Alumni Memories

Charisse Lillie ’74

My warm recollections of Wesleyan include sitting on Foss Hill in the spring; a wonderful home away from home in the Malcolm X House; my freshman year roommate Hope Hill ’74 from D.C.; chilly mornings picking up the kids for the Free Breakfast program and making them grits and eggs with Claire Caliup ’74; intense arguments about the political dialectic in the Ujamaa meetings while we were all sprawled out in the entry hall of Malcolm X House; fixing a plate of collard greens for Miles Davis after his concert on campus and his refusing to eat the greens because we had cooked them with meat; hearing Sonia Sanchez read her poetry and then sharing a meal with her at Farina Moses’ house later in the evening; the African American Institute; Fay Boulware, Brenda, and Herman White ’74, waving at Brenda from my favorite window in the library; weekend trips to Philadelphia; my Tanzanian adventure with my roommate Aruby White ’72 who nursed me back to health in the Ujamaa village; writing a paper on black federal judges with Professor Clem Vose, an academic exercise that would change my life forever.

June Jeffries ’75

When I was a junior or senior, my mother came out for Parent’s Weekend. With her, she brought her very good friend, Rosa Parks. Having the youthful mind that I did at the time, I did nothing to alert the University of her presence. Years later, I had the presence of mind to nominate Mrs. Parks for an honorary degree. I campaigned successfully to make that happen. At my 25th reunion in 1990, Mrs. Parks was awarded an honorary doctorate from Wesleyan. Though she was unable to travel by then, a close associate of hers accepted in her absence. My mother, son, and I were both in attendance. Nothing could have made my mother more proud or happier. My only regret is that I had not gotten the idea in time for Mrs. Parks to have received the award one year earlier at a time when she could still travel.

Debra Hoskins ’76

It was a convenient scheduling stop to attend the “We Are Family” gathering in Maryland for graduates of the 70s. I had not visited the campus or participated in any Wesleyan Reunion activity since I graduated in 1976. I did not seriously consider ever doing so, but this event announced a scheduled speaker that I regarded as one of my best friends at Wesleyan. Even though we had not seen to each other in over a decade, I was anxious to see him at an occasion that was not a funeral.

My friend sent his regrets and did not show up. I knew only four of the 80 in attendance. Yet that weekend turned out to be one of my top three Wesleyan experiences. At the various events, I was not in a room with all my old Wesleyan buddies; I was in a room full of people I had never met. Nevertheless, the warmth, love, acceptance, and camaraderie was overwhelming. It was the actual manifestation of Ujamaa. We were no longer students competing against each other! Instead, we were now grateful for each other. Instinctively we knew that we shared a common knowledge, a unique experience, a rare strength, a magnificent secret. It was the 70s in America and we were truly young, gifted and Black—at Wesleyan. We were old enough to remember how it was. We were instruments of change. During that distinct decade, at that distinctive institution, we stepped through a portal together causing us to be forever bound to each other by a strong thread, the precious history that we share. We are indeed family.

Daphne Kwok ’84

Having been raised in Northern Virginia and entering the Wesleyan Class of ’84, one of the most exciting aspects of entering Wesleyan for me was to have classmates of color. Having 28 other Asian Pacific American classmates entering in the Class of ’84 was like heaven for me! I finally had APA classmates other than my brothers! To be able to have African American and Latino classmates was exciting for me as I learned that our challenges and issues were the same. Thank you to Wesleyan for its commitment to diversity and for allowing us students of color who did not have classmates of color growing up, to be able to go to school with a community of color!

Nyasha Foy ’06

As a recent graduate, my favorite memories of Wesleyan are still being formed and re-remembered. At this point, my favorite WesTech memories happened during the few moments I didn’t spend running around trying to run things (Delta, working at Campus Center, five classes, thesis, NIA, Ujamaa, etc.). Like the quiet moments in the Music Studio piano rooms, or sitting on the hill talking on the phone to one of my best friends as I brought in my 21st birthday (or the hill on any sunny day for that matter), or performing on stage in Crowell … I think the one that tops it all was my family reunion for my senior concert and when my Dad helped me move in to the Butts my frosh year.

If you would like to submit a memory in honor of Wesleyan’s 175th Anniversary, please visit www.wesleyan.edu/175/memories.html.