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2 weeks ago | 
newsletter.blogs.wesleyan.edu | Andrew Chatfield |Mike Mavredakis
Out of 10 students who pitched their startup ideas at the 2025 New Venture Awards in Memorial Chapel on April 4, three won the top prizes of $6,000 in grant funds from the Patricelli Center for Entrepreneurship. The New Venture Awards, formerly known as the Seed Grants, aim to recognize and support impactful student projects, organizations, and companies across sectors and communities.
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3 weeks ago | 
newsletter.blogs.wesleyan.edu | Andrew Chatfield
Immigration officials have detained students and others for protesting and for their speech. Our social media algorithms are flooded with disinformation and imagery created by artificial intelligence. The principles of the First Amendment are at risk. Is the answer more speech in opposition to threats to democracy? Or is it carefully crafted regulation like some European countries have created? These and other thorny topics were the subject of the 32nd annual Hugo L.
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3 weeks ago | 
newsletter.blogs.wesleyan.edu | Mike Mavredakis |Andrew Chatfield
By: Phuc Ngo ’27President Michael S. Roth ’78 penned an article for TIME discussing the strategy of de-escalation versus appeasement that universities and other institutions have used in response to attacks on higher education. Roth argues in the piece that while de-escalation with Trump would be a desirable solution, it is currently difficult to achieve. The failure of de-escalation so far has led to appeasement, a far less effective and dangerous strategy.
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4 weeks ago | 
newsletter.blogs.wesleyan.edu | Jeff Harder |Mike Mavredakis |Andrew Chatfield |James Sims
By: Jeff Harder and Mike MavredakisIt’s difficult to track every superlative that the Wesleyan’s men’s basketball team notched during the last six months. The team registered a 24-0 record in the regular season, setting a program record and becoming the first NESCAC team to complete an undefeated regular season since the league became a formal playing conference and championships began in the 2000-01 season.
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1 month ago | 
newsletter.blogs.wesleyan.edu | Andrew Chatfield
When Gina Driscoll reunited with Simon Shen ’02 on a recent trip to Japan, she was delightfully surprised by his reaction to seeing her far from campus. Shen, a Freeman Scholar from Hong Kong, hadn’t seen Gina in nearly 20 years, and yet, his first words weren’t “Hello” or “How have you been?” Instead, he smiled and said, “I still remember the Thanksgiving dinner you and John hosted.”As Driscoll recounted this moment in her interview, she became teary eyed.
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1 month ago | 
newsletter.blogs.wesleyan.edu | Mike Mavredakis |Andrew Chatfield
By Mahek Uttamchandani ‘26On Saturday, Feb. 15, Wesleyan’s South Asian Student Association, Shakti, presented their annual Samsara performance. The showcase reached new heights with an impressive array of dances, musical performances, and even an emcee duo whose playful banter evolved into an unfolding stage romance. The night was a celebration of South Asian arts and culture in all their variety.
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1 month ago | 
newsletter.blogs.wesleyan.edu | James Sims |Andrew Chatfield
Copper is essential for many key bodily processes—breathing, forming red blood cells and collagen, and keeping the immune system healthy. The body only requires trace amounts of the mineral in its cells, but an imbalance of copper can lead to serious neurological, cognitive, and muscular disorders, according to a recent paper published in the Public Library of Science (PLOS) by Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Teresita (Tere) Padilla-Benavides and co-authors.
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1 month ago | 
newsletter.blogs.wesleyan.edu | James Sims |Andrew Chatfield |Ziba Kashef
Kica Matos, president of the National Immigration Law Center and the Immigrant Justice Fund, began her talk about “Championing Immigrants’ Rights in the Trump Era,” with a few statistics. She noted it had been only 34 days since Inauguration and already the president had issued 10 anti-immigrant executive orders and 36 anti-immigrant policies. “More than one a day,” she said before an audience of students, faculty, and staff at Beckham Hall on Feb. 26.
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1 month ago | 
newsletter.blogs.wesleyan.edu | Andrew Chatfield
Ian Bassin ’98, Executive Director of Protect Democracy, will deliver the commencement address during Wesleyan University’s 193rd Commencement ceremony on May 25, 2025. Bassin will receive an honorary degree alongside fellow recipients Lael Brainard ’83, P’22, who served as director of the National Economic Council under President Joe Biden, and Percival Everett, celebrated author and Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Southern California.
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1 month ago | 
newsletter.blogs.wesleyan.edu | Ziba Kashef |Andrew Chatfield
You might not think of knitting as a form of programming, but it absolutely is, said Sonia Roberts, an assistant professor of Computer Science who is also a core member of the College of Design and Engineering Studies (CoDES) program. “It’s a great way to get people introduced to computing,” said Roberts. She learned to knit as a child from her mother, who was looking for a way to get her energetic daughter to sit still.
