Wesleyan University Podcasts

This week, we present Paul Hadzima's the story of the lost Judd Hall Museum. You can watch the slideshow with archival images supplied by Wesleyan’s Special Collections & Archives on Wesconnect. At Reunion & Commencement 2014, Paul Hadzima ’59 told his to Wesleyan Storytelling Project producers Mia Lobel ’97 and Tess Altman ’17. So, is it really lost? We have records that indicate that some of the...

"He was a Bigfoot type of creature. And he was real." What were the Wesleyan legends of your time? A roving reporter gets some answers. These answers were collected by Tess Altman '17, A.N. Kini '13 and Caroline MacNeille '16 during Reunion & Commencement 2014. This clip was produced by student producer Tess Altman '17.

"I'd be very surprised if that access was open now." What was your favorite place on campus? A roving reporter gets some answers. These answers were collected by Tess Altman '17, A.N. Kini '13 and Caroline MacNeille '16 at Reunion & Commencement 2014. This clip was produced by student producer Tess Altman '17. Excited about R&C 2015? Registration is open and the schedule is positively teeming with...

This week, we hear about the music of Memorial Chapel from Deborah Pearson Woodhouse '79, with special instrumentals by Professor Neely Bruce, who played at her wedding. Deborah and John C. Woodhouse ’79 were married in 1982 at Wesleyan. Their story was featured as part of Wes-Side Story a Wesleyan Valentine’s Day Special, 2015. Deborah is a psychologist and a professor of child psychiatry at the...

“Double A” by Robert Levin, performed by Urban Renewal, featuring Abraham Adzenyah on percussion.

This week, we hear from Rachel Mandal '99 and Nell Robinson '99. Their story was featured as part of Wes-Side Story a Wesleyan Valentine’s Day Special in 2015. Rachel is a public health analyst at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Nell is a med student at George Washington University. They live in DC with their two cats, Tweak and Luna. Tweak was recently featured as the Most Studious pe...

This week, we hear from Kate and Mike Gilles, Class of 2004. Mike and Kate are looking forward to celebrating their 7th wedding anniversary this May, and expecting their second child in July. Their story was featured as part of Wes-Side Story a Wesleyan Valentine’s Day Special in 2015. Kate and Mike were married in 2008, and currently live in Washington, D.C., with their two-year-old son, Sebastia...

This week, we hear Mia Lobel '97 in conversation with Honorable Terry J. Hatter, Jr. '54, a United States federal judge and one of the first black students to graduate from Wesleyan. "I would take the station wagon in the middle of the night and drive to New York City...I would go listen to Latin Jazz at the Apollo theater— Tito Puente, Joe Loco. Get back in the car, get back on the Merritt Parkwa...

This week, we present the first of our recordings from Reunion & Commencement 2014! In this clip, Jeanne Kramer-Smyth '90 recalls how her work-study jobs as a student, beginning with a mice lab, shaped her career. "When you left that building, you smelled like mice. You reeked of mice. I would beeline for my dorm room, hope I never see anyone on the way, take every stitch of clothing off and p...

In this interview, Aditi Kini ’13 speaks with writer Alexander Chee ’89 for Wesconnect. Image: via Brooklyn Book Festival. Transcript and details: http://wesconnect.wesleyan.edu/interview-with-alexander-chee-89 This interview was produced by Tess Altman '17.

This week’s story is from Caroline Wilkins whose thesis advisor, Dick Ohmann, played a pivotal role in her personal and professional development. They still keep in touch today. After studying English at Wesleyan, George Mason University, and the University of Maryland, Caroline pursued a career in teaching. She is a senior lecturer at the University of Maryland, College Park, where she has been t...

How did you meet your best friend at Wesleyan? This week, Mia Lobel ’97 speaks with Amanda Marks ’88 and Sarah Madsen Hardy ’88 who, in an entertaining exchange, share an unusual housing request that brought them together. Amanda: “Why would you request such a crazy thing?” Sarah: “They aren’t uptight—they tend not to be too controlling. Nobody who’s going to be anal or demanding…” At Wesleyan, Am...

Cardinals nest for life: In this week’s story, we hear Miguel Guadalupe and Maria Santana Guadalupe ’98 tell the story of how they first met—through a mutual love of dance.
 
 Miguel:“How did we first meet? There’s a debate about that. I think I saw her first.”
 Maria: “You did.”
 
