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ResLife: Meet the Area Coordinators!

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 Jonathan Connary — Clark, Fauver & West College

jon1Jonathan Connary joined the Wesleyan University Office of Residential Life team in the fall of 2007.  He is the Area Coordinator (AC) responsible for Clark Hall, Fauver Residence Hall, and West College.  Jon holds a Master of Education degree from Ohio University and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of New England.  Students will often see Jon in the halls of Clark Hall, where he lives with his partner.  He enjoys traveling when he can and is a fan of HBO’s “True Blood.”  His best advice for first year students is to “take advantage of all the campus has to offer.”  Jon is always interested in getting to know the students in his area, so feel free to stop by his office in the basement of North College and say hello!

Sharise Brown — Butterfields, 200 Church & 156 High Street

Sharise Brown is the AC for the Butterfields, 200 Church and 156 High Street.  Originally from the Washington D.C. sharise_brownarea, Sharise completed her undergraduate degree in Communications at Simmons College in Boston.   Prior to coming to Wesleyan, she worked in student services at both Smith College and Penn State University.  Sharise has been a member of the Wesleyan ResLife team since August 2005.  She also is the proud mom of Christian, C.J. and Shalaya.  They live here on campus so don’t be surprised to see them at various events.   Sharise’s words of wisdom for new students:  “Try to be open-minded and respectful of yourself and others!  College is a place of education, compromise and communication.  Make sure you master all aspects throughout your time here.  We are all looking forward to helping you every step of the way!”   Visit Sharise in her office off the Butterfield A lounge.

Alex Cabal — Nicolson and Hewitt Halls

alex_jpgAlex Cabal joined the Wesleyan University Office of Residential Life team in August 2007 and is about to start his third year at Wesleyan.  Alex is the AC for Nicolson and Hewitt Halls, as well as some of our program housing communities.  He finished his graduate studies at Springfield College and earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Hartford.  Alex is a fan of the arts and has spent several summers working with the Center for Creative Youth, a summer pre-college program that offers talented high school students five weeks of intensive study in the arts here at Wesleyan. His words of wisdom for all students: “You always have choices.  It’s important to understand the consequences of them.” Students will often see Alex perusing the halls, and talking to residents. Always up for a good conversation, feel free to stop him in the halls or visit his office on the ground floor of Hewitt 8.

Roommates: Thriving Together

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When you arrive on campus, your RA will give you and your roommate(s) Thriving Together, a workbook to help you determine ground rules for your room.   During the first week or two of the semester, set some quiet time aside thumbnailcajzm6xkwith your roommate(s) to go through the workbook together.  Establishing guidelines early in the semester and resolving the issues in the Roommates’ Agreement Form will help prevent minor problems from escalating into major problems later in the year. If you need assistance completing the agreement, ask your Resident Advisor for help. RAs are trained in conflict mediation and can offer an impartial perspective. Whether you are already best of friends or just cordial acquaintances, a healthy roommate relationship requires open communication, compromise and respect.

What’s an RA?

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A Resident Advisor (commonly shortened to “RA“) is an integral member of the Residential Life staff.  RAs are trained student leaders charged with managing a residential community.   They live in their community and are expected to provide personal and social support for their residents.  RAs undergo intensive training to ensure that they can effectively address community issues, be a resource for their residents, and respond in crisis situations.  RAs rotate being “on duty” every night from 8 p.m. to 7five-ras a.m. to provide assistance to students in their area, ensure policies are being observed, address maintenance issues, and perform lock-outs.  RAs plan several programs throughout the semester to help students get to know one another, learn more about the campus, or just explore a new idea.

You will meet your RA on Arrival Day.  Be sure to attend your floor meeting that night where you will receive much more information about Orientation, campus resources, and the ResLife staff.   Take time to get to know your RA and the other RAs in your building.  They all have been students for at least one year at Wesleyan and are on campus to help you!

