Wesleyan University

Standing Firmly for Justice and for Change

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Five years ago, Brian Stevenson delivered a powerful Commencement Address upon receiving an honorary doctorate from Wesleyan. He shared his decades of work fighting racial injustice and discrimination in the criminal justice system and told the Class of 2016 that changing the world requires four things: getting closer to the places “where there’s suffering and abuse and neglect”; “changing the narrative” about race in this country; staying hopeful; and being willing to do uncomfortable things.

Over the last year, many of us have felt uncomfortably close to the places where suffering, abuse and neglect are part of daily life. That proximity can be painful, but it is through this closeness, with hope for a better future, that we create change, that we pursue justice. This is a tradition of secular society and of the major faith traditions. “Justice, justice you shall pursue,” it is written in the Book of  Deuteronomy. And the Qur’an tells us to “stand out firmly” for justice — and to be its witness. We rededicate ourselves to this task.

Today Alison Williams (Vice-President for Equity and Inclusion) and I sent the following message to the Wesleyan community. 

Many of us breathed a sigh of relief when the Chauvin trial ended in guilty verdicts. But before we took our next breath, we remembered that acts of hate and injustice remain an ever-present reality for so many in our society. We acknowledge the fear, pain, and outrage over not only the terrible murder of George Floyd, but also over the racism, religious bigotry, transphobia and misogyny that continue to plague our country. We are not, of course, immune from these forms of injustice. The impact on our campus community is very real.

Advancing racial equity, inclusion and justice for people of all races and ethnicities is critical to achieving the safety and security of everyone. We will work collectively to stand against everything that perpetuates and fuels hatred, discrimination and violence against any members of our community.

To that end, we want you to be aware of the following virtual events hosted by the Office for Equity and Inclusion:

4 p.m. on Wednesday: An open Community Conversation and Reflection

https://wesleyan.zoom.us/j/2575792363

Password:  inclusion

Noon on Thursday: BIPOC Community Space

https://wesleyan.zoom.us/j/2575792363

Password:  inclusion

Both of these events will present opportunities for sharing and healing. In addition, students have organized a vigil for students of color on Friday afternoon, April 23.

If you are in need of well-being resources or support, students may reach out to CAPS at 860-685-2910 and faculty and staff may contact the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) at 800-854-1446.

Also, you may go on-line to Report a Hate Crime or Bias Incident at Wesleyan (you may remain anonymous if you wish) or incidents can also be reported directly to Public Safety, The Office for Equity and Inclusion, Human Resources, or the Office of Dean of Students.

The Office For Equity & Inclusion serves as a resource for and leader in equity initiatives on campus. As we continue to develop programming and advocate for initiatives that center equity and inclusion, we welcome the insights and ideas of all members of the Wesleyan community. We invite folks to reach out to any of us, or to send an email to inclusion@wesleyan.edu.

We continue to mourn those lives lost to violence, and we continue the work toward a more just future.

One Year In: Loss and Learning Together

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Looking back at some of my blog entries in March 2020, I was struck by the rapidly increasing urgency of my communications to the campus community, and the evolving understanding of the seriousness of the situation in which we all found ourselves. On March 1st I actually posted a book review I wrote on ruins, and little did I know how apt that would seem just a short time later. On March 31st I wrote about our Design and Engineering program making face shields for first responders. In between there were many messages about how we were moving classes online and striving to protect the most vulnerable members of our community.

A year later, I am filled with sadness for all of us who have suffered losses over the last twelve months, and I am filled with gratitude for the many contributions of our students, staff, faculty and alumni as we navigated the crisis. As I say in this video message, we must remain vigilant and strive to limit opportunities for virus transmission, but we can also see in the not-so-distant future a return to campus life of supportive intimacy rather than social distancing. It isn’t here yet, but with lots of hard work, cooperation, and some good luck, we should get there.


 

Dedicated Gratitude

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As Kari, Lola and I walked around campus this weekend, we saw many students packing up. Since Wesleyan decided to transition to remote classes a few days early, and since it’s good to isolate before Thanksgiving, we were not surprised to see students preparing to leave, having, we hope, received a negative COVID test in the last day or two. Still, I felt a pang of sadness as I watched the cars fill up with suitcases and furniture. It is already quieter. Even during the pandemic, the energy students bring to campus – masked, distanced and all – has been so enlivening.

“Enlivening” is a fine word for Wesleyan – and by it I mean something more than making the campus “appealing” or “entertaining,” which the dictionary tells me are the primary meanings of the word. I mean that our students, in concert with staff and faculty, make our campus come alive. They make it sing, and I’ll miss the amplitude and resonance of that song over the coming break. Of course, there will be some students on campus over the break, and we’ll do our best to support them. I’ll listen attentively to their singing until our friends return to our chorus when the next semester begins.

