community

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 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]

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]

A Time for Recollection

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In the weeks leading up to the end of this semester, my thoughts have often turned to the awful events of a year ago when a vicious attack took the life of Johanna Justin-Jinich ’10. Our community was profoundly shaken by this murderous hate crime, and the sorrow we felt then will continue to ripple in our lives.

I recently received a message from Johanna’s uncle, Eric Justin, who was sending me news of the family members I’d been in contact with last spring. He related how pleased he and the family are to have grown closer to Johanna’s friends from Wesleyan. He described them as a “Godsend,” and was so proud to learn that a group of Wes students are naming a women’s health clinic in Kenya in his niece’s honor.

I was particularly moved by a letter I received earlier this year from Johanna’s grandmother, Renate, a holocaust survivor who now is writing her own life story in book form.  Renate also sent me a book that Johanna had written and illustrated when she was about the age of my own daughter. The subject was anti-Semitism and how to acknowledge and overcome it.

Tomorrow, the anniversary of Johanna’s death, we will gather for a brief moment together on the steps of Memorial Chapel. The bells of South College will ring at 1:00 pm. A few words will be offered, we will say Kaddish, the ancient Jewish prayer of mourning and praise, and then we will be silent together. I hope that wherever members of the extended Wesleyan family may find themselves tomorrow at a few minutes after 1 o’clock, they will join with us in this community of silence and remembrance.

[tags]Johanna Justin-Jinich ’10, Eric Justin, Renate,  mourning, remembrance[/tags]

Let’s Prevent Sexual Violence

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All colleges and universities in this country have developed policies and procedures to prevent rape and other violent crimes. But still these problems continue. No institution can afford to be complacent in this regard. At Wesleyan there have recently been a number of important conversations concerning sexual (gender) violence/prevention, and I applaud the efforts to bring these important and difficult issues to the fore.  I also want to acknowledge the work of faculty, students, and staff, which not long ago led to the revision of our sexual misconduct and assault policy as well as to the creation of our Sexual Assault Resource Team (SART). SART consists of staff who serve as resources and advocate for students reporting offenses along with an intern for Wesleyan’s Health Services.  We are engaged in a search to hire a Director of Health Education whose responsibilities include prevention and education around sexual violence and health. We also will continue to seek advice and recommendations from students, faculty and parents — whether they call for a dedicated staff position or any other idea for how to better deal with these issues.

Far too often on college campuses incidents of sexual violence go unreported, and I want to express my admiration for those who courageously come forward. Irrespective of questions of guilt or innocence in any particular case, the more attention we can bring to this awful problem, the better we can address it. There have been student, parent, staff, and faculty meetings this year to discuss the steps necessary to make Wesleyan an even safer environment in which all students can thrive. In order to build on these efforts, I have asked vice-presidents Sonia Manjon (Diversity and Strategic Partnerships) and Mike Whaley (Student Affairs) to lead a task force to gather the best thinking from the faculty, students and staff that should lead to further improvements to our policies and staffing. I expect to receive their recommendations by the end of the calendar year.

Violence, including the heinous crime of sexual violence, has no place on this campus. This is a lesson that was seared into our community’s memory a year ago. It is a foundational principle here, and we welcome the opportunity to review our policies and procedures with the goal of asserting and living up to that principle as strongly and consistently as we can.

[tags]sexual violence, Sexual Assault Resource Team, Director of Health Education, Sonia Manjon, Mike Whaley[/tags]

Celebration and Remembrance

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Today I sent the following message to the campus community:

The end of spring semester, traditionally a time of celebration at Wesleyan, also brings to mind the sad events of a year ago. May 6 marks the first anniversary of the tragic death of Johanna Justin-Jinich ’10. This year, May 6 also happens to mark the end of the semester, traditionally a day when students gather for “Spring Fling” to celebrate their achievements. I know many on campus are uneasy about participating in festivities this year, and I wanted to acknowledge that uneasiness even as we prepare to both mark the end of the school year and mourn our great loss of a year ago. A list of events honoring Johanna’s memory will be sent around soon.

We continue to work and live as a community, and this year we anticipate our annual May celebration being mindful of this tragedy. We all choose to commemorate, celebrate or grieve in different ways. Some of us prefer privacy, others seek out friends or groups. Some of us will pray or reflect, others will dance and sing. We are providing our community – students, faculty, staff and others – with a variety of options to gather together for remembrance, reflection as well as celebration. We have the freedom to pay our respects and remember in whatever way we choose.