Quiz:   What famous persons were RAs at NYU, U-VA, U-Pittsburgh, Wellesley, SUNY-Purchase, and U-MO?  Actor Jerry O’Connell, broadcaster Katie Couric, coach Mike Dikta, Sec. of State Hilary Rodham Clinton, actor Wesley Snipes, and musician Sheryl Crow, respectively.

Check Wes e-mail & class blog daily!

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thumbnailca0j9pac1Make it a habit to check your Wesleyan e-mail on a daily basis, especially once you arrive on campus, but even now.  E-mail is a medium for official University communications through which you will receive important messages from offices, such as the Registrar, Student Accounts, and Financial Aid, from class deans and administrators (& the President too!), and from your faculty advisor and instructors.   As the Student Handbook states, “[T]he University’s primary means of communicating with students is through their Wesleyan e-mail accounts. Students are responsible for reading and responding to e-mail from University officials.” (P. 21) 

Also get in the habit of checking out this class blog on a daily basis.  It too will serve as an important source of information for you not only this summer, but also throughout your four years here.  Check out as well President Roth’s blog at http://roth.blogs.wesleyan.edu for his thoughts and insights about issues on campus, nationally, and around the world. 

Checking your e-mail and class blog on a daily basis is a good habit to acquire!

Rick Culliton, Dean of Students

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Rick Culliton is the Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs and the Dean of Students at Wesleyan.  Dean rick1Culliton graduated from Boston College with a degree in English and Philosophy before earning his masters in higher education administration and his doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Vermont. Prior to his work at Wesleyan, Dean Culliton worked in various student life positions at the University of Vermont. 

The dean of students at Wesleyan oversees many of the offices responsible for student life outside the classroom, including Residential Life, Health Services and Behavioral Health, Health Education, the Usdan Center, Student Activities and Leadership Development, and University Events and Scheduling as well as the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, International Student Services, and the Student Judicial Board.   Dean Culliton works with the directors of these offices and programs to provide important and needed services for students.  Together with students, they create a rich array of programs and events that provide an exciting, engaging, and intellectually stimulating student life.      

When you arrive at Wesleyan, feel free to stop by Dean Culliton’s office on the first floor of North College or contact him at rculliton@wesleyan.edu, if you have questions about student life or the offices with which he works.

First Year Matters (FYM) Seminars

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The First Year Matters program will offer four faculty seminars during New Student Orientation that will explore this year’s theme of water from the discipline of the faculty presenter.  One seminar features a discussion between two professors, a humanist and a scientist, who will talk about issues connected to water contamination, ground water depletion and rising sea levels in the context of sustaining human and animal life on earth.  Another seminar will focus on the critical nature of fresh water in the western part of the United States, and explore possible responses to long-term problems there that range from the prolonged drought in the southwest to the mega forest fires in California.  The third seminar will explore the historical role that water has played in human development, focusing on the challenges that large bodies of water presented to early humans and how those barriers were eventually exploited for growth and economic expansion.  The fourth seminar will explore water’s role in modern development from a legal and economic perspective, and discuss the consequences of property and ownership rights for the natural environment. 

You get to choose one of these great seminars to attend on the afternoon of Thursday, September 3.  The seminars, along with the summer readings, will inform the discussions that take place later that evening. 

You can see the full descriptions for all four seminars on the FYM website (http://www.wesleyan.edu/deans/firstyearmatters/index.html) and on the Blackboard course page.  There will be a bibliography of supplemental readings also posted on the Blackboard course page, if you choose to explore further.   The readings can be found through the Blackboard course page which you can access from the FYM website.  Make sure to read the common readings before you arrive on campus!

WesDEFs

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WesDEF (the Wesleyan Diversity Education Facilitation Program) is a student group founded in 2005 that leads anti-oppression conversation workshops.  WesDEFs train throughout the year for their roles as community facilitators and educators.  Every first year residential hall has WesDEF facilitators who will lead monthly workshops on social justice issues.  