Enlivening is a good word, too, because it reminds us of our responsibility to keep one another safe, to keep the most vulnerable members of our community – literally – alive. More than a quarter of a million people in this country alone have died due to COVID-19. We should never lose our ability to be shocked by this public health tragedy. We can do better.

As we remember our losses, we should also remember our achievements: how we at Wesleyan pulled together over the last months to provide a “safe enough” place for liberal education. I am so grateful for the dedication of our staff, faculty and students, because it’s that dedication that made it possible for us to have a campus on which we could navigate with confidence, make new discoveries and find joy with friends.

I feel enlivened by that dedication. Here we may be masked, but we are not anonymous to one another. We connect, despite the pandemic restrictions. With all the tumult around us, I am so thankful for the efforts, the exuberance, and the caring attentiveness of the Wesleyan community. My Thanksgiving will be smaller this year, but my heart is filled with gratitude.

Wishing you a safe and joyful holiday!

Towards a Healthy Thanksgiving and End of the Semester

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For those of us on campus, we have two weeks of classes and residential life before the Thanksgiving holiday and long winter break. Kari and I have been very impressed with the mask wearing on campus. When we walk around with puppy Lola, folks are keeping their distance, though we also see people exercising, eating meals, and generally hanging out in small groups. It’s seemed safe enough, though everyone is conscious that the safety is fragile, and that we must remain vigilant against the spread of Covid.

Of course, now we are in mid-November, and the spread of the pandemic is accelerating around the country. Even Connecticut, which had been very successful in keeping the virus more or less under control, has seen an increase in the number of cases over the last month. For that reason, we have restricted our students to campus for all but essential local travel, making sure we maximize our chances to keep contagion at bay. There has been a moderate increase in positive tests over the past week, and so we want to be especially vigilant for these last 10 days. Wear your masks, maintain social distance, and keep washing your hands thoroughly—wherever you are. And of course, avoid large groups and keep your testing schedule as long as you are on campus. We want everyone to have a healthy holiday, and the Connecticut Department of Public Health has issued a holiday gathering preparation guide with good advice to reduce risk associated with holiday celebrations.

The last weeks of every semester can be stressful, and they can also be rewarding. Let’s stay healthy and get the reward of a more relaxing, healthy, holiday break.

 

On Two of My Great Teachers & Intellectual Diversity

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A few weeks ago, I was interviewed about teachers who made an impact on my life. I’ve been very fortunate in this regard, having benefitted from mentors who very generously helped me set out on a path of learning and teaching. I chose to talk about two of my Wesleyan teachers, Henry Abelove and Victor Gourevitch. They were very different kinds of teachers, but what united them was an uncanny ability to invite students into deeply attentive modes of reading. That kind of attention, I think, is a model for so many other things in life.

I was also asked by Bob Greenberg (who puts together the Brainwaves video anthology) about why I think intellectual diversity is so important. Here’s my response.

These ARE dangerous times. The election is only 10 days from now. Make a plan to vote!

Tough Times, But There ARE Jobs Out there!!!

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After folks have gotten settled in to their semester routines, Octobers are usually a very busy time at the Gordon Career Center. And this year is no exception. Surprised? I was, too. After all, unemployment is high, and the pandemic is having a dramatic impact on the workforce. Yet, companies and not-for-profits are still recruiting, and many of them are interested in college graduates with a well-rounded education. In changing times, those practiced in liberal learning are empowered to continue to adapt and make contributions to the organizations of which they are a part.

The Gordon Career Center has many resources to help Wesleyan students navigate the current internship and job environment. Most importantly, a visit with the staff at the GCC will help students reflect more deeply on the connections between what they are studying at the University and the the kinds of work they would like to explore after their undergraduate years. Becoming more intentional and strategic about their work goals will serve them well in the long run.

The GCC is open for operation virtually, with 100 events still to go this semester. They include information sessions with employers like the National Health Corps, Urban Teachers, and Venture for America; “Ask Me Anything” conversations with career advisors; and Cardinal Connection meetings with alumni in a variety of fields.

The Executive Director of the GCC, Sharon Belden Castonguay recently answered questions on Coursera Live about finding meaningful work in our current context. You can find a link to her presentation here, and, better yet, you can find out more about connecting with the staff at the Gordon Career Center here.

Good luck!

