The Connect Today, Create Tomorrow campaign shattered giving records, transformed the campus, and is opening life-changing opportunities for students.
If you haven’t visited Ohio Wesleyan in a few years, prepare to be astounded. Thanks to the overwhelming success of the recently concluded Connect Today, Create Tomorrow campaign, the beloved and historic OWU campus has been refurbished, renovated, and updated for a new generation of students—and alumni—to enjoy.
The transformation on campus is beautiful, and it extends beyond the physical aspects. Scholarships and financial aid, experiential learning through The OWU Connection, faculty development and recruitment, and the overall learning environment all benefit from the tremendous generosity of OWU’s alumni and friends, which raised nearly $238 million, shattering the original campaign goal of $200 million...
Rising to the Challenge of a PandemicOWU is one of America’s leading universities for preparing Ph.D. scientists, especially women in life sciences. Many have helped lead our battle against COVID.
As SARS-CoV-2 upended the world, Ohio Wesleyan University’s many women of science have pivoted, tirelessly continuing their work with global impact.
Whether they are working at research centers, public health agencies, pharmaceutical companies, or hospitals, none as undergraduates could have foreseen the importance of being a scientist during a pandemic and influencing public health.
MothertruckerAmy Butcher, OWU’s director of creative writing, says her new memoir is a book about “what it means to be a woman in America.” Five-star reviews are pouring in.
Mothertrucker: Finding Joy on the Loneliest Road in America, the new book from Amy Butcher, director of creative writing and associate professor of English, began receiving stellar reviews and awards months before it was to land on store shelves.
Publisher’s Weekly called it “tender and gripping,” writing that the book “explores myriad issues with nuance and grace, including Indigenous rights, violence against women, religious hypocrisy, and environmental concerns.” Kirkus Reviews praised the book as “a searching and deeply empathetic memoir” and “a sobering reflection on verbal and psychological abuse” that “honors the healing power of female friendship and questions the nature of divinity beyond its constricting patriarchal manifestations.”
Greg Moore ’76 pays tribute to Alfreda Bonner, longtime librarian, campus thespian, and one of OWU’s greatest ambassadors.
It’s taken me a while to collect my thoughts about my Delaware mom. Mrs. Alfreda Bonner, a longtime librarian, campus thespian, and one of Ohio Wesleyan University’s greatest ambassadors, was an amazing woman and, quite frankly, the first diva I ever met.
Early on, I didn’t frequent Beeghley Library (I preferred Slocum), so my first memory of Mrs. Bonner is at the Chappelear auditions for A Raisin in the Sun in 1972. She naturally owned the role of Lena. I played the son, Walter Lee Younger—Sidney Poitier’s signature part.
We’re Investing in the Student Experience, and Our World’s Future
by Rock Jones, President, Ohio Wesleyan University
On a glorious weekend in early October the entire OWU community came together to celebrate the record-breaking Connect Today, Create Tomorrow campaign. More than 1,000 alumni, parents, and friends came to campus to share in the celebration and Homecoming/Fall Family Weekend.
OWU Magazine Is Back, Thanks to OWU Alumni
by Will Kopp, Editor, OWU Magazine
As you may know, these are challenging times for colleges across the country, with a shrinking number of college-age students, increasing expenses and competition, aging facilities—and a global pandemic.
Ohio Wesleyan completed a review of its academic and administrative programs in the first half of 2020, and one of the cost-cutting measures identified was to cease publication of OWU Magazine and rely, instead, on electronic communication with alumni and parents. That’s why you have not seen an issue of OWU Magazine since May 2020.
Includes:
Back Porch Takes Center Stage, A Summer of Science for 53 Students, Commencement Combo Celebration, Moving the Needle on Student Success, Six New Faculty Join OWU, and Chief Diversity Officer Works Toward Antiracist Campus
Brian Emerick
Smith Hall
In the past decade, OWU has transformed the residential experience, with new apartments, new and renovated houses, a completely renovated Smith Hall serving as a first-year community, and equally important, a renewed mission from Residential Life staff and student leaders to foster community and help students. Over the past four years, Brian Emerick, director of residential life, has overseen this work, from improving room selection and move-in processes, to organizing fun events, to reimagining the role of resident assistants.
Includes:
Mark Allison, Kira Bailey, Amy Butcher, Antoine Clark, Phokeng Dailey, Paul Dean, Michael Flamm, Erin Flynn, Jeffrey Ford, Anne Fry, Eric Gangloff, Sarah Kaka, Franchesa Nestor, and Glenda Nieto-Cuebas.
It Was 2020 a Century Earlier
A pandemic is killing millions of people in the United States and around the world. As an outbreak hits Ohio Wesleyan, fraternity houses are commandeered for care and recovery, and the campus is forced to shut down for a month. Even the president becomes ill. When they return, students are asked to social distance and follow health guidelines. And it’s so difficult to study.
In many strange ways, 2020 was an echo of 1918. Here are excerpts from several articles in the Ohio Wesleyan Transcript, published after OWU reopened from its “influenza vacation.”
After 18 months of pandemic, the first day of Fall 2021 classes was filled with joyous reunions, like this giant hug between former field hockey teammates Bolu Ogunye ’23 (background) of Hamilton, Ontario, and Astrid Koek ’22 of Maastricht, the Netherlands. (Photo by Paul Vernon)
After a delay of 17 months, alumni from the Class of 1970 returned to campus for a 50th reunion at a special Homecoming and Family Weekend celebration in early October. Pictured carrying the class banners are, from left, 1970 classmates Roger Gould and Steve Sherwood (a.k.a. by his class as “President for Life”). See more photos from the 2021 Celebration Weekend. (Photo by Ashley Stuart)
After a delay of five months, alumni from the Class of 1971 returned to campus for a 50th reunion at a special Homecoming and Family Weekend celebration in early October. Pictured carrying the class banners are, from left, 1971 classmates Cynthia Haeberle Roberts and Laurie Bright Beam. See more photos from the 2021 Celebration Weekend. (Photo by David Shakarashvili ’24)