Wesleyan University

Commencement 2012: What Shall We Do With These Memories?

Michael Roth | Posted 05.29.2012

Read More: Maddie Neufield, Kennedy Odede, Wesleyan University, Ragu Appasani, Harry Bartle, Tasmiha Kahn, College News
Michael Roth

From all around you will come calls for a practicality that is not so idealistic -- calls to be more serious, more attentive to "the real world." Make no mistake: these are really calls for conformity, demands for conventional thinking that, if heeded, will impoverish your, our, economic, cultural and personal lives.

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Why Colleges Should Offer a Three-Year Option

Michael Roth | Posted 05.24.2012

Read More: Liberal Arts, Washington Post, Wesleyan University, Dan De Vise, College Financial Aid, Three Year Degrees, College Tuition, College, College News
Michael Roth

By no means is the three-year option for everyone. But if we can offer families the same quality undergraduate degree at a significantly reduced total price -- and I think we can -- why not do it?

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Now That You've Been Accepted: How to Choose Your University

Michael Roth | Posted 04.08.2012

Read More: Liberal Education, College Admissions, Wesleyan University, College Acceptance, College News
Michael Roth

The thousands of students traveling with their families across the country this month will go to classes and athletic contests, musical performances and parties. And they will ask themselves: Can I see myself as part of this community? Would I be happy here?

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Antonin Scalia and Political Diversity

Michael Roth | Posted 05.01.2012

Read More: Hugo Black Lecture, Wesleyan University, Lawrence Lessig, Harry Blackmun, Antonin Scalia, Scalia Wesleyan, Wesleyan Scalia, College News
Michael Roth

We should not welcome those who cannot tolerate difference, those whose views close down thinking and social interaction. But we should welcome dissent.

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Opportunity, Engagement and Confidence: Cures for the Civic Recession

Michael Roth | Posted 03.12.2012

Read More: Carol Schneider, Martha Kanter, Shining Hope for Communities, American Association of Colleges and Universities, Wesleyan University, College News
Michael Roth

There is a growing lack of confidence in American education -- one that mirrors the general crisis of confidence in the future. But as the new year has gotten underway, I've been encouraged by some more optimistic and thoughtful notes amidst the nasty, noisy cacophony of negativity.

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Wesleyan Students Revoke Governor's Diploma

Posted 11.18.2011

Read More: Wesleyan Argus, Wesleyan University, Video, Wesleyan Students Revoke Diploma, John Hickenlooper, Occupy Denver, Hickenlooper College Degree, Denver News

No one envies Governor Hickenlooper's position when it comes to dealing with Occupy Denver. A situation involving freedom of speech, tiptoeing betwee...

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Exercising "A Degree of Freedom Which Rarely Exists" at UC Berkeley

Michael Roth | Posted 01.15.2012

Read More: UC Berkeley, Celeste Langan, Occupy Berkeley, Wesleyan University, Henry David Thoreau, College News
Michael Roth

Berkeley, like Wesleyan, has a long and proud tradition of protest. The peaceful efforts of students, staff and faculty protesting the dismantling of a once great university deserve our respect. The violent response to these efforts deserves our condemnation.

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Resisting Inequality: Occupy Wall Street and Education

Michael Roth | Posted 12.20.2011

Read More: Thomas Jefferson, Wesleyan University, Wesleyan Media Project, Nicolas Kristof, Tea Party, Occupy Wall Street, College News
Michael Roth

How have these trends concerning money and inequality affected life on a university campus? We can see it at either end of the college experience, beginning with access and ending with jobs (or a lack thereof) after graduation.

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Innovative University

Michael Roth | Posted 11.30.2011

Read More: Wesleyan University, Nicholas Kristof, Higher Education, Liberal Arts Education, Shining Hope for Communities, Innovative University, Richard Rorty, College News
Michael Roth

The free inquiry and experimentation of our education helps us to think for ourselves, take responsibility for our beliefs and actions, and be better acquainted with our own desires, our own hopes.

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Happy First (Labor) Day of Classes!

Michael Roth | Posted 11.05.2011

Read More: First Day of School, Wesleyan University, Liberal Arts Education, Labor Day, College News
Michael Roth

Labor is on the mind of our students and their families in a more general sense this year. The awful job situation in the United States has lasted far too long, and each year frosh begin their college years hoping it will be better by the time they graduate.

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Artwork Made From Oreos, Toast

Posted 09.23.2011

Read More: Women, Arts and Crafts, From Scratch, Craft, Woman, Embroidery, Wesleyan University, Weaving, Judith Klausner, Engraving, UK Arts, Art, Cooking, Cool Art, Oreo Art, Nostalgia, Arts News

In her food art series, 'From Scratch,' Artist Judith Klausner has created collection that addresses womanhood in various incarnations throughout hist...

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Education and Women's Health Care: Investments in the Future We Can't Afford to Cut

Michael Roth | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Financial Aid, Rosa DeLauro, Wesleyan University, Planned Parenthood, Richard Blumenthal, Pell Grants, Politics News
Michael Roth

This past weekend Wesleyan University was visited by two of leaders in Washington, Although their topics seemed very different, by the end of the weekend I began to think they were in fact closely intertwined.

