At Wesleyan, there’s celebration in difference. And during his WesFest welcome address, President Michael S. Roth ’78 encouraged students to listen to other perspectives to learn as much as possible so they can benefit from those differences. “You're not going to learn much from other people—faculty or other students—who share all your views or your experiences,” Roth said. “When we talk about the value of diversity, we don't just mean demographics—that's part of it, of course, life experience, that's part of it—we want you to encounter people whose views are different from your own.” At WesFest, admitted, and some committed,…

Wesleyan’s seniors gathered on the steps of Olin Memorial Library on April 17 for a champagne toast to celebrate the submission of their theses—a culmination of hundreds of hours of research and effort. Here are a selection of images from the event:

In this continuing series, we review alumni books and offer a selection for those in search of knowledge, insight, and inspiration. The volumes, sent to us by alumni, are forwarded to Olin Memorial Library as donations to the University’s collection and made available to the Wesleyan community. In honor of Earth Month, this edition of YJHTRT highlights stories and subjects of climate change, nature conservation, environmentalism. Chris Coggins ’85, P’15, ’22 (with Bixia Chen), Sacred Forests of Asia: Spiritual Ecology and the Politics of Nature Conservation (Routledge) Explore the history and cultural relevance of the sacred forests of Asia by…

The Wesleyan Board of Trustees voted to increase tuition by 4.4 percent for the 2024-25 academic year, to $69,652. The Residential Comprehensive Fee (RCF) will be $19,872. The Student Activity Fee will be $390 following a resolution passed by the Wesleyan Student Association, (WSA) and approved through an all-campus referendum. The total cost of attendance will be $89,914. Wesleyan recognizes that increases in cost of attendance can create financial difficulties for families and remains committed to increasing access its education. The University announced in September 2023 that it would meet all demonstrated financial need and no longer include loans as…

Basinger Recognized for Contributions to Film Jeanine Basinger, Corwin Fuller Professor of Film Studies, Emerita, will receive the Turner Class Movies Classic Film Festival’s Robert Osborne Award, which recognizes an “individual who has helped keep the cultural heritage of classic film alive for future generations.” Basinger spoke with The Hollywood Reporter Magazine about her career. “It’s a great honor to be associated in any way with TCM and the late Bob Osborne and to be in the company of [Martin Scorsese]; Leonard [Maltin], who I’ve known since he was a teenager; and Kevin [Brownlow] and Donald [Bogle],” Basinger said. “We…

A Wesleyan University faculty member and alumnus were two of 188 newly announced Guggenheim Fellows, according to the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation on April 11. Hari Krishnan, professor of Dance, Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and Global South Asian studies, received a fellowship for his work in choreography. Tavia Nyong’o ’95, William Lampson Professor of Theater and Performance Studies, American Studies, and African American Studies at Yale University, received one for Theatre Arts & Performance Studies. “It means everything to me. It’s a recognition of the work I do, the breadth of my eclectic choreography for over 30 years,” Krishnan said. “This recognition from Guggenheim is also a recognition…

The word “liberalism” is a tricky thing. As The New Yorker magazine staff writer Adam Gopnik discovered while promoting his 2019 book A Thousand Small Sanities: The Moral Adventure of Liberalism, its variants carry different political baggage from one Western country to the next. Its breadth renders it ideologically elusive, encompassing societies with social democracies, free markets, and shades of grey. Lately, its survival has come into question even in places where its future once seemed assured. But last Thursday in front of a near-capacity audience at the Frank Center for Public Affairs, Gopnik spoke passionately of liberalism’s origins, what…

Student-veteran Desaree Edwards ’25 was one of 60 student leaders selected as Truman Scholars in 2024, the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation announced on April 12. Truman Scholars demonstrate outstanding leadership potential, a commitment to a career in government or the nonprofit sector, and academic excellence. Each Truman Scholar receives funding for graduate studies, leadership training, career counseling, and special internship and fellowship opportunities within the federal government. Edwards aims to go to law school to become a legal advocate for adult survivors of human trafficking. She said she specifically wants to see federal expansion of the Trafficking Victims Protection…

When Gad Nkurunziza ’27 excelled in sixth grade in the Burera district of Rwanda, his school’s headmaster gave him a chicken for his academic achievements. That single chicken introduced Nkurunziza’s family to poultry farming and transformed their lives, he said. Soon, Nkurunziza will bestow the same gift onto other families in his village, with the hopes it will help bring prosperity to his home community. “We as youths are able to not only impact our own lives, but also impact others,” Nkurunziza said. “I believe that society can change for the better. This [can] be done if we put creativity…

Foss Hill is the place for gatherings. Commencement, Spring Fling, baseball games, the first snow fall. They are all occasions for people to grace the grass. Some do it in the spirit of achievement and others in the name of pure, good ‘ole fashioned fun. On April 8, hundreds of Wesleyan students, faculty, staff, and local community members came together on the University green for a different reason—wonder—as a partial solar eclipse passed above them. The Astronomy Department hosted an eclipse viewing on Foss Hill and in the Van Vleck Observatory in partnership with the Russell Library. Organizers passed out…

The exhibition “Dürer and His Time,” on display at the new Pruzan Art Center, is an example of a Wesleyan art education at work. Students in the course “Curatorial Workshop: The Northern Renaissance Print” examined prints in the Davison Art Collection from a pivotal moment in Western tradition in order to pull together the exhibition. It’s a curation of works by renowned German painter and printmaker Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) and select artists from the collection. Assistant Professor of Art History and Medieval Studies Joseph Salvatore Ackley, who teaches the course, guided the student’s research, while Miya Tokumitsu, the Donald T.…

Since the 2016 presidential election of Donald Trump, legal scholars, political pundits, professors of history, and others have debated whether the United States has taken a turn from democracy toward fascism. Some say it has. Others argue it has not. The very uncertainty about what has or has not happened gave rise to Assistant Professor of History Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins’ new book, “Did it Happen Here? Perspectives on Fascism and America.” It’s an anthology of texts from thought leaders from certain periods in the 20th and 21st centuries who take positions on the state of fascism in America. Many of the…

At WesFest, Admitted Students Share Opinions on Diversity of Thought, Open Curriculum

Gallery: Wesleyan Senior Celebrate Theses Submissions

“You Just Have to Read This…”: Books by Wesleyan Authors Coggins ’85, P’15, ’22, Gumbiner ’11, and LaBennett ’94

Tuition to Increase For 2024-25 Academic Year

Wesleyan in the News: April 2024

Wesleyan Faculty, Alumnus Awarded Guggenheim Fellowships in Choreography, Theatre

Democracy Demands Passionate Defense, Says Adam Gopnik of The New Yorker

Student Veteran Named Truman Scholar

Student’s Agricultural Project in Rwanda Wins Davis Projects for Peace Grant

Gallery: Wesleyan, Local Communities Flock to Foss Hill for Eclipse

Students Research Works in Davison Art Collection for New Print Exhibition

Did It Happen Here?