President’s Letter: Enduring Questions, Pressing Issues

2022 Fall IssueNovember 1, 2022November 16, 2022

President’s Letter: Enduring Questions, Pressing Issues

It’s very dangerous to think you have discovered the Truth with a capital “T.” This is especially so in higher education. It is, however, very important to generate questions that lead to productive inquiry. How to define “productive?” Everything in this regard will depend on context—on the goals on…

2022 Fall IssueNovember 1, 2022November 16, 2022

Editor’s Note: The Inaugural Digital Issue

One of the perks of working at a university is the feeling of renewal and reinvention that comes with the start of every new school year. Through the articles we write and the people that we interview, our communications…

2022 Fall IssueNovember 1, 2022November 16, 2022

Letters to the Editor: Wesleyan’s 19th-Century Impact

I’m writing humbly to ask that you correct the lead statement in the President’s Letter for the Spring 2022 Wesleyan University Magazine. Specifically, I believe that the characterization of Wesleyan as a “small, parochi…

2022 Fall IssueNovember 1, 2022November 16, 2022

Letters to the Editor: The Influence of Ann Wightman

I recently co-wrote a book (unrelated to my studies), and realized that whatever ability I had to write clearly and economically I owed to my college advisor, Ann Wightman, and her ruthless editing skills. In trying to s…

2022 Spring IssueJuly 11, 2022

President’s Letter: Wesleyan’s History of Change

During my 15 years as president, I have found it fascinating to consider Wesleyan’s trajectory over its almost two centuries—from small, parochial school that aimed to train ministers to a first-rate, small uni…

2022 Spring IssueJuly 11, 2022October 25, 2022

Editor’s Note: On Changemakers Leading the Charge

“Young women were not admitted into many colleges and universities, athletic scholarships for women were rare, and math and science was a realm reserved for boys. . . . Girls could become teachers and nurses, but not doc…

2022 Spring IssueJuly 11, 2022

Letters to the Editor: Remembering Christina Crosby

Dear Editor, The Class of ’86 recently celebrated our 35th year reunion. That means I have been reading the printed copy of the magazine cover to cover for 36 years! I grab my glasses and open to the Class Notes, in t…

2022 Spring IssueJuly 11, 2022

Letter to the Editor: The Film Center’s Early Years

“Lights Up On The Future of Filmmaking,” from the 2021–2022 Winter Issue reminded me of the first years of film at Wesleyan, before there was a Film Center and there was only one lecturer, Jeanine Basinger, and a few eag…

2021-2022 Winter IssueJanuary 18, 2022January 18, 2022

President’s Letter: Thinking Beyond the Pandemic

I write this column as we approach the last week of fall semester classes. What a term it has been! We arrived in Middletown in late summer as the Delta variant was surging in different parts of the country, and although…

2021-2022 Winter IssueJanuary 18, 2022October 25, 2022

Editor’s Note: The Value of Community

I have a confession to make: I missed Arrival Day this year. It’s always notable because of what it represents: new faces, new hope, a new start. This year, however, was more poignant than ever, as it wasn’t just fres…