Spring Fling has long marked the end of classes, and it still does. The fact that we have chosen not to abandon that tradition is not a sign of disrespect, but it is a sign that we will not change the culture of our campus because of a senseless act of violence. Spring is here. Let us celebrate, and let us remember.

[tags]Johanna Justin-Jinich ’10, semester’s end, Spring Fling, mourning, remembrance[/tags]

MoCon Decision

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When I began my tenure as President of Wesleyan in the summer of 2007, I strolled over to my old Foss Hill room just across from the entrance to McConaughy Dining Hall. Standing in the circular driveway between my frosh dorm and the dining hall, I could almost hear the music that my roommate Richie and I blasted through the speakers we’d set in the window. On that Arrival Day in August 1975, we decided to announce our start as Wesleyan students by turning up the volume on Bob Dylan’s Like A Rolling Stone: How does it FEEEEL?

But in the summer of 2007 MoCon stood empty, and I wondered what the previous administration had envisioned for it. I soon learned that in planning the Usdan University Center, various uses for MoCon were studied but that none seemed feasible.  I began making my own inquiries: MoCon as small theater? art gallery? studios? residence?  Nothing seemed to work either economically or architecturally. The building just didn’t accommodate the needs we had, or, if we tried to make the structure fit those needs, it became just too expensive.

Still, I really hoped to solve this riddle. I thought back to the great Pete Seeger concert I saw in MoCon, or to the night that Keith Jarrett walked off stage because a bottle rolled down the stairs. (He came back. We listened.) I don’t remember any particular meals, but I have plenty of memories of the great people I met in the building. And I know that thousands of other Wesleyan alumni have their own memories anchored to the same spot.

So this winter I went back to the numbers and to the architects (and I walked through the building). We are presently undertaking an exciting renovation of the Squash Courts, and we just finished a revitalization of Davenport-Allbritton that is a great success. I’d hoped to find something parallel with MoCon. I talked with a friend who is a campus architect and my architectural collaborator at California College of the Arts. We had done wonderful re-use projects in San Francisco, and I thought we might come up with something for Wesleyan. But our brainstorming about MoCon didn’t prove fruitful as we drilled down on a variety of ideas. I again consulted with alumni in the field as well as with knowledgeable people on our own faculty. The conclusions, alas, were the same.

In order to keep McConaughy as an active part of campus we either have to invent a need that the current structure could meet, or we have to re-build the dining hall as something else in order to “preserve it.” Dividing up its great open space for some specific purpose that is antithetical to its design doesn’t really keep MoCon, nor does replacing all its essential components for use as an outdoor pavillion. And the expense would be staggering….millions over the next few years.

Ideas for reusing MoCon have been solicited for years, and delaying a decision any further seems to me irresponsible. So, with great reluctance I have reached the conclusion that we will not be able to maintain McConaughy. Instead, we’ll disassemble the building and recycle almost all its materials. Sometimes buildings reach the end of their lives, and this is what has happened with MoCon.

I know some students and alumni will be disappointed, and, like me, they will miss the cool circular structure that was part stage, part ballroom, part spaceship. We will find another space to dedicate to the memory of President McConaughy. In a week or so, we will post on the homepage a link to a site that highlights the events that took place at MoCon while encouraging readers to post their own memories of the dining hall.

I remember Dylan’s question: “How does it feel?” The answer is, “It stinks.” But the alternatives feel even worse.  So, this summer we will say goodbye to McConaughy Dining Hall. As for that spot in front of my old Foss Hill room, we will restore the hillside.  As Construction Services Consultant Alan Rubacha noted in The Argus:  “We will allow water that used to run into storm drains to percolate into the earth. We will provide a much needed open space for birds.  This open space will provide spectacular views into and out of Foss Hill.”

I will surely miss McConaughy. But I try to look forward to those new perspectives.

[tags]MoCon, USDAN, California College of the Arts, Foss Hill, Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger, McConaughy Dining Hall[/tags]

Quiet Campus….People Working

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I have been traveling for Wesleyan a lot recently, and it’s always good to return home to campus. During mid March, though, the place is startlingly  quiet. Many of the administrators take some vacation time before the final big push to Commencement, and faculty are busy grading papers or exams and trying to make progress on research projects. Looking out my office window toward Foss Hill, I see the physical plant staff (led by Dave Hall) getting the field ready for the baseball team, but otherwise there is  little visible activity.

