorrow unless otherwise instructed by their supervisors.
Meanwhile, we fully expect that Homecoming/Family Weekend will take place November 4-6. We may be a little ragged around the edges, but we are looking forward to welcoming the entire Wesleyan family back to Middletown at the end of the week. Students will be especially delighted to greet their families, and alumni will join us to cheer on the Red and Black.
Thank you again for your patience and support. Unless there is more news to be reported earlier, we will issue the next update at the end of the day tomorrow.
——
A lovely sunset from South College after a hectic day.
With the restoration of power to the core of the Wesleyan campus, the university will reopen and classes will resume on Wednesday, November 2.
We realize that a significant number of our students living in program houses and in the wood-frames are still without power. We are making alternative sleeping quarters available for these students. Those who want to bunk with friends in the residence halls are encouraged to do so. Those who would like the university to find them a place to sleep until power is restored (and those who want to offer to take in a student needing a warm room) should contact Residential Life at: 860 685-3550. We will use common spaces and lounges in our residence halls and will open other venues as needed.
By resuming classes we aim to return to the normal rhythms of our educational mission. The libraries will be open, and meals are being served in Usdan. We are hopeful that the Freeman Athletic Center will have power this afternoon. We are aware, of course, that this return to academic work may be challenging for students who are seeking alternative living arrangements through the aftermath of the storm. Those students who are not able to return to campus by tomorrow are encouraged to contact their professors to make appropriate arrangements to complete their assignments. We are asking faculty and students alike to be flexible.
Much of Connecticut is still without power, and many people, including students, faculty and staff, have been pitching in to help those in need. We want to encourage the Wesleyan community to work together to bring the campus back to full and happy functioning. As a community pulling together, we will make the most of this disrupted semester.
Thank you, as always, for your cooperation and support. We will send a further update at the end of the day today.
The following message was sent to the Wesleyan community this morning.
Dear Friends,
At 10:00 pm last night we were able to restore power to the central core of the Wesleyan campus, including most classrooms and the residence halls. However, the program houses, wood-frame houses, and the Freeman Athletic Center still have no power, and it is unclear when they will be brought back on line. We are in regular communication with CL&P, and, as you would expect, are making a strong case that power be restored to these facilities as quickly as possible.
The Usdan University Center is up and running, and we will be serving a hot brunch from 10- 2. Regular dinner service will resume this evening.
This morning we are evaluating all our facilities and will communicate again before noon today about the resumption of classes. We are hopeful that things will be back on track for Homecoming/Family Weekend, and we will send a communication in that regard before tomorrow (Wednesday) evening.
I am very grateful for the hard work of our staff during this difficult period. Many have worked extraordinarily long hours to get us back on track, even as their own homes were without power. I also want to thank the Wesleyan students and their families for their patience, good cheer and messages of support.
This is a message I sent this afternoon to the Wesleyan community. We will be sure to announce tomorrow before noon whether classes resume on Wednesday. Students should also know that there is a phone bank in 116 Science Center for anyone who wants to make a brief long distance call. Stay tuned for further updates.
Dear friends,
Although we are still hopeful that our own generators will be able to bring power back to parts of the central campus, the latest update from Connecticut Light and Power is disappointing. Given this latest news, we will cancel classes tomorrow, Tuesday. Only essential personnel should report to campus.
Recognizing that many students and faculty are away from campus, we will let everyone know by noon tomorrow whether classes resume on Wednesday. Also, we expect faculty to be flexible with student assignments, and that there will be a collective effort to figure out the best ways to complete the work of the semester.
Food will be available for students who remain on campus, and the Science Library will remain open as a shelter. We will provide updates regarding the situation on campus and in the Middletown area as they are available.
I appreciate that this has been a frustrating experience for members of the Wesleyan community eager for information and reassurance (and heat!). We will continue to share information as we get it and strive to resume educational activities as soon as it is prudent to do so.
The following was sent to students, faculty, staff and parents via email. On campus, we circulated the information with flyers. We will be sending another update this evening.
October 31, 2011
12:30pm
Dear friends,
As you probably know, the weekend’s snowstorm has wreaked havoc with many
of the power systems of the region. In particular, the Connecticut Light
and Power electrical grid has sustained unprecedented damage, and the
Middletown area has been without electricity since Sunday afternoon. This
has left Wesleyan without power in the central campus area for the first
time in memory. We have backup systems for emergency lighting and for our
servers, which have functioned properly. Medical services are available
at Middlesex Hospital, and Public Safety is available to any students in
need of assistance. We have provided a shelter area at the Science
Library and have been serving meals at the Usdan University Center.
