Letter to the Editor: Teaching Moments in a Time of Diaspora

2020 Issue 2September 24, 2020February 6, 2021

Letter to the Editor: Teaching Moments in a Time of Diaspora

I met with my New School students for the last time on Wednesday, March 11. I’d instructed them to bring their laptops; we were going to have a trial “webinar.” This was right before our extended two-week break, a period in which professors would transition their courses online, and after wh…

2020 Issue 2September 18, 2020September 25, 2020

Letter to the Editor: A Richmond Reckoning

A day after my classmates and I graduated remotely from Wes, Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd on camera. This horrific act caused the country and the world to take to the streets to fight fo…

2020 Issue 2September 18, 2020September 25, 2020

Letter to the Editor: Virtual Commencement a Chance to Reflect

In the days preceding Commencement in 2018, I kept a strict schedule—hosting my parents on campus tours, engaging with my professors and mentors, celebrating with friends and classmates. In the midst of all that activity…

2020 Issue 1June 30, 2020

Remembering Norm Shapiro

At our Boston-area literary translators’ group meetings, Norman Shapiro was a rare participant, but he always meant to show up, usually when he had a new book he wanted to advertise. I used to say of him that he was like…

2020 Issue 1May 1, 2020May 7, 2020

Editor’s Note: Before and After

My senior year of college, I was assigned to read a book titled She’s Not There. It blew my mind. Even more than the book itself, which I tore through wide-eyed in a day or so, I remember the discussions it engendered…

2020 Issue 1May 1, 2020May 1, 2020

On Retirement: Reflections on 30 Years at Wesleyan

I have had the best job in the world since 1989, when I joined the staff at Wesleyan’s Office of Public Information (now University Communications). Editing the Class Notes section of this magazine was an immersion exper…

2020 Issue 1May 1, 2020

President’s Letter: Building Toward a New Normal

At a faculty meeting in early March, the coronavirus was third on my list of agenda items to talk about, after facilities improvements and fundraising progress. When I mentioned a colleague’s suggestion that Wesleyan can…

2020 Issue 1April 29, 2020May 21, 2020

Three Bronze Stars: Lovett ’45 Recalls WWII Medic Service in Italy

[caption id="attachment_16069" align="alignleft" width="983"] Francis Lovett '45[/caption] Francis Lovett ’45, who graduated from Wesleyan in 1948 after serving with the elite 10th Mountain Division in Italy during Wo…

2019 Issue 3February 11, 2020

Sharing a Front Seat with Martin Luther King Jr.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. visited Wesleyan's campus in the spring of 1964 and was awarded an honorary degree. …

2019 Issue 3December 3, 2019December 3, 2019

Editor’s Note: The Special Power of Global Experiences

On a recent trip to Greece, and at the recommendation of Wesleyan professor (and Grecian native) Tsampikos Kottos, my wife and I decided to hike Samaria Gorge in southern Crete. While travel is often noted for helping …