Alumni

During its 50th anniversary season, the Center for the Arts (CFA) brought to campus visiting artists who encouraged audience interaction in their live performances. The dance company Scapegoat Garden, directed by Deborah Goffe MA ’19, was among them. The company presented the latest iteration of Goffe’s work “Liturgy|Order|Bridge” last February in three, sold-out CFA Theater performances. “The very first seeds of the project, the first ideas I had, were really about the relationship with an audience — how one cares for an audience,” Goffe said. “Wesleyan is pretty well-practiced at holding things that are not easily categorizable.” In October 2022,…

Two recent Wesleyan graduates, Dylan Campos ’24 and Cate Levy ’24, were named Watson Fellows by the Thomas J. Watson Foundation. Each will travel abroad to several countries on year-long, independent exploration projects. “The Thomas J. Watson Fellowship is unique among leadership fellowships because of its globe-spanning and open-ended nature,” Erica Kowsz, Wesleyan’s associate director for Fellowships, explained. “Aspiring fellows can propose the project that most suits their own passions, however idiosyncratic they may be, without the pressure of producing academic publications or pursuing a graduate degree.” Campos will venture to cities in Australia, France, Mexico, the Netherlands, Portugal, and…

By Sarah Parke The votes for the 2024 alumni-elected trustee election are in, and the University will add three new members to its Board of Trustees as three current members complete their terms. Joining Wesleyan’s Board of Trustees for a three-year term, effective July 1, are Livia Wong McCarthy ’81, Jayvan (“Jay”) Mitchell ’11, and Aaron Veerasuntharam ’14. Each year, Wesleyan alumni, including graduates from the senior class, elect three of their peers to serve on the Board. McCarthy, Mitchell, and Veerasuntharam will join a 36-member board that is responsible for ensuring the University fulfills its mission, sustains its values,…

Wesleyan University’s alumni have made worldly contributions near and far. Whether government officials, physicians, attorneys, schoolteachers, musicians — any career imaginable — the former students who crossed Denison Terrace have made an impact somewhere, somehow. From May 23 to 26, many of them returned to Wesleyan — a place they described as having a transformative effect on their lives — for Reunion. This year, classes of the ’4s and ’9s flocked to Middletown to meet friends old and new. “My four years at Wesleyan were truly a pivotal time in my life. I feel like it really helped expand…

United States Senator John Hickenlooper ’74, MA ’80, Hon. ’10 didn’t set out to become a politician when he graduated from Wesleyan half a century ago. He wanted to be a geologist, but when that didn’t pan out, he found success as an entrepreneur and brewery owner in Denver at the height of the craft brewing craze. When he ran for mayor of Denver at the age of 49, Hickenlooper never anticipated that national politics would play such a huge role in his second act. But after serving as mayor for two terms, he became governor of Colorado for another…

Intergenerational connection in a digitally dependent world was a recurring theme in the Alumni Associations’ Annual Assembly and Meeting held May 25, during Reunion & Commencement Weekend. Sporting special edition Reunion caps and totes along with their own Wesleyan blazers, hats, and gear from years past, alumni and friends listened as Alumni Association Chair Ellen Glazerman ’84, P’26 opened the meeting by announcing the retirement of Wesleyan Fund Volunteer Leadership Committee Chair Suzanne Appell and acknowledging the eldest registered alumnus in attendance (Rev. Boardman Wright Kathan ’51, P’76) as well as the Class of 1974 alums celebrating their 50th Reunion. …

Alumni from near and far came to Wesleyan for Reunion + Commencement Weekend 2024 to re-connect with friends and foster new relationships. All sorts of fun programming and events gave attendees ample time to rub elbows and engage with their alma maters. Here are some of the best photos from the Reunion celebration. All images by Meka Wilson:

In his Commencement Address to the Class of 2024, President Michael S. Roth ’78 spoke about the connections between higher education and civic engagement, the lasting importance of free inquiry and expression, and standing up for these foundational values on the eve of a consequential election season. "In the din of our contemporary politics, when shouting, it’s not easy to practice authentic listening; when people are shouting slogans, it’s a challenge to hear diverse points of view. But we must try," Roth said. "If we are to strengthen our democracy and the educational institutions that depend on it, we must…

Michael Greenberg ’76, P’14, who was named an Honorary Doctor of Science at Wesleyan's 192nd Commencement ceremony, recalled how his journey toward unraveling the scientific mysteries of human memory illustrates the possibilities available to the graduating Class of 2024. "What can a Wesleyan graduate of almost 50 years ago who studies memory offer to you as you set forth in the world? There are countless paths that you might take in your lives that will offer you fulfillment," Greenberg said. "In my own life the following has proved to be important: choosing a career that was challenging intellectually, where new…

New York Times reporter Hannah Dreier ’08 was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Investigative Reporting for her work on a series of stories revealing the widespread reach of migrant child labor across the United States. Dreier also previously won a Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing in 2019 for a ProPublica series that followed Salvadoran immigrants on Long Island whose lives were affected by federal investigations in the MS-13 criminal gang. “This reporting was possible only because of the bravery of migrant children who took huge risks to share their experiences,” Dreier said after receiving the prize on May 6. “There are hundreds of…

Journalists have always played a vital role in defending democracy, educating the public while holding those in power accountable for their actions. Few journalists have challenged Americans to reimagine who we are as a nation as much as Nikole Hannah-Jones. On April 25, the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life co-sponsored an event with Wesleyan’s Democracy 2024 initiative to host Hannah-Jones, a New York Times correspondent, Knight Chair in Race and Journalism at Howard University, and the Pulitzer Prize–winning creator of the 1619 Project. Corwin-Fuller Professor of Film Studies Tracy Heather Strain sat down with Hannah-Jones to discuss…

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…

Performance by Scapegoat Garden at Center for the Arts Influences Student Capstone Project

Watson Fellows to Research Urban Agriculture, Sexual Discrimination Abroad

Alumni Elect McCarthy, Mitchell, and Veerasuntharam to Board of Trustees

Alumni Reflect on Transformative Wesleyan Experience at Reunion

Democracy 2024: Hickenlooper, Roth talk Political Optimism and Opportunity

Intergenerational Connection a Focus at Alumni Association Annual Assembly

Gallery: Reunion Celebration 2024

President Michael S. Roth ’78: “We Must Learn to Practice Freedom, Better”

Michael Greenberg ’76, P’14: There Are Countless Paths Toward Fulfillment

Wesleyan in the News: May 2024

No Democracy Without Slavery: A Revolutionary Conversation with Nikole Hannah-Jones

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