Wesleyan in the News: June/July 2025
President Michael S. Roth ’78 defended diversity initiatives and higher education at the annual convening of Heterodox Academy, a viewpoint-diversity group, according to Inside Higher Ed.
“The federal government is trying to destroy civil society by undermining the legitimacy of colleges and universities, of law firms—entertainment is on deck, and journalism,” Roth said at a Heterodox Academy panel. “And so while we twiddle our thumbs and talk about reforming the university, people who want to destroy the university are doing so not because we don’t have enough Republicans at the top business school or Wesleyan’s department of mathematics. They want to destroy the university because that’s how you claim more executive power.”
Roth spoke to Bloomberg for a story on how Wesleyan is preparing contingency plans for federal threats to higher education, like President Donald Trump’s executive order barring international students from entering the country to study at Harvard—which has since been blocked by a federal judge.
John T. Shaw, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, applauded Roth’s defense of higher education in a column for The Chicago Tribune. “Roth is the statesman that higher education needs in this difficult time, explaining its mission and record, responding to criticisms and threats, and pointing the way to a better future,” Shaw wrote. “His statesmanship has been shrewd, strategic and inspiring. Most especially, it has been courageous.”
John Goldberg ’83 was named Dean of Harvard Law, according to Harvard Magazine. Goldberg, an expert in tort law, has served as interim dean since March 2024, but has taught at the school since 2008. “Working together, we will continue to advance our understanding of the law, and to explore how it can best serve constitutional democracy, the rule of law, and the bedrock American principle of liberty and equal justice for all,” Goldberg said.
The Guardian highlighted Percival Everett Hon. ’25 in a piece on some of the most notable commencement speeches this academic cycle. Everett received an honorary degree from the University this year and spoke at Commencement. In his speech, Everett called reading “the most subversive thing you can do. When you read, no one knows what’s going into you, even if they are reading over your shoulder, and they are.”
Merve Emre, Shapiro-Silverberg University Professor of Creative Writing and Criticism and director of the Shapiro Center for Writing and Criticism, interviewed author Catherine Lacey about her new work “The Möbius Book” for The New Yorker.
Zachary Fine, postdoctoral fellow in criticism, wrote a piece on artist Ben Shahn’s legacy for The New Yorker. The Jewish Museum in New York City has a new exhibition of Shahn’s work, the first retrospective of his painting in the United States since 1978.
Immigration Lawyer Cynthia Santiago ’07 was profiled by The Daily Beast for her work on immigration cases in Santa Monica, Calif.—the city where White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller grew up. Santiago went to high school with Miller and served as his senior class president; now 23 years later she is fighting the anti-immigrant policies he has helped to forward in court.
W Magazine featured Tammy Nguyen, professor of art, in a piece on her studio in Easton, Conn. and her show at Lehmann Maupin New York “A Comedy for Mortals: Paradiso,” the final of a three-part series exploring Dante’s Inferno. “Paradise is basically a space story,” Nguyen said. “In this final chapter, Dante follows his love, Beatrice, into the solar system. He starts on earth, goes to the sun, and goes into the ether. What I found so beautiful about Dante’s outlook was that he regarded this journey into heaven as a journey of endless knowledge.”
Author Amy Bloom, Shapiro-Silverberg Professor of Creative Writing, Emerita, described her journey with grief following the death of her husband in an essay for OprahDaily. Bloom, who planted a linden tree in her yard alongside her husband’s ashes and some of his favorite tea, said, “I found that my loss and my love gave me something more. It gave back, and I found myself ready to take. And then to see. And then to give.”
Music Producer Bill Sherman ’02 appeared on WNYC’s All of It with Alison Stewart to discuss his career in music and preview the second season of “Donkey Hodie,” a puppet music video series for preschoolers on PBS Kids. Sherman also arranged Broadway shows & Juliet and In The Heights and produced the Hamilton cast album.
Sebastian Zimmeck, associate professor of computer science and data privacy researcher, wrote about the right to privacy and internet data sharing opt out rights for Communications of the ACM. “By aligning legal frameworks, automated opt out mechanisms, and user-centric design, we can improve privacy on the Internet so that it respects peoples’ individual autonomy,” Zimmeck wrote. “We have made some progress, but we still have a long way to go.”
Khalilah Brown-Dean, Rob Rosenthal Distinguished Professor of Civic Engagement and executive director of the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life, moderated a conversation with legendary French chef Jacques Pépin at the 30th International Festival of Arts & Ideas in New Haven, according to WSHU.
WalletHub interviewed Associate Professor of Economics David Kuenzel for a piece on states with rising unemployment claims, inflation, and the job market. “The unemployment rate as well as layoff and new hire dynamics have been fairly steady recently,” Kuenzel said. “In historical comparison, the U.S. labor market is currently tighter and titled more in favor of employees than during most periods.”
Former English faculty member John Patrick Hackett passed away on June 8. Hackett taught at Wesleyan in the 1970s before moving to San Antonio, Texas to teach at four different schools before retiring in 2002, according to his obituary.
