Stacks and Snacks

The Wellesley College Board of Trustees approved an expanded Clapp Library renovation project last spring that “will result in a library that will be fully accessible and comfortable for all users, will restore Clapp to a more central place in the daily life of our community, and will allow us to better serve students and faculty for years to come,” said President Paula A. Johnson. The renovation will add instructional and research space to Archives and Special Collections; upgrade the first-floor makerspace with a fabrication shop, workshop, and virtual-reality laboratory; introduce a café adjacent to the makerspace; enhance the charm and functionality of the “presidential portraits” reading room on the second floor; create a space in which to administer exams for students with accommodations; and upgrade gathering spaces throughout the building. The project is expected to begin in late December and to be completed in January 2025, at a cost of approximately $97 million.

Blue Crew at the White House

Members of the Wellesley College crew team attended a College Athlete Day event on the South Lawn of the White House on June 12 to celebrate their victory in the 2023 NCAA Division III national championship. More than 1,000 athletes from 47 teams representing 19 sports attended. Vice President Kamala Harris told them, “So often, during the course of a long season, sports teams also become a family. You develop lifelong relationships. You demonstrate teamwork and character. You make the people around you better in every way. You are leaders. You are role models. And, of course, you are champions.”

Campus Moves

As major construction projects continue on campus, Health Services has relocated to the first floor of the College Club; the Stone Center Counseling Service has moved to the second floor. These vital services will remain at the College Club for the 2023–24 academic year. Their former location, Simpson Hall, is slated for demolition and a new building for the services will be constructed in its place, scheduled to open in fall 2024. Renovations to Simpson Cottage (formerly the Stone Center) will begin in spring 2024. The Wellesley Centers for Women is scheduled to relocate to Simpson Cottage from Cheever House after the renovations are completed.

Dual Meanings

The Davis Museum will reopen in February 2024, after a year of HVAC renovation, with the exhibition Lorraine O’Grady: Both/And. It is the first retrospective of one of the most significant contemporary figures working in performance, conceptual, and feminist art. Lorraine O’Grady ’55 replaces either/or ways of thinking with the endless loop of “both/and,” challenging the fixed positions of self and other, here and there, now and then, all while reflecting on the poignancy of lives lived within dualistic frameworks. The exhibition will open on Feb. 8, 2024, followed by a symposium on O’Grady on Feb. 9. The exhibition and programs are free and open to all.

Running with Honors

Ella Whinney ’26 decided to attend Wellesley after going to an alumnae track and field panel during her college search. The College is lucky she did: Whinney was named the NEWMAC Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Week for the week ending Oct. 1. It was her third Runner of the Week honor this season; she previously won for the weeks of Sept. 3 and Sept. 17. In September, Whinney won the 5k Keene State Invitational with a time of 18:32.7, more than 10 seconds faster than the second-place finisher, to help Wellesley earn first place as a team.