But many students have been extremely busy during the March break. Let’s start with the athletes. Baseball is off to a great start, winning its first eight games against an impressive variety of opponents. Julian Sonnenfeld ’11 has been hitting up a storm, as has Talia Bernstein ’11 on the softball team. Softball also won its first eight games! The tennis teams are also starting off strong, with Genevieve Aniello ’13 for the women and Michael Piderit ’12 for the men having fine early seasons. The lacrosse teams have been hard at work, with Teddy Citrin ’12 for the men and Jess Chukwu ’11 and Erin McCarthy ’10 for the women playing like scoring machines. Crew is rowing back in CT after a very successful southern swing.

My athletic activities are just to keep the pounds off, and in the gym yesterday I ran into Greg Hurd ’10, who just finished a great wrestling career at Wesleyan. But no rest for the weary, as he’s now hard at work on his senior thesis in Earth and Environmental Science. Greg has spent a considerable amount of time doing fieldwork in the Southwest and is now writing up the results. There are many thesis writers on campus making the final push. Art projects will be going up soon, and I especially look forward to seeing Gregory James’s ’10 installation. Rebecca Krisel ’10 is writing on counter-insurgency, while Emma Van Susteren ’10 is focusing on the slow food movement. Kalen Flynn ’10 is writing about holocaust historiography and its effect on how we think about the representation of the past more generally. These are just a few of the theses that young scholars, artists, writers and scientists are busy bringing to completion. No spring break for them!

Not all senior projects take the form of theses. Some are writing stories, essays, or engaged in community service projects. Sam Hart is majoring in Chemistry and Molecular Biology, but he decided to do an art project that brings together his scientific and aesthetic interests. In addition to building the piece, he has written a computer program that will bring his sculpture to life through moving color field patterns. Check it out in the Zilkha Gallery in mid April.

Good work is its own reward, but sometimes there’s more.   Wes senior Liana Woskie has just won a Watson Fellowship ($25,000!) in support of her project entitled “Bringing Primary Healthcare Home: The Community Health Worker, Bangladesh, India, Thailand, Tanzania, Lesotho. In the words of  Cleveland Johnson, Director of the Watson Fellowship Program, “Watson Fellows are passionate learners, creative thinkers, and motivated self-starters who are encouraged to dream big but demonstrate feasible strategies for achieving their fellowship goals.”  No surprise to me that a Wes student is one of this year’s winners!

Congratulations to Liana and to all Wes students who are giving their all!

[tags]Julian Sonnenfeld ’11, Talia Bernstein ’11, Genevieve Aniello ’13, Michael Piderit ’12, Teddy Citrin ’12, Jess Chukwu ’11, Erin McCarthy ’10, Greg Hurd ’10, Gregory James ’10, Rebecca Krisel ’10, Emma Van Susteren ’10, Kalen Flynn ’10, Sam Hart ’10, Liana Woskie ’10, Watson Fellowship[/tags]

Congrats Rae Armantrout and Wes Press!

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The National Book Critics Circle award in poetry went to Rae Armantrout’s Versed. The announcement praised the book “for its demonstration of superb intellect and technique, its melding of experimental poetics but down-to-earth subject matter to create poems you are compelled to return to, that get richer with each reading.” Rae Armantrout has been celebrated as a great American poet, and we are proud to publish her at Wesleyan University Press.

Our small but mighty Wes Press has been making a distinctive and powerful contribution to American poetry for decades. Congratulations to all for this latest recognition of the extraordinary quality of Wesleyan University Press!

[tags]Rae Armantrout, Wes Press, National Book Critics Circle Award, Versed[/tags]

Our Hearts Go Out

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Kari and I were returning from New York Sunday morning when we heard the news of the explosion at the Kleen Energy plant in Middletown. The blast was felt on campus and for miles around. The city contacted Wesleyan’s Community Emergency Response team to help with disaster relief at the explosion site, and I am grateful for the efforts of our staff. Don Albert and Stacy Baldwin helped tow a portable hospital to the site, and Bill Nelligan has, as usual, been indefatigable in lending a hand wherever needed. Cliff Ashton and Ricky Howard have also been providing support for the search and rescue efforts.

Our hearts go out to the victims of yesterday’s explosion and their families.

[tags]Kleen Energy Plant, explosion, Middletown[/tags]