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On Scholarship and Public Life

Michael Roth | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Liberal Arts Education, Civic Engagement, Wesleyan University, Duke University, University of Washington, Macalester College, American Historical Association, Anthony Grafton, Protest, Wisconsin Protests, College News
Michael Roth

I returned to Wesleyan University as president more than four years ago, and even though now some of this activism is directed against me, I still take pride in this tradition of alma mater.

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Haiti Is Wailing: Gina Athena Ulysse, Anthropologist and Performing Artist

Jennifer Edwards | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Performance Art, Jennifer Edwards, La Mama, Spoken Word, Haiti, New York, Gina-Athena-Ulysse, Anthropology, Haitian Writer, Wesleyan University, Arts News
Jennifer Edwards

Haiti is Gina's reason for everything. A self-described accidental student, she earned her Ph.D. in cultural anthropology in hopes of helping her birth-country.

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Why We Teach

Michael Roth | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Bard College, Wesleyan University, Scripps College, Liberal Arts Education, Teaching, Jeanine Basinger, Joss Whedon, Williams College, College News
Michael Roth

Although as a university president I spent much of my time in meetings, my colleagues tell me that I'm happiest just after I come back from the classroom.

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Are Study Drugs A Form Of Cheating?

Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Wesleyan Says Pharmaceutical Study Aids Against Honor Code, Cornell University, What Is Cheating? Academic Integrity, The New York Times, Wesleyan University, Ritalin, The Northeast, Inside Higher Ed, Adderall, College News, Honor Code, College News

This semester, Wesleyan University took a firm stance on the use of pharmaceutical study aids, like Ritalin and Adderall, by students without a prescr...

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Wesleyan Student Stabbed By Samurai Sword

boston.com | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Samurai Sword, The Northeast, Student Stabbed Samurai Sword, David Pesci, Wesleyan, Student Stabbed, Wesleyan Samurai Sword, Wesleyan University, College News

Wesleyan University officials say a student who was accidentally stabbed by a prop samurai sword during a student-produced play has been released from...

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COLUMN: Can't Hold It In? Just Don't Go On The Stairs, Please

Wesleyan Argus | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Wesleyan Unsanitary, Wesleyan, Wesleyan Argus, Wesleyan Hygiene, Wesleyan Bathroom Habits, Wesleyan University, The Northeast, College News

...

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COLUMN: In Defense Of Britney Spears

The Wesleyan Argus | Kara Perez, Contributing Writer | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: The Northeast, Wesleyan Britney Spears, Wesleyan, The Wesleyan Argus, Wesleyan University, Britney Spears, Britney Spears Comeback, College News

Let's be real: everyone grew up with a deep love for the original princess of pop, Britney Spears. When she hit the music scene at the tender age of 1...

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The Proper Role of Interdisciplinary Studies

Michael Roth | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Wesleyan University, The Northeast, The South, Interdisciplinary-Curriculum, The West, The Midwest, College News
Michael Roth

if interdisciplinary academic programs for undergrads were adventurous in the late 1950s, today they are as common on campuses as fake IDs.

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One Year Later: No Longer Time for Dancing

Michael Roth | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Wesleyan University, Obama One Year Later, Afghanistan, Barack Obama, One Year Later, Politics News
Michael Roth

The euphoria of last November has turned to disappointment for many of those who celebrated so raucously on campus. This is no longer the time for dancing, but it is the time to work for progressive change.

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My Narrator's Obituary

Sophie Pollitt-Cohen | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Cats, Manicures, The Gin Mill, Obituary, Sophie Pollitt-Cohen, Wesleyan University, Splenda, Huffington Post, Brother Jimmy's, New England, Death & Dying, Comedy News
Sophie Pollitt-Cohen

Sophie Pollitt-Cohen's angry narrator, best known for her rants, died this week after being crushed to death by the chip on her shoulder. She was ninety -five in "Huffington Post years" and wishes to be buried...

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Liberal Arts Education: From Clubbiness to Cosmopolitanism

Michael Roth | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Wesleyan University, Education, Liberal Arts Education, Pomona College, Middlebury College, Universities, Politics News
Michael Roth

Liberal arts colleges and universities promote community, and their educational offerings resist premature specialization. But how relevant are these schools today?

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My Narrator's Obituary

Sophie Pollitt-Cohen | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Cats, Manicures, The Gin Mill, Obituary, Sophie Pollitt-Cohen, Wesleyan University, Splenda, Huffington Post, Brother Jimmy's, Funeral, New England, Comedy News
Sophie Pollitt-Cohen

Sophie Pollitt-Cohen died this week. She was ninety-five in Huffington Post years.

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Mad Men Season 3: Inside Out

Tom Matlack | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Mad Men, Matt Weiner, Manhood, Tony Soprano, Mad Men Season One, Mad Men Style, The Sopranos, Mad Men Season Two, Sexism, Mad Men Fashion, Wesleyan University, Mad Men Season Three, Poetry, Mad Men Characters, Entertainment News
Tom Matlack

The violence of Tony Soprano and swagger of Don Draper are a cover for the quiet desperation Matthew Weiner sees in all of us. They are liars who want to be what they are not.

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