Hello, 2014! Welcome (almost) to Wesleyan. As part of of a recent Wesleying tradition of sorts, we are reposting (slightly updated) guides to student life at Wesleyan, which our blog’s esteemed founders, Holly and Xue, put together way back in 2006 to help incoming freshmen (now the just-graduated Class of ‘10—weird, right?) get acclimated to Wes. First up is a guide to Wes Lingo, so you’ll know just what the hell people are talking about when they mention spotting townies in the Butthole on Ze Who Must Not Be Named Day—or something like that. So, without further ado:
The Unofficial, Updated, and Un-Comprehensive Guide to Wes Lingo (original 2006 post here):
Dave Fisher ‘62 , who, with four other freshmen, formed folk group The Highwaymen at Wes in 1958, died last Friday at 69. Today’s New York Times features an interesting account of the group’s Wes-based beginnings:
The Highwaymen were remarkable for living out a fairy tale — twice. In 1958, as freshman initiates of a Wesleyan fraternity, they had to come up with an entertainment act. Under the guidance of Mr. Fisher — who as a high school student had sung and recorded with the Academics, a doo-wop group — they put together a folk music show.
By 1961 the group had a No. 1 hit with African-American traditional “Michael.” By 1962 they’d hit Greenwich Village’s active folk scene. By 1964—eight albums, ten singles, and three appearances on Ed Sullivan later—they’d call it quits.
That is, until 1990, when Fisher attended a concert by an imposter Highwaymen group featuring Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, and Kris Kristofferson. So they sued. And then reunited. And finished what they’d started. Here’s a taste of Wes’s oldest, little-known folk stars. Take a study break; it’s worth it:
The Spirit ‘81 writes:
The Spirits’ Spring Jam! Come see it. Big things. New musics. A life-changing experience. A waste of your time. All wrapped into one hour of songs you love and other songs too. A revelation; a revaluation! A cappella–without boundaries!
Plus, it’s your last chance to see senior Phi Beta Kappa members Daniel Charness ‘10, Justin Bours ‘10, and Hansel Tan ‘10 do the only thing they are good at!
Date: May 7th
Time: 9pm
Place: Memorial Chapel
Price: Fo FREE
…there was an anti-slavery Wesleyan Young Men’s Republican Club. From the Special Collections and Archives blog:
The 1856 election was an extremely controversial one, pitting Republican candidate John C. Fremont [above, left] against Democrat James Buchanan. The central issue of the election for many voters, and for Wesleyan’s Republican club in particular, was the proposed expansion of the institution of slavery into the territory of Kansas. Buchanan was known as a slavery expansionist, even supporting the annexation of Cuba for the purpose of building slave labor plantations there. Fremont ran on a free soil ticket, opposing the expansion of slavery to Kansas and Nebraska. In response to issues that they considered to be, “the most momentous presented to the American people since the adoption of the constitution,” a group of Wesleyan students founded the club on June 21, 1856.
The Wesleyan Republicans: fighting for democratic ideals like basic personal liberties and freedom from Obamacare since 1856.
[Via the Wesleyan Community Blog]
Later today, University Archivist Suzy Taraba ’77 and Assistant Archivist Valerie Gillispie will lead a presentation highlighting A History of Wesleyan Activism. It’ll be a fascinating account, I’m sure, and from the two people more qualified than anyone to wax historical about Wes.
But conspicuously missing, at least from the Wesleying pitch, is one of the most fascinating, controversial, and utterly bizarre activist episodes in Wesleyan history: the 1990 firebombing of President William M. Chace’s office in South College. This month marks the twentieth anniversary of that incident and Wesleyan’s turbulent activist spring. Let’s look back.
The president’s office was firebombed at 4:00 AM on Saturday, April 7, 1990. The culprit(s) used two Molotov Cocktails fashioned sloppily from beer bottles filled with explosive liquid. The explosion damaged a carpet and desk in the president’s office and destroyed some documents. The fire was put out within minutes; no one was harmed. The mess was cleaned up by Monday morning. The social unrest that plagued Wesleyan’s campus in early 1990, however—of which the bombing was both a product and cause—was not.
Happy GRS, everyone! Some words of insight from the 1976 Argus:
Hate preregistration? Wish you could “shop around” around for desirable courses free from the shackles of the nightmarish two-columned ranking hegemony?
Turns out you’re not alone. Ever since the administration adopted a binding preregistration policy in 1976—hoping thereby to reduce course uncertainty for professors and students alike—the annals of Wes history have been rife with instances of anti-pre-reg student activism, calling the process stressful, impersonal (sup, pre-internet techphobia?), even “a monstrosity of paperwork for North College.”
