Tag: Students

Trick-or-Treat at the President’s House

I spent a delightful Sunday evening with hundreds of Wellesley students.  They came to the President’s House for Halloween, dressed in costumes of every imaginable type—I saw Cat in the Hat (along with Thing One and Thing Two), Princess Leia, characters from Harry Potter, a Starbucks logo, and even a group that came as a Scrabble game.   The inventiveness of Wellesley students never ceases to amaze me.

As for me, I greeted students dressed as Marie Curie, complete with glowing radioactive test tubes in my pockets.

The house was decorated with cobwebs, skeletons, spiders, flickering lights and many other creepy things, thanks to the help of the College Student Government leaders who not only conceived of the idea but assisted with the decorating.

There were cauldrons of candy, cisterns of hot apple cider, and hundreds of cupcakes.  Everyone had a great time!

Wellesley’s Davis-United World College Scholars

Last night, I was delighted to host at the President’s House a remarkable group of young women—Wellesley’s Davis-United World College Scholars. It was an informal event with no real agenda other than to welcome the new class of Scholars to Wellesley, and to enjoy one another’s company, something that often gets lost in our fast-paced world. It was fun to watch the older students reconnect and to watch the first years being drawn into the fold of what I think of as a sisterhood-within-a-sisterhood at Wellesley.

The Davis-UWC Scholars program provides need-based scholarship grants to students from around the globe, bringing some of the world’s brightest minds to select U.S. colleges and universities. As one of this program’s five founding institutions—along with Colby College, College of the Atlantic, Middlebury College, and Princeton University—Wellesley has educated more than 100 Scholars since 2001, in addition to the 42 students, hailing from 29 countries, who are on campus now.

Our UWC students—past and present—are natural leaders before they even step foot on campus. And at Wellesley, they shine. They add an invaluable dimension to the classroom and to our campus community.

As Nelson Mandela said, “The striking thing about UWC is that they embrace the entire world across all divides of race, history, culture, wealth, religion, economic status and political belief: they are unique and they are conscious of their responsibilities.”

Last spring, many of us on campus were pleased to meet with and thank the supporters of the Davis-UWC program, Shelby and Gale Davis. When Shelby spoke, it was clear to all that this program was something he felt passionate about. Shelby and Gale’s inspiration and philanthropy have made an enormous difference in the lives of a large number of young people all over the world.

Wellesley is fortunate to have so many talented young women with such diverse experiences on our campus. I was honored to spend an evening with some of them.

Why Choose Wellesley?

I am always interested in the story behind why a student chooses to attend Wellesley. Does she choose Wellesley because of our stellar faculty? Our picturesque campus? Our network of amazing alumnae? Is it for a specific program or an opportunity she will have on– or off– campus?

Sometimes it’s all of the above.

Earlier this week, an incoming first-year student wrote a thoughtful piece in Ms. Magazine on this very topic.

I look forward to welcoming the entire Class of 2015 to Wellesley on Monday and to hearing all of their stories.

Summer Research

I always enjoy attending the annual student Summer Research Poster Session, which is the culmination—and celebration—of a summer’s worth of research in the sciences and social sciences at Wellesley. This event always generates so much excitement and energy, which is infectious!

On Thursday, I stopped by the Science Center Library and was impressed by the depth and breadth of research presented this year—from a computer science lab that investigated political speech and manipulation on Twitter, to a geosciences lab where a student looked at childhood lead poisoning from a socioeconomic perspective, to a sociology lab that studied the social constructs of bullying, and a chemistry lab working on developing a multipurpose nanoparticle to treat pancreatic cancer.

Most of our Summer Research students are Wellesley students, although some come from other colleges. There is also a group of high school students who spent the summer doing research with their Wellesley mentors.

The scholars I spoke to on Thursday were grateful for the opportunity to spend a summer doing research—to test out a hypothesis that they formed in a class this past year, to get a head start on their upcoming senior thesis, or to determine if a particular field or discipline is really for them.  They are all most appreciative of the opportunity to work directly with faculty researchers in an active professional endeavor.  One student expressed it this way to me:  In a classroom, you feel like a student, but in this summer research program, you feel like a collaborator—you are one.

I was pleased to encounter a number of students who have no intention of majoring or working in a science field. One good example of this is a history major who worked in a chemistry lab this summer on a complex project. Faculty encourage all of our students to try their hand at real research.

The number of students participating in Summer Research at Wellesley has increased tremendously over time. The program has become increasingly competitive, as student interest exceeds capacity. Such opportunities are important for students, and we need to make sure these experiences continue to be available.

I am particularly pleased with the increased interest because I know this program is exactly the right program to help fill the science pipeline for the world and the right kind of program to overcome the stereotypical biases that convince so many capable young women that they can not do science.  All of them leave this program knowing that they can.

A Wellesley Welcome

In about a month, we will welcome our incoming class of 2015 to campus. We already know quite a bit about them—where they are from, what their interests are, why they want to come to Wellesley.  We are looking forward to meeting them in person in August.

In the meantime, the Wellesley community has been sending this incoming class a fabulous Wellesley welcome.  I thought you might enjoy seeing what a number of our students, faculty, and staff have been saying to this new yellow class.

There’s Only One Wellesley

Last night, I had the pleasure of attending the College’s annual Wilson Lecture—one of our most important intellectual events of the year—where Maleeha Lodhi, former Pakistani Ambassador to the United States and Britain, and Anne Patterson ’71, former U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan, engaged in a dialogue about diplomacy, foreign relations, and their experiences in Pakistan.  During the question and answer period, several questions came from students who identified themselves as new members of the Class of 2015.  These women were at Wellesley for our annual Spring Open Campus, where we try to convince some 800 admitted students and their families that Wellesley is the place for them.

I always wonder at what moment an admitted student decides that Wellesley is the right fit. Is it as soon as she steps on campus? Is it in conversation with a student? An alum?

In fact, earlier that afternoon, our admitted students had an opportunity to connect with alumnae during a panel held in the Diana Chapman Walsh Alumnae Hall.  I was able to drop in briefly and I heard panelist Crystal Fleming ’04 sum up her feelings for her alma mater: “There are a lot of great colleges,” she said, “but there’s only one Wellesley.”

For the students and families who attended Spring Open Campus, I hope you’ll agree.