Message from the Dean
We have entered the final few weeks before your arrival at Wesleyan. Please note the arrival days below:
- New International Student Arrival Day: Sunday, August 26, 2018 (Families depart Monday, August 27 – 8pm)
- New Domestic Student Arrival Day: Wednesday, August 29, 2018 (Families depart on this day – 4:45pm)
Residence halls open at 9am. You should be moved into your room before noon.
Remember, it is very important that you complete your Common Reading of A Body, Undone: Living on After Great Pain by Wesleyan Professor of English Christina Crosby. Submit your reading response by 5pm on Friday, August 10. This shared experience serves as an introduction to intellectual life at Wesleyan through lectures, group conversations, and an address by the author during orientation followed by a Q&A. Our meaningful dialogue about the memoir has already begun, as evidenced by a recent discussion.
Have a terrific week,
Dean Thornton
Academic Highlights
MEET YOUR CLASS DEAN – Renée Johnson Thornton, Ph.D.
Faculty, staff, and your future peers are excited to welcome you to campus. We all want to help you have an intellectually engaging and enjoyable experience at Wesleyan.
As your class dean, I am particularly excited to welcome you. It has been fun writing to you this summer and I thought it would be useful to provide a general overview of how we will work together over the next four years.
Class deans are responsible for a comprehensive program of academic advising and class management. This includes:
- helping students develop educational goals and complete their graduation requirements
- working with students and their professors to support student success in the classroom
- facilitating access to academic and non-academic support services
- supporting student transitions from high school through the undergraduate years to life post-Wesleyan
At Wesleyan, there are four class deans: Dean Wood (Class of 2019 – Seniors), Dean Phillips (Class of 2020 – Juniors), Dean Brown (class of 2021 – Sophomores), and me, Dean Thornton (Class of 2022 – First-Years). Class Deans are paired with a first-year cohort and support that class over the next four years until graduation. We are “go to” people and have daily drop-in hours during the week. We are also available for appointments.
I will host a video chat session on Monday, August 6, 2018, from 2pm – 3pm EST. This is open to the first 24 students to register. Signup now to reserve your place. If you cannot make this please don’t hesitate to contact me. I look forward to chatting with you.
Message from Orientation Interns
Hey everyone!
A brief reminder: if you are shipping your belongings to Wesleyan, any packages that arrive before August 10th will be shipped back because WesStation cannot hold your packages before then. When you do ship things to Wes, you have your own mailing address, which you can find listed under the Student Profile section of your WesPortal. This is the general format of your mailing address, which is just your WesBox five-digit number and the address of Usdan:
Student Name
WesBox XXXXX
45 Wyllys Ave
Middletown, CT 06459
We hope you are excited for move-in day now that you know the residence hall you will be living in! If you are already starting to shop for your dorm room, here is a list of items that ResLife suggests students bring to campus. You do not have to bring all items from home —there will be a Bed, Bath, and Beyond pop-up shop in the Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore during Arrival Day, as well as the Waste Not tag sale during the weekend of Orientation where you will be able to buy used items such as furniture, appliances, and room décor for reduced prices. Also, remember to check in with your roommate(s) about splitting the cost of items for your room, and not buying duplicate items of things that can be shared! That being said, note there are things you cannot have in your dorm rooms for fire safety reasons, found here.
We hope you find these tips helpful as you start thinking about your dorm room essentials! GO WES!
The Orientation Interns
Maximilien Chong Lee Shin ‘21
Caridad Cruz ‘21
Christopher Jackson ‘20
Virginia Sciolino ‘21
orientation@wesleyan.edu
(860) 685-5666
Summer Sendoffs
Thursday, August 2 – Boston, MA
Thursday, August 9 – Seattle, WA
Saturday, August 4 – Beijing, CH
Monday, August 13 – Chicago, IL
Tuesday, August 14 – Fairfield County, CT
Wednesday, August 15 – Philadelphia, PA