WesDEF workshops could include a discussion of classism and the Anonymous Confession Board or a poetry exercise about the meaning of home or an activity exploring the presence of institutional racism in our community.   All workshops provide an opportunity for critical dialogue about the impact of oppression at Wesleyan and in society. 

The purpose of WesDEF workshops is not to provide answers but to incite questions and to provide participants with the knowledge and tools for further personal exploration and social awareness.  The WesDEF program aims to act as a resource for the Wesleyan community, developing space for social justice work, dialogue and understanding.  Support, guidance and funding come from the Offices of Residential Life, Student Activities and Leadership Development, and Diversity and Strategic Partnerships.

Wescard: Photo Deadline

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July 19 is the deadline to upload a 2″ by 2″ passport photograph for your Wesleyan ID Card and, like all deadlines, it is rapidly approaching.  Please go into your e-portfolio now under “Student Life” to upload your picture.  

If you are unable to upload a picture you can send it to:  Wesleyan University, WesCard Office, North College Room 111, 237 High Street, Middletown, CT   06459.  Please include your name and Wesleyan ID number, and mark the outside of the envelope with “Photo Enclosed.”  Do not write on the photograph.

You will need your ID for access to the residential halls and for meals as well as for other activities on campus.   Upload or send your picture today so that your ID will be ready for pick up on Arrival Day at the Exley Science Center.

If a picture is not received, your ID will not be ready for you. You will need to come to North College, Room 111 on Arrival Day and stand in line to have your picture taken.  Try to avoid having to do this as Arrival Day is hectic enough as it is.  Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Cathy Rizza, WesCard Coordinator

Student Academic Resource Network (SARN)

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You should know by now that people who reach out and ask for help are the most successful. But where should you go to ask for help when you are at Wesleyan? Mosey on over to Student Academic Resources Network (SARN). The network is a virtual space for you to ask for help.  At the website, you will find links to programs that can help you find scholarships, organize your time, improve your paper-writing skills, learn how to use the on-line library resources, find internships or grants, and explore study abroad programs. Will you be looking for academic help with math, statistics, biology and chemistry, or might you simply want to improve your studying skills and habits? Explore the links at the SARN Web site. You will find these programs and more!

Welcome to Middletown: A Corner of History

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From the tranquil quiet of the Indian Hill cemetery to the spooky headstones of important persons from Wesleyan’s past sitting atop Foss Hill, graveyards are a distinctive part of the Wesleyan landscape. The Old Washington Street Cemetery, commissioned in 1739, lies across the street from Indian Hill. Unlike its oft-visited neighbor, however, many people, even lifelong Middletown residents that I have talked to, don’t even know it’s there.

Beneath the appearances, the Washington Street yard tells many stories about Middletown’s past. The large family markers on the North end of the yard speak to well-to-do families whose heads earned distinction in war, politics, and business. The sparsely-placed headstones in the South end, where until the last decade only African Americans were buried, gives testament to the racism and segregation that these people faced. Their histories, however, reveal their struggles for freedom and equality.

Rev. Jehiel C. Beman, died 1858, was a leader for the Northern Free Black Community. He used his placement at the AME Zion Church in town to help found the Middletown anti-Slavery Society and also secretly conduct the Underground Railroad.  Isaac Truitt (1877), James Caples (1889), Alfred (1907) and James Powers (1868), Rufus Addison (1916) and Christian Gordon (1865) all fought in the civil war in the 29th, 31st, and the 55th colored infantry for the emancipation of their people. Mr. Truitt was a chimney sweep at Wesleyan and a favorite of the students. Leverett Beman (1883), Jehiel’s son, bought the entire triangle of land bordered by Cross St., Vine St., and Knowles Ave., and sold the plots to other African Americans to form the heart of the black community in Middletown.

These people and many, many others lived in Middletown and died without having their stories recorded. As you begin your lives here, I encourage you to seek out these stories, document them, and share them with your community.

 Nate Ratner ’10, Anthropology major