Author Archives: michelle

About michelle

hydrate or die-drate

EVENT
Julius Lester’s Day of Tears Performance

Gabriela De Golia ’13 writes in:

First Church of Christ in Middletown will present a riveting performance of Julius Lester’s Day of Tears, a novel centered on the largest slave auction in American history told from the perspective of the husbands, wives, and lovers on the auction block. Witness their stories as they desperately cling to one last hope of staying together.

Written and directed by Laurie Maria Cabral and produced by Tom Raines, this performance is offered with the permission of Julius Lester and his family. It will take place at First Church of Christ, located at 190 Court Street in Middletown, CT, on Saturday, May 18th at 7:00 PM. Doors open at 6:30 PM.

First Church of Christ, a pro-racial justice and Open & Affirming congregational church in the United Church of Christ, is proud to bring Day of Tears into its space for the first time and raise awareness about an important event in American history. Through a conversation with the actors, director, and producer after the performance, audience members will learn more about how racism continues to manifest in the present-day and how individuals and communities can address systemic oppression.

“We at First Church are committed to healing the wounds of racial injustice and furthering social equity. Offering this play to the community free of charge is one of the many ways we are living into those commitments,” shared Gabriela De Golia ’13, a Deacon at First Church of Christ.

This performance is a free community event, open to all. Please be advised that strong language and allusions to violence are present in the production and may not be suitable for certain audiences, including young children.

Date: Saturday, May 18
Time: 7:00 PM
Place: First Church of Christ, 190 Court Street, Middletown, CT

EVENT
Art+Feminism: Wikipedia Edit-a-thon

Bad-ass sophomore Rebecca Rubenstein ’21 writes in:

There is massive gender inequity in Wikipedia – both in terms of topics/people represented, and contributors. We can change that! Come learn the basics of Wikipedia editing to increase representation of/boost access to the work of marginalized artists, activists, and game-changers.

THERE WILL BE PIZZA Y’ALL.

Date: Thursday, May 9
Time: 12:30-1:30 PM
Place: Boger 115

FEATURED
Round-Up: A Look at Spring Flings Past

Fare thee well, O kegs!

As this year’s Spring Fling fast approaches, I found myself looking back at old Wesleying posts about Spring Flings past. It all started with this absurdity, which I stumbled upon earlier this year. With little else to do now that my thesis is turned in, I decided to dig deeper and see what other fun/ny stuff I could find!

Here is the resulting round-up of interesting/notable Spring Fling-related posts. (Zach already did a deep dive into past performers, so I’ll stick to silly/snarky/spends-too-much-time-on-the-internet content I dug up on the blog.) Read on after the jump to find out what’s going on in the picture above and more!

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EVENT
Talk by Susan Campbell at Library Prize Reception

From the Friends of the Wesleyan Library:

At the reception for the Friends of the Wesleyan Library Undergraduate Research Prize, Susan Campbell will speak about her new book, Frog Hollow: Stories from an American Neighborhood (Wesleyan University Press, 2019), a love letter to immigration. She writes, “From the moment the Europeans came, we’ve needed the churn brought by immigration. Neighborhoods benefit. Cities do, as well.”

Frog Hollow is an ethnically diverse neighborhood just west of the Connecticut State Capitol in Hartford, home to a wide variety of immigrants. During the Revolutionary War, it was a progressive hub, and later, in the mid-late 19th century, a hotbed of industry. Campbell focuses on the inventors, entrepreneurs and workers of the neighborhood, as well as the impact of African American migration to Hartford, the Civil Rights movement and the continuing fight for housing. Frog Hollow was one of the first neighborhoods in the country to experiment with successful urban planning models, including public parks and free education.

Books will be available for purchase and signing during the reception.

Susan Campbell, a Distinguished Lecturer at the University of New Haven, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, a widely read Hartford Courant columnist, a regular commentator on WNPR, and a guest on CBS’ “Sunday Morning,” the BBC, WTNH-TV, and the local news show “Face the State.” She is also part of the Connecticut Health Investigative Team, an award-winning health and safety website. Her work at The Courant – where she was a staff writer and columnist for 25 years and is currently a freelance columnist – has been recognized by the National Women’s Political Caucus, the New England Associated Press News Executives, the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, and the Society for Professional Journalists, among numerous other organizations.

For more information about the event, email libfriends[at]wesleyan[dot]edu.

Date: Wednesday, May 1
Time: 7:00-8:30 PM
Place: Smith Reading Room, Olin Library

FEATURED
Students and Custodians Allege Labor Violations against Wesleyan

Wesleying stands in solidarity with our custodial workers in their fight to be treated with dignity and respect as they clean and care for our campus. We affirm their demand for Wesleyan to hire five more workers, and offer our platform and support to the workers and students who are organizing to achieve this.

Tomorrow (Friday, April 26), at noon, students, campus workers, and community members will join together at North College to rally for Five More Workers: Support Good Jobs at Wes. Students, other Wesleyan workers, community organizations, labor unions, artists, and even two sitting Congresspeople (Rep. Pramila Jayapal WA-07 and Rep. Andy Levin MI-09) have expressed their support for Wesleyan’s custodial workers, and Friday’s rally is anticipated to be the largest action yet.

This comes just two weeks after United Student/Labor Action Committee (USLAC) organized a series of protests and disruptions during WesFest to call attention to the unreasonable workloads of our school’s custodians and to demand that Wesleyan hire five more workers. (If you want to know more about the WesFest actions, the Argus did a great job covering them.)

Since WesFest, the administration has failed to take action on (or take seriously) the protesters’ demands and workers’ testimonies, citing data shared in an all-campus email from Chief Administrative Officer, and Treasurer Andy Tanaka on Wednesday, April 24 as justification. USLAC responded by sharing a point-by-point rebuttal of the “facts” presented in Tanaka’s email.