Anti-Pre-reg furor reached a peak twenty-five years ago this week, culminating with a mass protest against the newly computerized course registration system. Protest efforts included a petition urging as many students as possible to pre-register for the same math course, “thus overloading the computer with requests for this unlimited enrollment course and straining the flexibility of the drop/add period next fall.” A 4/5/85 Argus article (Students Protest Preregistration) describes the ensuing protest in excellent detail:
Well, not quite. But he is delaying its demolition, in a hard-won victory for vocal alumni, including Matthew Weiner ‘87. From a blog post today after meeting with Trustees (Roth’s words, my bold):
A topic that came up in various venues throughout the weekend concerned the future of McConaughy Hall. I knew the building well as a student, living just across from its front doors as a frosh. I remember with real fondness its grand staircase and wonderful light, and I also think back to some great parties and concerts I attended there. The building has been empty since I began my presidency, and since that time I’ve been trying to find an alternative use for it. The structure turns out to be terribly inefficient, and in great disrepair. Still, I had hopes that we might transform it (as we have done with Davenport and Fayerweather, and will do with Squash) for some community use.
I haven’t found an alternative use for MoCon. But given all the strong feeling, which I share, about trying to find alternative uses, I’ve delayed signing contracts for its demolition. The building has been here for almost 50 years, and I don’t take this decision lightly. But I also will not spend significant university funds every year without having a real function for the building. So, I am reviewing options (with appropriate professional guidance) one more time. I appreciate the input I’ve gotten, and I will be writing again soon on this subject.
As Syed pointed out, we may not have our own admissions musical filled with shiny happy students or Auto-Tuned rap video about our Nalgenes and LAX bros.
But don’t forget Party on Fountain:
We had a customized party anthem and music video before those MIDD KIDS even matriculated. Dear Gawker: please be gentle.
It’s not unusual for alumni to air grievances about controversial administrative decisions. It’s also not uncommon for famous alumni to pay tribute to their Wesleyan experience, either in words or financial donations. But for a hugely distinguished alum to publicly criticize a major administrative decision (i.e., MoCon demolition) feels strangely unique.
Matthew Weiner ’87 (or someone pretending to be him), best known as creator of Mad Men, left the following comment on a recent Argus article detailing MoCon demolition plans. Scroll through the full comments for some further compelling alumni perspectives.
From UCAB:
The Vancouver Winter Olympics are here!
That’s right, UCAB is bringing the action home by showing the olympics on a large screen projector in the Usdan Cafe. There will also be Wii Vancouver Olympic-themed video games, prizes, and delicious snacks and refreshments.You can view the Schedule for Thursday Feb. 18th here listed by each sport and each game time:
http://www.nbcolympics.com/event-results-schedules/index.htmlIf anyone you know wants to watch the olympics but doesn’t have access to a TV, definitely tell them about this event. Spread the word!
Date: Feb. 18
Time: 9:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Place: Usdan Cafe
“A college should always be stable, but never standing still.” —James L. McConaughy, B.A., M.A., Ph.D., LL.D.
In the beginning, it wasn’t called MoCon. It wasn’t even called McConaughy Hall.
No, when that giant spaceship-shaped monstrosity dining hall first opened its doors in September 1962, it was simply known as the “Freshman Dining Hall.” And that’s what it was; upperclassmen had far classier places to eat: their frat’s eating club, most likely (sup, Chic Chaque?), or Downey House, which apparently served food in the Pre-MoCon Era (is this common knowledge?).
A September, 1962 Argus article (Air Conditioning, Private Dining Rooms Features Of Modern $1,330,000 Foss Hill Dining Area, page two) celebrated the opening of this “ultra-modern structure” to the Class of ‘66 on September 16 of that year. Worth highlighting: Blaikie, Miller, and Hines, Inc was the food provider; individual meal costs were $0.75 (breakfast), $1.00 (lunch), and $1.50 (dinner). O 1962, how we miss thee.
So the ACB is abuzz with rumors—supposedly, and hopefully, true—of Dirty Projectors, Big Boi, and Black Lips possibly maybe playing Spring Fling. From the spring 1994 Argus, here’s an amusing anecdote from a past generation’s Spring Fling planning.
Sometime in early 1994, the Social Committee hired ’90s ska favorites the Mighty Mighty Bosstones to play Spring Fling. They offered the band nearly $7,000 to play, and the deal was set—until Krishna Winston, then Acting Dean of the College (and current professor of German Studies), put a stern foot down, citing the fact that ska is pretty much the worst thing ever given the Bosstones’ reputation for encouraging slam-dancing, stage-diving, and moshing, somebody could get hurt. P-Safe concurred, and good ol’-fashioned judicial activism ensued.
The result? The only band set for Spring Fling was a student group by the attractive name of White Boy Drummer, whose members described themselves as “very surprised” that they had won Eclectic’s recent Battle of the Bands and, perhaps consequently, “very nervous about Spring Fling.” But no fear—the band describes their music as “an amalgamation of everything,” which is about as insightful as that friend who likes to tell you they “listen to a little bit of everything.”
Read the whole article: Winston Nixes Bosstones for Spring Fling to Avoid Slam Dancing Risk
: too hippie for the website?
: but, what do you want? It's the calendar section, fwiw.
: The future is not what it used to be. WTF?!
: Accepting Points
: http://congratulations.whoismgmt.com/
: Is williams a "new" ivy? Wes only 8th Most Political College?http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/24/the-new-ivies-10-schools-_n_692223.html#s128862 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/28/the-most-political-colleg_n_697826.html#s129203
