Wellesley Wire 12/9/02

Wellesley's multicultural student population featured in Boston Globe article -- The opportunities and challenges presented by Wellesley's multicultural student body were featured in a front page story in the Boston Sunday Globe last month. "Among liberal arts colleges, where diversity is often a goal more talked about than achieved, Wellesley has had uncommon success in revising its image as a privileged white enclave," wrote Globe higher education reporter Jenna Russell. "In its freshman and sophomore classes, more than 40 percent of the American students are Asian, Native American, black, or Hispanic. The majority of Wellesley underclassmen are minorities or international students, most of whom are not white." Such diversity creates its own challenges, as evidenced earlier this fall when the movie, "Mona Lisa Smile," filmed several scenes on campus. Set at Wellesley in the mid-1950s, the movie provided few opportunities for students of color to participate and surfaced many painful issues of race and ethnicity.

Wellesley's path to such diversity was first begun decades ago when the first students from Asia came to the College and alumnae began to spread across the globe. Janet Lavin Rapelye, dean of Admissions, notes that admissions officers visit schools throughout the country and the world to create "an applicant pool that's as broad and deep as it can be."

The full article can be read online at http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/314/metro/On_Wellesley_campus_a_majority_of_diversity+.shtml

Two Wellesley Alumnae Among Discover Magazine's "50 Most Important Women in Science" -- Persis Drell '77 and Sarah Blaffer Hrdy '68 are listed among the "50 Most Important Women in Science" and profiled in the November issue of Discover magazine. A project that grew from an inquiry into how women fare in science, the magazine notes "how important it is that the barriers facing women in science be broken down as quickly and entirely as possible."

The daughter of a theoretical physicist, Drell planned to be a mathematician until she discovered a Wellesley professor who made physics seem exciting. Now Director of Research at Stanford's Linear Accelerator Center, Drell uses giant particle colliders to study elementary particle physics. An anthropologist whose work is tied to the evolution of family relationships, be they money or human, Hrdy is professor emeritus at University of California at Davis.

To read the entire article and all 50 profiles, visit http://www.discover.com/nov_02/feat50.html

U.S. Litigation Is Result of Structural Tensions Says Wellesley Professor in New Book -- The volume of lawsuits in the United States is not the result of greedy or quarrelsome individuals but rather the result of litigious policies and a court-center public policy style, argues Tom Burke, assistant professor of political science, in his recent book, "Lawyers, Lawsuits and Legal Rights: The Battle over Litigation in American Society." The book was featured recently in a New York Times article entitled "Is Litigation a Blight, or Built In?" (11/23/02). According to the article, Burke argues that those concerned with excessive litigation should "blame the founding fathers for their deep mistrust of centralized authority and their glorified view of self-reliance. The government they structured with its separation of powers, its limited national control over state and local police forces and its independent judiciary was intended to protect against tyranny, but it also had the unintended consequence of making it harder for democratically elected leaders to get things done."

The news article is at http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/23/arts/23LAWS.html. Registration at the paper's web site (brief, free) is required.

Wellesley Hosts Planning Conference for Asian University for Women -- Last month public and private sector leaders from Asia, Europe, and North America gathered at Wellesley to help organizers of the Asian University for Women (AUW) develop plans for this innovative educational institution. Set to open in 2005, AUW will be a residential liberal arts university, with extensive professional training programs, for women from Asia, with a special emphasis on educating women from diverse social, economic, and religious backgrounds.

A select group of academics, government officials, policy experts, expert consultants in finance, campus architecture, and planning, and philanthropists from South and Southeast Asia, North America, and Europe participated in the conference, providing feedback to AUW planners and pinpointing key issues that have yet to be resolved.

"It was clear from both the AUW planners and those participating in the conference that the idea of this women's university is both powerful and exciting," said President Diana Chapman Walsh, who is a member of the Board of Directors of the AUW Support Foundation. "The difficult task that AUW organizers now face is how to transform these concepts and energy into the complex reality of a liberal arts university." The full text of President Walsh's opening remarks at the conference can be found at http://www.wellesley.edu/PublicAffairs/President/Speeches/2002/AUW110302.html

The Wellesley Campaign Unveils New Web Site -- Marking the halfway point of Wellesley's five-year effort to raise $400 million to preserve and advance its preeminence in higher education, The Wellesley Campaign has unveiled a new web site. The lively, user-friendly site features dozens of students, faculty, and alumnae, describing what Wellesley and its future mean to them. There's also information on campaign priorities and progress toward these goals. As of the end of November, gifts and pledges totaling $283.6 million have been received.