Sandwiches will be available at Usdan today from 2 to 4 pm, and we will
provide further information about meals pending restoration of power.
We are working with local officials and our own engineers and are hopeful
that power will be restored to the central campus area sometime this
evening. This will happen in stages, and there likely will be
interruptions — a normal part of the process. Supplying electricity to
the wood frame houses and the surrounding area will take longer, and we
will send information in this regard (including places on campus where
students may stay) in the next 24 hours.
We do anticipate that classes will be held Tuesday.
The aftermath of the storm has been challenging, and I am grateful to the
staff, faculty and students who are all pulling together.
Imagine my surprise last night when my plane from Beijing touched down at JFK and I turned on my phone. Lots of messages about the weather, and then the big surprise: Middletown was without power, and even though our core of campus has underground cables feeding the buildings, Wesleyan, too, was dark. It was a cold night, but students could camp out in the warm science library or just hunker down together in the residence halls. Most chose the latter option, and, in good Wes spirit, took the blackout in stride. It’s a beautiful, brisk morning, and the students are safe and sound. We are serving a continental breakfast at 9 am this morning, and I look forward to seeing folks at Usdan.
Classes are cancelled today, and we will be letting students know more about campus services on an ongoing basis.
In a few hours we will know more about the power situation for the next 24 hours. I will be sending out an official communication in the early afternoon, and I will use this blog for any interim reports.
UPDATE: 9:40 am
Just came back from Usdan University Center, where a line of students were grabbing a healthy breakfast.
Breakfast at Usdan
Tree crews are out cleaning up the campus. Tough year for trees!
Yogurt, Fruit and Coffee Cake to Provide Energy for a Cold Morning
Chilly But Beautiful
As temperatures climb (we expect it to reach the 50s today), and students find food and camaraderie, we will be getting back to normal. A more official power report to come in a few hours.
Many people ask me why Wesleyan begins classes again this year on Labor Day, a holiday that celebrates the American worker and marks the unofficial end of summer. When the faculty approved the calendar a few years ago, we discussed the tradeoffs of either starting earlier (most were against that), or backing up too close to Christmas and winter holidays (a big problem for our students wanting to return home for break). We were also juggling the length of orientation and reading week. In the end, we decided that Labor Day would remain a holiday for most of the staff, but that faculty and students would begin their classes on the first Monday of September.
Labor is much on the mind for our students as they begin the term. Some of that is in the nature of choosing classes. A few students want to know “how hard is this class?” “How much work will I have to do?” This is almost always an impossible question to answer just by looking at the syllabus. Some professors assign ten books or more to read during the term, while others focus on one or two. That doesn’t mean that the class with the shorter reading list requires any less work. Just check out Brian Fay’s course reading Spinoza’s Ethics — no walk in the park, but a deep dive into a major philosophical work. The truth is that every class offers increased intellectual rewards the more work you give to it.
But labor is on the mind of our students and their families in a more general sense this year.The job situation in the United States is just awful, and it has been depressingly bad for far too long. At the end of last week we learned that the US economy created no new jobs in August, and in a few days President Obama is scheduled to give what is billed as a major address on jobs. The real wages of working men and women in America have been declining for several years now, as the gap between the rich and the rest grows impossibly wide. The most pressing question facing the American economy for the next decade is how we will create and sustain decent jobs. Everything else is a distraction.
It’s no wonder that already parents have begun asking me how I think our Wesleyan education is going to equip our students as they head off into the job market in the spring. One can certainly understand their anxiety. Although a college degree is clearly an advantage, the job market is just awful even for grads with an impressive diploma. After four years of a liberal arts education, what kind of labor will open to our new alumni?
The answer isn’t simple, but it is clear that employers are often looking for workers who can think creatively, solve problems, seek opportunities and be self-motivating. Employers, when they are able to hire for good jobs, are looking for people who can learn while they are working — folks who aren’t just wed to some single skill they learned in the classroom to deal with a challenge that may no longer be relevant. At Wesleyan we believe deeply in the translational liberal arts — a broad, pragmatic education through which one learns how to apply modes of thinking and innovation in a variety of contexts. Even as the contexts change (whether that be through technology, politics or the economy), we believe our students will be well equipped to make their way in the world. We believe our alumni will be at the forefront of those creating and sustaining the jobs of the future.
But this isn’t just an article of faith. Wesleyan also offers practical advice, internship information and personal connections through our Career Resource Center. The CRC is currently located in the Butterfield residence hall complex, and in January it will be moving into the center of campus (in the old Squash Building currently be renovated). Even as students start their classroom labors today, they should remember to pay a visit to the CRC sometime this semester.