Resist Governmental Attempts to Undermine Anti-Racism

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These days there are so many national issues of concern to those in higher education that it can be difficult to decide which one to focus on when. This difficulty generally serves the interests of the current administration, which constantly seeks to shift attention away from non-partisan challenges (climate change, Covid-19) toward partisan issues (law and order, pro-life judges) that it can use to galvanize its base of support. Another such issue has just been manufactured by the Department of Education, and it is one that we in Higher-Ed must focus on now.

About a week ago, the DOE announced a potential investigation of Princeton University – and the issue was race. This shouldn’t be too surprising. After all, the Trump administration had allied itself with the group suing Harvard University over its affirmative action policies (Harvard won the suit, and there is an appeal in process), and it has begun an investigation of Yale University over its use of race in admissions. Now it’s  Princeton being targeted. Christopher L. Eisgruber, the university’s president, had announced to the community that the school would do its best to root out legacies of racism, and that they would work to build a more inclusive community by recognizing that “racist assumptions from the past also remain embedded in structures of the university itself.”

Enter the DOE,  which wants to investigate Princeton because it has “admitted” to racism. Assistant Secretary of Education Robert King writes that since the university has acknowledged that systemic racism affects its campus even today—a problem affecting higher education institutions across the country which they too are working to address—it may not be entitled to the federal aid it has received since that aid was predicated on declarations of non-discrimination. With language right out of George Orwell’s doublespeak dictionary, the DOE threatens a university with failure to be non-discriminatory because it is trying to become less racist.

It would be easy to just shake one’s head at this latest abuse of power, but we in higher education have a duty to call out such harassment and hypocrisy.  During a pandemic, schools, colleges and universities need all the help they can get to protect the most vulnerable members of their communities – especially people of color who are disproportionately affected by this crisis. Instead of helping educational institutions fulfill their obligations to their students and the nation, the DOE engages in cynical attacks on those aiming to strengthen their communities.

Amherst College President Biddy Martin and I have asked dozens of schools to stand against this outrageous attempt to stifle positive change through the statement below. We have been gratified by the response. We stand together in the conviction that trying to serve all members of our communities should not be made the target of costly federal investigations.

 

September 24, 2020

Wesleyan University’s President, Michael Roth, and Amherst College’s President, Biddy Martin, have written the following statement regarding the DOE’s investigation of Princeton surrounding racism and adherence to federal non-discrimination law:

Across the nation, individuals, families, communities, businesses, corporations, and educational institutions are coming to grips with the country’s legacies of slavery and racial oppression,  which stretch back over four hundred years. Recently, the U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education announced that it will be investigating Princeton University for possible misrepresentations in its reports of adherence to federal non-discrimination law because its president publicly recognized that historic racism has been embedded in the institution over time.

It is outrageous that the Department of Education is using our country’s resources to investigate an institution that is committed to becoming more inclusive by reckoning with the impact in the present of our shared legacies of racism.

As presidents of colleges and universities, we, too, acknowledge the ways that racism has affected and continues to affect the country’s institutions, including our own. We stand together in recognizing the work we still need to do if we are ever “to perfect the union,” and we urge the  Department of Education to abandon its ill-considered investigation of Princeton University.

Michael Roth, President, Wesleyan University
Biddy Martin, President, Amherst College