 After studying government and Latin American studies at Wesleyan, Miguel went on to work in the...

In this week’s story Marie-Carole Desrosiers ’83 and Marva Angel ’83 recall a very different sociopolitical climate in Connecticut, and how the Wesleyan community, led by President Colin Campbell, banded together when the lives of black students were threatened. “In other places, you did have an African American presence but it was scattered. Here, it was more organized… you have the Malcolm X hou...

This week, we hear Kate and Andrea in conversation about their first days as roommates, and how they handled each others’ opposing political views. Andrea: “It started with an innocent enough campaign poster…” Kate: “It was very, very Wesleyan.” Kate, who was in the College of Social Studies at Wesleyan, previously served as an aide to Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell and is currently an internat...

During Reunion and Commencement Weekend 2013, graduating senior Julia Mark ’13 reflected with her father about her time at Wesleyan and the lives of generations of students living on campus and calling its buildings home. Julia: “A lot can change in fifty years.” Charlie: “These places may still here, but…” Julia: “You’re sort of replaced by other people. The campus is always in flux. Every four y...

This week, we hear Jaron, Aaron and Claire in conversation. They remember a song that has stayed with them through their years of friendship. Jaron: "People got to know as the duo - the rhyming Jaron and Aaron." Aaron: "...it was a brand - Jaron and Aaron... mostly it was because people wanted to say it. Not that they were that excited to see us." As students, Jaron and Aaron were active members o...

In this clip, Midge Carroll '14 and Simone Hyman '15, who bonded over shared agony, stress the importance of collaboration over competition in science. "But they already had a study group called The Org-gy...it's like orgy and orgo rolled into one." Both Midge (Madeleine) Carroll and Simone Hyman are pre-med students and part of the Neuroscience and Behavior program at Wes.

In this clip, Taylor Matthew ’17 talks with her mother Megan Norris ’83 P’17 about her lifelong connection with Wesleyan, annual trips to Reunion & Commencement, and knowing where the pink elephant is. Taylor: “I went to her and was like, I learned the fight song! And she said, we have a fight song? And I was like, yes, I’m a pro. I got this.” Megan Norris ’83, is chair of the Alumni Association a...

In a conversation with Cynthia Rockwell, Xiomara Lorenzo ’05 talks about the transition from college to the workforce, the pull of labor and capitalism, and putting convictions into the questions she asks. “Still feels like a rare breed—the Wesleyan MBA.” Xiomara is a principal consultant at High Start Group in Boston, MA. At Wesleyan, Xiomara studied History. She went to receive an MBA from NYU S...

In a conversation with Mia Lobel ’97, Gary Mezzi ’83 and Rick Velleu ’83, reminisce about the music scene at Wes—and in particular, their punk new wave-of-the-day band “Dr. Mezzi Fights Infection,” which brought together art, football, classical music in a microcosm of Wesleyan diversity. “A good band on campus can do a lot to bring people together.” “Eclectic at the time, like you say … was goth...

In a conversation with Mia Lobel ’97, Ron Nowek ’58 and Bob Furber ’58 recall their exuberant days at Wes, including the great water fight of 1956. Ron: “…Yeah we were pretty bad, actually. Remember when we had the fireworks—” Bob: “I remember the catapults. Remember the catapults?” At Wesleyan, Ron majored in Mathematics, and Bob in Physics and Astronomy. Both were members of the John Wesley Club...

In this clip, Bill Roberts '63 P'96 talks about a life-changing experience at the Chapel in the spring of 1962. At Wesleyan, Bill studied History. He went on to receive his Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary. Bill Roberts was the minister of the First Church for twenty years, and went on to work for KMPG and Prudential before beginning his own consulting firm. He has written two bo...

In this clip, Megan Norris '83 P'17 reminisces about her days at Wesleyan, Handel's Messiah, and the funk of the marimba. Megan studied government and music at Wesleyan, and went on to earn her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. She is the Managing Director of the Detroit office of Miller Canfield. Megan is a tireless advocate for Wesleyan, currently through her service as chair of t...

Wesleyan alumni, faculty, staff, family, and friends experienced a one-of-a-kind Wesleyan-themed version of the Blue Man Group's 2013 show at a special fundraising event at Boston's Charles Playhouse on November 13. Blue Man co-founder Chris Wink '83 was on hand for a post-show talkback with President Michael Roth. The Blue Man Group's interactive multimedia spectacle combines music, technology an...