The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

Summer program spotlight: One Wellesley Summer

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Summer. It’s the season for discovery, exploration, and growth. Find out at Wellesley College how you can succeed and thrive in ways you have yet to imagine. One Wellesley Summer Programs offer small classes that are academically challenging and taught by full-time Wellesley faculty. Programs are available to visiting undergraduates, high-school students in good academic standing, and professionals. Discover what a difference one summer can make.

Undergraduate Summer Term, co-ed: Take full-credit classes drawn from a sampling of courses taught during the academic year by Wellesley College’s world-renowned faculty. Co-ed undergraduates, adult learners, and rising high school juniors and seniors can explore challenging topics and new areas of interest. Two sessions: June 3 – June 28 & July 8 – August 2.

Pre-college Immersive Program for Girls: Designed for exceptional young women entering grades 10-12, students will live and study on Wellesley College’s idyllic 500-acre campus for four (4) weeks, taking two courses and earning college credit. Meet motivated and intellectually curious young woman from around the globe and immerse yourself in the academic, social, and intellectual opportunities that cannot be found in any high school program. Runs July 7 – August 1.

Pre-College Exploratory Workshop for Girls: Get a taste of what college will be like. Wellesley’s one-week residential Pre-College Exploratory Workshops offer a first step into the college experience. Explore what it is like to live and study on a college campus while exploring a subject in STEM, Writing, Leadership, or Humanities. Two Sessions: July 27 – August 2 & August 4 – August 11. Stay for one or two weeks.

Contemporary Women’s Leadership Institute: Make the transition from the classroom to the working world in Wellesley College’s Undergraduate Contemporary Women’s Leadership Institute – a new, immersive approach to personal leadership and success that brings theory to practice. Take two (2) college credit earning courses and then apply your learnings through a hands-on experiential week with professionals in fields ranging from tech to politics to business. Runs June 30 – August 2.

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Wellesley College track closed until mid-August

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Glad to see a portion of our Wellesley College tuition (oh yeah, we don’t actually go to school there) is going to a good cause: renovation of the track.

It’s true that the track has become a tad chewed up in spots, and the college also will strive to make the area more accessible and improve spectator facilities.

There’s nothing better than a fresh track surface to make slowpokes gain a bit of spring in their steps, and you can look forward to the project wrapping up in mid-August if plans go according to schedule.

In the meantime, you can head over to the Wellesley High track, which was refurbished in 2016, if you’re looking for an outdoor track alternative.

wellesley track wellesley track

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Geese take over Severance Hill at Wellesley College…or do they?

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Severance Hill is legendary on the campus of Wellesley College. When it snows, students and townies alike use the steep slope for sledding. On a sturdy lower branch of the hill’s ancient oak tree, a swing usually appears in late spring. The Canada Geese currently grazing smack dab in the middle of the hill, however, are new.

I did a double take as I walked across campus. From a distance, the geese looked bona fide, but something was off. I’ve seen plenty of Canada Geese around the Wellesley College campus, but they’re usually either on Lake Waban or worn by fashion-conscious students sporting a winter coat label. These Severance Hill geese were different. A closer inspection revealed that the dozen waterfowl weren’t made of feathers and goose fat. These were changelings, handcrafted out of wood and painstakingly painted.

Canada geese, Wellesley College
Wellesley College seniors took part in a little fowl play last night on Severance Hill.

I asked a couple of passing students what it was all about. “I think it’s part of a senior thesis project,” said one. Oh. An art installation. Well, that would be laudable, I thought, but wouldn’t it be more fun if it were an end-of-year prank?

The front-desk staff at the Davis Museum cleared things up for me, and all it took was a quick look at a dorm’s Instagram account. There, a bold group claimed credit saying, “We ventured to Sev Green in an act of unity to prank Tower Court in the most epic of epic pranks…I hope you look up and smile as you are reminded of our time together.”

Well played, Wellesley College Class of 2019. You totally had me fooled.

Wonder what the Wellesley High School seniors will come up with this year.

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Anita Hill named Wellesley College commencement speaker

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Photo via Brandeis University

Attorney, author and Brandeis University professor Anita Hill will deliver the commencement address at Wellesley College on Friday, May 31.

Hill, who became nationally known in 1991 when she accused U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment, has remained a strong voice on civil and women’s rights. Hill’s published works include her 1997 memoir, Speaking Truth to Power, as well as Reimagining Equality: Stories of Gender, Race and Finding Home, published in 2011. She received this year’s Courage Award from PEN America, a literary and human-rights organization.

Last year, Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith delivered Wellesley College’s commencement address.

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Wellesley College hoop rolling: The ultimate in athleticism, tradition & chaos

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wellesley hoop paige

Many of the gowned Wellesley College seniors who took to rain-slickened Tupelo Lane with their wooden hoops for the annual hoop rolling race couldn’t get out of their own or each other’s way. It was a slightly less chaotic and dangerous scene than the running of the bulls. But Paige Hauke maneuvered relatively gracefully from her front-of-the-pack starting position to the finish line of the 1/8 of mile course, which sits not far from where Boston Marathon runners will stream by on Monday.

As a field hockey player, Hauke had an advantage over many of her fellow hoop rollers: She’s used to being stooped over while running. The skills in these two activities easily translate.

wellesley hoop paige

The chemistry and English major’s achievement in this Wellesley College tradition, which has been taking place since 1895, earned her a bouquet of flowers, a ride on her classmates’ shoulders and then a refreshing dunk in Lake Waban.

pj wellesley hoop

In the old days, Wellesley College said the first woman to cross the finish line would also be the first in her class to get married. But now the story goes that the victor will be “the first to achieve success however defined.” This certainly will be an eye-catcher on Hauke’s resume.

 

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