Jeff Abernathy, Alma College
Barbara K. Altmann, Franklin & Marshall College
Carmen Twillie Ambar, Oberlin College
Teresa L. Amott, Knox College
David R. Anderson, St. Olaf College
Joseph E. Aoun, Northeastern University
Roslyn Clark Artis, Benedict College
Lawrence Bacow, Harvard University
Bradley W. Bateman, Randolph College
Sian Leah Beilock, Barnard College
Joanne Berger-Sweeney, Trinity College
Scott Bierman, Beloit College
Lee C. Bollinger, Columbia University
Leon Botstein, Bard College
Elizabeth H. Bradley, Vassar College
John Bravman, Bucknell University
Robert A. Brown, Boston University
Mark Burstein, Lawrence University
Alison Byerly, Lafayette College
Michael T. Cahill, Brooklyn Law School
Roger Casey, McDaniel College
Kimberly Cassidy, Bryn Mawr College
Shirley M. Collado, Ithaca College
Paul Condrin, Bentley University
Marc C. Conner, Skidmore College
Nancy Crimmin, Becker College
Ronald J. Daniels, Johns Hopkins University
Elizabeth Davis, Furman University
Sean M. Decatur, Kenyon College
Kent Devereaux, Goucher College
Harry Dumay, Elms College
Sister Janet Eisner, Emmanuel College
Harry J. Elam, Jr., Occidental College
Margee Ensign, Dickinson College
Damián J. Fernández, Eckerd College
Jacquelyn S. Fetrow, Albright College
David Fithian, Clark University
Carol L. Folt, University of Southern California
William L Fox, St. Lawrence University
Michael L. Frandsen, Wittenberg University
John Fry, Drexel University
Jorge G. Gonzalez, Kalamazoo College
Jonathan D. Green, Susquehanna University
Amy Gutmann, University of Pennsylvania
Philip J. Hanlon, Dartmouth College
Dennis Hanno, Wheaton College
Kathleen Harring, Muhlenberg College
Anne F. Harris, Grinnell College
David Harris, Union College
Majorie Hass, Rhodes College
Antoinette Hays, Regis College
Elizabeth L. Hillman, Mills College
Jonathan Holloway, Rutgers University
Lily Hsu, Laboure College
Joyce Jacobsen, Hobart & William Smith Colleges
Paula Johnson, Wellesley College
Rock Jones, Ohio Wesleyan University
Marisa Kelly, Suffolk University
Cristle Collins Judd, Sarah Lawrence College
Thomas Katsouleas, University of Connecticut
Water Kimbrough, Dillard University
Maria Klawe, Harvey Mudd College
John C. Knapp, Washington & Jefferson College
Frederick M. Lawrence, Phi Beta Kappa Society
Laurie Leshin, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Ronald D. Liebowitz, Brandeis University
Hilary L. Link, Allegheny College
Maud S. Mandel, Williams College
Biddy Martin, Amherst College
Michael C. Maxey, Roanoke College
Dwight A. McBride, The New School
Kathleen McCartney, Smith College
Patricia A. McGuire, Trinity Washington University
Scott D. Miller, Virginia Wesleyan University
Anthony Monaco, Tufts University
Kathleen Murray, Whitman College
S. Georgia Nugent, Illinois Wesleyan University
Melvin L. Oliver, Pitzer College
Lynn Pasquerella, Association of American Colleges & Universities
Laurie L. Patton, Middlebury College
Christina Paxson, Brown University
Lee Pelton, Emerson College
Martha E. Pollack, Cornell University
Steven Poskanzer, Carleton College
Vincent Price, Duke University
Wendy Raymond, Haverford College
Ravi S. Rajan, California Institute of the Arts (CalArts)
L. Rafael Reif, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mary Lou Retelle, Anna Maria College
Suzanne Rivera, Macalester College
Paula Rooney, Dean College
Clayton Rose, Bowdoin College
Thomas F. Rosenbaum, California Institute of Technology
Michael S. Roth, Wesleyan University
Peter Salovey, Yale University
Ruth J. Simmons, Prairie View A&M University
Valerie Smith, Swarthmore College
Jane Snyder, Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis
Timothy Law Snyder, Loyola Marymount University
Clayton Spencer, Bates College
G. Gabrielle Starr, Pomona College
Kurt Steinberg, Montserrat College of Art
Sonya Stephens, Mount Holyoke College
Tania Tetlow, Loyola University New Orleans
Lara Tiedens, Scripps College
Stephen E. Thorsett, Willamette University
Laura Trombley, Southwestern University
Laura R. Walker, Bennington College
Jianping Wang, Mercer County Community College
Wim Wiewel, Lewis & Clark College
Edward Wingenbach, Hampshire College
David Wippman, Hamilton College

After Week 1 of Quarantine Classes Begin

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Students began arriving on campus in large numbers one week ago, and I can share how happy I am to see the campus animated with the energy the semester brings. Today is the first day of classes, and, as most of you know, this week everyone is studying remotely. The faculty have worked with creativity and diligence in constructing courses that will stimulate and instruct in this most unusual context. Wesleyan teachers want to connect with the students, and we will find ways to do so despite the constraints created by the pandemic.

We have given a few thousand tests, and so far we have had two positive employee cases (and those people are in isolation), and we have had two students thus far who have tested positive. The students don’t have symptoms and are in supportive isolation until they are medically cleared to return to campus. We also have had several students who informed us of having tested positive before leaving for Middletown. They are staying home until medically cleared to return to campus when they are no longer contagious. You can find our testing results on this dashboard, which will be updated at least twice weekly.

As a reminder, we’ll be testing all students twice weekly to allow us to detect COVID in the pre-symptomatic or asymptomatic stage and to isolate any infected students and their close contacts in order to stop the spread of the disease. We’ll also be testing faculty and staff who are working on campus. More information on testing frequency and schedules is available on our Testing website.

