Wesleyan in the News - May 2025
Pulitzer Prizes
The late Charles Stone Jr. '49, P'79, '82, GP'11, '15 received a special citation for his work covering the Civil Rights Movement, his role as the first Black columnist at the Philadelphia Daily News, and for co-founding the National Association of Black Journalists 50 years ago.
Percival Everett Hon.’25 was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in the Fiction category for his book James, a reconsideration of Huckleberry Finn from Jim’s perspective.
Marie Howe, former master class instructor at the Shapiro Center for Creative Writing and Criticism, was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in the Poetry category for her collection "New and Selected Poems."
As a member of the staff of The Washington Post, Miriam Berger ’12 was a finalist in the International Reporting category for journalism documenting the Middle East conflict and its impact on the Gaza strip.
Other headlines
Wesleyan was highlighted in a PBS Newshour segment on how the Trump administration’s policies have raised concerns about free speech and academic freedom. A PBS film crew visited campus to speak with President Michael S. Roth ’78, students, and faculty about the campus climate. Rob Rosenthal Distinguished Professor of Civic Engagement and executive director of the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life Khalilah Brown-Dean spoke in a roundtable with Minnah Sheikh ’25, Michael Astorino ’26, and Katie Williams ’28, while President Roth was interviewed individually.
“If we let the federal government dictate how to teach and learn on a campus, I’m afraid the government will tell us how to worship, what we’re supposed to buy, and how we’re supposed to conduct our local politics,” Roth told PBS Newshour. “We don’t want that to happen in the United States.”
Roth penned an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal on ideological diversity on college campuses. “Doubling down on ideology is not the only choice left to those of us committed to the vitality of American higher education,” said Roth. “Our professional ethos demands that we be more open-minded and more attentive to a variety of intellectual traditions, but we do not require ideological auditors.”
The Wall Street Journal also spoke to Roth in an article on the developing "playbook" being used by companies and institutions to respond to Trump administration’s policies. Roth talked about the fear of retribution that pervades different institutions, highlighting that he had “never seen anything like it.”
Roth appeared on CAFE’s Stay Tuned with Preet Bharara podcast where he spoke with the former U.S. Attorney on the current political climate on college campuses. Their conversation ranged from campus diversity, to ideological bias, to responses to Trump.
Bill Belichick ’75, Hon.’05, P’07 released a new book The Art of Winning on May 6, published by Simon & Schuster, detailing the principles that drove Belichick’s success in football.
Assistant Professor of Theater Maria-Christina Oliveras was nominated for a Drama Desk Award in the Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play category for her performance in an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Cymbeline.
The Voices in Your Head, directed by Ryan Dobrin ’18, was nominated for a Drama Desk Award in the Unique Theatrical Experience category.
The latest episode of Shapiro-Silverberg University Professor of Creative Writing and Criticism and Shapiro Writing Center Director Merve Emre’s LitHub- and New York Review of Books-sponsored podcast series The Critic and Her Publics features a conversation with Sahra Weiss, the current culture editor at The New York Times Magazine. Having been Emre’s first editor for a reported piece, Weiss discusses ‘potty training’ writers—about patience, perseverance, and a willingness to let people make mistakes when risking something new.
Visiting Assistant Professor of Continuing Studies, Jazz Ensemble Director and Jazz Piano Instructor Noah Baerman appeared on an episode WNPR’s The Colin McEnroe Show centering the myth of Sisyphus.
Associate Professor of Theater, African American Studies, English and Liberal Studies Rashida Shaw McMahon wrote for Stocktonia about the history of the Chitlin’ Circuit, which began as a term for 1920s routes of Black American touring performances and later became a form of Black theater, in the context of Beyonce’s adaptation of the term for her ongoing tour.
Peter Rutland, Colin and Nancy Campbell Professor in Global Issues and Democratic Thought, spoke to Newsweek about the Trump administration’s posture with respect to the War in Ukraine. Rutland believes that if Trump were to abandon a peace deal, he is unlikely to cut off all military and economic aid and would be blamed if Russian forces advanced on Kyiv.
Rutland also wrote for The Conversation about the Kremlin’s new documentary on Vladimir Putin, Russia. Kremlin. Putin. 25 Years. “The film explains how Putin sees his place in history and why he is waging the war on Ukraine,” writes Rutland. “The main intended message is clear: Putin is willing and able to fight on until he achieves victory on his own terms.”
The Chosun Daily spotlighted Jocelyn Clark ’92, who on March 10 became the first non-Korean national to be designated an intangible cultural heritage trainee in South Korea. Clark, an East Asian Studies major in her time at Wesleyan and currently a professor at Pai Chai University in Daejeon, South Korea, plays the gayageum, a traditional Korean string instrument.