You can explore the site and learn about many of the exciting changes already made possible by campaign gifts at http://www.wellesley.edu/Resources/

And, to make your charitable gift to Annual Giving even simpler, the web site includes a secure online gift form at http://www.wellesley.edu/Resources/gift/index.html





	~Wellesley Wire - 2002~

	Wellesley Wire December 9, 2002 Wellesley's Multicultural Student Population Featured in Boston Globe Article Two Wellesley Alumnae Among Discover Magazine's "50 Most Important Women in Science" U.S. Litigation Is Result of Structural Tensions Says Wellesley Professor in New Book Wellesley Hosts Planning Conference for Asian University for Women The Wellesley Campaign Unveils New Web Site Wellesley's multicultural student population featured in Boston Globe article -- The opportunities and challenges presented by Wellesley's multicultural student body were featured in a front page story in the Boston Sunday Globe last month. "Among liberal arts colleges, where diversity is often a goal more talked about than achieved, Wellesley has had uncommon success in revising its image as a privileged white enclave," wrote Globe higher education reporter Jenna Russell. "In its freshman and sophomore classes, more than 40 percent of the American students are Asian, Native American, black, or Hispanic. The majority of Wellesley underclassmen are minorities or international students, most of whom are not white." Such diversity creates its own challenges, as evidenced earlier this fall when the movie, "Mona Lisa Smile," filmed several scenes on campus. Set at Wellesley in the mid-1950s, the movie provided few opportunities for students of color to participate and surfaced many painful issues of race and ethnicity. Wellesley's path to such diversity was first begun decades ago when the first students from Asia came to the College and alumnae began to spread across the globe. Janet Lavin Rapelye, dean of Admissions, notes that admissions officers visit schools throughout the country and the world to create "an applicant pool that's as broad and deep as it can be." The full article can be read online at http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/314/metro/On_Wellesley_campus_a_majority_of_diversity+.shtml Two Wellesley Alumnae Among Discover Magazine's "50 Most Important Women in Science" -- Persis Drell '77 and Sarah Blaffer Hrdy '68 are listed among the "50 Most Important Women in Science" and profiled in the November issue of Discover magazine. A project that grew from an inquiry into how women fare in science, the magazine notes "how important it is that the barriers facing women in science be broken down as quickly and entirely as possible." The daughter of a theoretical physicist, Drell planned to be a mathematician until she discovered a Wellesley professor who made physics seem exciting. Now Director of Research at Stanford's Linear Accelerator Center, Drell uses giant particle colliders to study elementary particle physics. An anthropologist whose work is tied to the evolution of family relationships, be they money or human, Hrdy is professor emeritus at University of California at Davis. To read the entire article and all 50 profiles, visit http://www.discover.com/nov_02/feat50.html U.S. Litigation Is Result of Structural Tensions Says Wellesley Professor in New Book -- The volume of lawsuits in the United States is not the result of greedy or quarrelsome individuals but rather the result of litigious policies and a court-center public policy style, argues Tom Burke, assistant professor of political science, in his recent book, "Lawyers, Lawsuits and Legal Rights: The Battle over Litigation in American Society." The book was featured recently in a New York Times article entitled "Is Litigation a Blight, or Built In?" (11/23/02). According to the article, Burke argues that those concerned with excessive litigation should "blame the founding fathers for their deep mistrust of centralized authority and their glorified view of self-reliance. The government they structured with its separation of powers, its limited national control over state and local police forces and its independent judiciary was intended to protect against tyranny, but it also had the unintended consequence of making it harder for democratically elected leaders to get things done." The news article is at http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/23/arts/23LAWS.html. Registration at the paper's web site (brief, free) is required. Wellesley Hosts Planning Conference for Asian University for Women -- Last month public and private sector leaders from Asia, Europe, and North America gathered at Wellesley to help organizers of the Asian University for Women (AUW) develop plans for this innovative educational institution. Set to open in 2005, AUW will be a residential liberal arts university, with extensive professional training programs, for women from Asia, with a special emphasis on educating women from diverse social, economic, and religious backgrounds. A select group of academics, government officials, policy experts, expert consultants in finance, campus architecture, and planning, and philanthropists from South and Southeast Asia, North America, and Europe participated in the conference, providing feedback to AUW planners and pinpointing key issues that have yet to be resolved. "It was clear from both the AUW planners and those participating in the conference that the idea of this women's university is both powerful and exciting," said President Diana Chapman Walsh, who is a member of the Board of Directors of the AUW Support Foundation. "The difficult task that AUW organizers now face is how to transform these concepts and energy into the complex reality of a liberal arts university." The full text of President Walsh's opening remarks at the conference can be found at http://www.wellesley.edu/PublicAffairs/President/Speeches/2002/AUW110302.html The Wellesley Campaign Unveils New Web Site -- Marking the halfway point of Wellesley's five-year effort to raise $400 million to preserve and advance its preeminence in higher education, The Wellesley Campaign has unveiled a new web site. The lively, user-friendly site features dozens of students, faculty, and alumnae, describing what Wellesley and its future mean to them. There's also information on campaign priorities and progress toward these goals. As of the end of November, gifts and pledges totaling $283.6 million have been received. You can explore the site and learn about many of the exciting changes already made possible by campaign gifts at http://www.wellesley.edu/Resources/ And, to make your charitable gift to Annual Giving even simpler, the web site includes a secure online gift form at http://www.wellesley.edu/Resources/gift/index.html Back to top Back to the Wellesley Wire Archives Back to the Wellesley Wire Homepage

	Office for Public Information Date Last Modified: July 7, 2003

December 9, 2002