A graph compiled by USLAC to explain perceived flaws in the administration’s data analysis

As mentioned in these documents, there have been new developments with regard to the legality of Wesleyan and SMG’s employment practices. On Friday, April 19, Wesleyan students and custodians worked together to file a National Labor Relations Board charge against Service Management Group (SMG), a custodial services subcontractor, and Wesleyan University as joint employers. This occurred after custodians and students reviewed SMG’s corporate handbook and identified several violations of federal labor law.

Read on to learn more about the violations, their significance, and to view the full redacted complaint.

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EVENT
Celebration of Science Theses

Professor Singer from the Biology Department writes in:

Natural Sciences and Mathematics BA and MA students present their thesis work in poster format. Refreshments provided!

Date: Friday, April 26
Time: 12:30-2:00 PM
Place: Exley Lobby

EVENT
WRP’s Advocacy Week: “Art and Migration”

Caroline Kravitz ’19 writes in:

Join us for Wesleyan Refugee Project‘s second annual ‘Advocacy Week’! Throughout the week, various artists and activists will be visiting campus to perform and speak about storytelling through art. Events include film screenings, panels, fundraisers, and performances by local artists. This week is intended to spark conversations both on and beyond Wesleyan’s campus about art as a form of activism, empowerment, or other times as exploitation. By raising these questions, we hope to re-examine our definitions of crisis, activism, art, and agency. We also hope to think critically about how we frame and engage with one another’s voices.

A brief outline of the lineup of events is as follows:

Mon. April 22nd:
‘Greening the Camps’ Conference call and lunch: 12-1pm
‘Another News Story’ Film screening: 7-8:30 pm

Tues. April 23rd:
‘Know Your Rights’ Training: 12:15-1pm
‘Art & Ethics’ Panel and dinner: 5:30-7pm

Weds. April 24th:
Film-Aid Short Film Screenings & Fundraiser Dinner: 6-8pm

Thurs. April 25th:
‘Matangi/Maya/M.I.A’ Documentary Screening: 7-8:30 pm

Fri. April 26th:
‘Post Advocacy Week Round Table Discussion’: 12-1pm

**Be sure to check out our flyer, in addition to individual facebook event pages/posts as next week approaches!**

ALL EVENTS ARE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!

Date: Monday, April 22 – Friday, April 26
Time and Place vary per event. Check out the Facebook Event for more information!

FEATURED
~ACTUAL~ SPRING FLING 2019 LINEUP!!!

[Updated 5/7/19, 12:05 PM by michelle]: Due to some apparent wishful thinking and quick posting, I assumed that Japanese Breakfast was headlining Spring Fling. Turns out, Japanese Breakfast is actually Act 1, Rico Nasty is Act 2, and Jay Crutch is headlining for Act 3. The post has been updated to reflect that.

As you may have seen, we experienced some technical difficulties with the website over the weekend. Luckily, we’re back up and running, and excited to share this year’s actual Spring Fling 2019 headliners (sorry to disappoint those of you who were really looking forward to the Wiggles): Jay Critch, Rico Nasty, and Japanese Breakfast!!!

The Spring Fling Committee has created a playlist (on Spotify and Apple Music) to introduce you to the headliners’ music. You should also read on after the jump to learn more about these artists, the opener (TBD), and what you have to look forward to on May 9!

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FEATURED
ASK WESLEYING: Nude in the NESCAC

Welcome to the seventh installment of Ask Wesleying, an advice column about any and all things Wes! Have a question about life at Wes? Submit it to get it answered in Ask Wesleying! You can find all of the Ask Wesleying columns here.

It’s been a loooooong hiatus, what with thesis, winter break, thesis, spring break, more thesis (you get the point). But fear not, I haven’t forgotten about all you questioning souls haunting campus, awaiting answers to put your spirits to rest.

This week’s question is about one of those things that gets mentioned on your admissions tour and then never arises again, nudity:

Dear Wesleying,

I’ve been trying to find information about how to apply as a nude model for art classes next semester, but have emerged unsuccessful. Do you have any info about who to contact, any requirements, etc? Also, any tips on how to locate the nude scene at Wes (if there is one?) would be greatly appreciated!

Sincerely,

Nude in the NESCAC

You can read the answer to this week’s question below the jump!

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EVENT
Celebrating WESU 88.1 FM’s 80th Year – Lecture Series

WESU and the JCCP write in:

Beginning in the Spring of 2019, through the Fall of 2019, the JCCP and WESU will host a series of public events and activities to commemorate WESU’s history and impact, and further engage our community.

These events will start with a three part lecture series featuring special guest speakers and performers that WESU feels embody free form radio. The lecture series will be kicked off on April 18th from 7:00-8:30pm with  “Independent Media and the Power of Community Radio” a talk by Professor Kehaulani Kauanui. The second event of the three part series will take place from 6:00-7:30pm on Wednesday April 24th with a talk and performance from Akua Naru titled “College Radio, Women in Hip-Hop, and Black Culture in Contemporary America”. And the last event “Bringing African to American Public Radio“, a talk by Banning Eyre, will take place on April 25th from 5:00-6:30pm. All events will take place in the Ring Family Performance Hall (287 Washington Terrace Middletown, CT). You can find additional information on the WESU Facebook Page. Also be sure to follow WESU’s partner for this event Wesleyan Engage. 

Date: Thursday, April 18; Wednesday, April 24; Thursday, April 25
Time: 7:00-8:30 PM; 6:00-7:30 PM; 5:00-6:30 PM
Place: Ring Family Performance Hall (287 Washington Terrace)