Students remain in quarantine this week, although in addition to being able to grab meals and exercise they can socialize in small groups with folks from their residences. The size of gatherings will be crucial all semester. If we do have contagion, we can control spread if the tracing of contacts doesn’t lead us to large groups. I am delighted to see everyone wearing masks on campus, and folks seem to be taking the situation with the seriousness it deserves. They are also clearly thrilled to be on campus. Please continue to wear masks and remind others to do the same!

I am so proud of the staff who have put together this complex operation. The operations team, with Rick Culliton as the point person, has done exemplary work. They even had to deal with a tornado watch! Happily, we only had brief rain delays. Bon Appetit has done extraordinary work making delicious food available at multiple locations. There have certainly been the occasional lines, but we are doing our best to remind folks to maintain social distance as they await their meal choices.

We will need to remain vigilant and creative in order to make the most of this semester. I’m looking forward to meeting my film and philosophy class this evening. It will be good to connect!

This is Our Home – Let’s Protect it Together!

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Today the Wesleyan Student Assembly sent out a final announcement before students start coming back to campus to begin their two-week quarantine and start classes. They forcefully and eloquently describe what’s at stake as we try to keep our campus safe during the pandemic. I’m grateful for the permission to cross-post.

Although what has happened at some universities across the country over the past week may be unnerving, we believe that Wesleyan is well-equipped for a safe residential experience on campus this Fall. Faculty and staff alike have been working extremely hard to make it possible. It is now up to us, the student body, to step up and start to do our part, too, as we begin to return to campus starting tomorrow.

The COVID 101 Moodle and the COVID Community Agreement have clearly outlined the set of guidelines and expectations for residential students this semester. Though they may be restrictive and inevitably make Fall 2020 an abnormal semester, they are necessary to maintain a safe campus for anyone who needs it. If you find those guidelines too restrictive and personally impossible to adhere to, we urge you to rethink your decision to return to campus this Fall. Having the ability to return to campus is a privilege within itself. For many students, Wesleyan has become a home and a safe haven. For many others, an on-campus experience and the community it brings, even at a 6 feet distance and with a mask on, is critical for their academic success. That is why Wesleyan staff have gone to great lengths and pains to set up appropriate health and safety protocols, reconfigure essential services in accordance to COVID guidelines, and invest in a robust testing technology.

However, frequent testing, as Prof. Cohan and Prof. Johnston have emphasized in their COVID101 lecture, will not be enough for us to think that we are automatically in a safe bubble. So make no mistake. This bubble does not magically build itself. It takes a village to build and takes even more to preserve, but it only takes one person, possibly with one urging idea to have one party with friends, however small, whether on campus or off campus, for that bubble to burst entirely and completely. So let’s not risk it. Too many people have worked too hard to set us up for success, and too much deliberation and planning have gone into all of your decision to return to campus already; too much is at stake for any of us to take such risks and be sent home 2 weeks into the semester. It is always better to err on the side of caution instead of being left with some residue of guilt. So keep your mask on even though it seems unbearably hot when you are outside of your residence, and make sure it covers both your mouth and your nose! Remember that it is 6 feet and not 5 feet and a half apart. This arrival season, show your love and care for friends, faculty and staff who you have dearly missed not by the kisses and the hugs, but by wearing a mask and keeping your distance. As Dr. McLarney has said in his last email to the campus on Wednesday, you may not be able to control what others do, but you can do your part. You can lead by example. You can help reinforce and strengthen those new norms of health guidelines on campus. It is possible.

Our return to campus this Fall will be abnormal, but it can also be phenomenal. A residential experience this Fall means that many students will have access to secure housing and several other important on-campus resources to fulfill their academic endeavor. Many people will get to keep their jobs. It will also mean Middletown can be lively again. Indeed, according to Mayor Ben Florsheim in a conversation between the WSA leadership and Middletown officials last month, local businesses have been longing for Wesleyan students to come and “bring the business back to town” since we left last March. Many will benefit from our students’ presence and care for the community at large. But please remember that those benefits can only be reaped if we all adhere to guidelines and practice our individual and collective responsibility that goes hand in hand together. In returning to campus this Fall, we all sign a community agreement. It is not a matter of legality or liability. Rather, it is a matter of life and death. It is a new social contract built upon the long-standing values of community and trust that should transcend all political, cultural or personal boundaries. It is a social contract that simply cannot afford a single rebel. We trust that cardinals care, because this is our community. This is our home. So let’s do our best to protect it.

Welcome back home, Cardinals!

Anna Nguyen, Student Life Committee Chair

Ben Garfield, Academic Affairs Committee Chair

Felicia Soderberg, President