Remembering 1914

On March 17, 100 years after the fire that destroyed the College Hall, the Wellesley community came together to remember the pivotal event and celebrate the resilience of the College. President H. Kim Bottomly addressed the crowd, dressed in Edwardian-era clothing (above, with Provost Andrew Shennan). “We owe a great deal to the Wellesley of 1914,” she said. “The extraordinary commitment and action then allowed our Wellesley of now to thrive. It is our great responsibility today to pay it forward; our great responsibility to do all that we can to ensure that 100 years from today—in 2114—the president of Wellesley will be standing here dressed in those funny clothes that we all wore in 2014, and she will be thanking us for our unflagging commitment to Wellesley.”

Watsons Galore

What a wad of Watsons. Wellesley seniors cleaned up this year when the Thomas J. Watson Fellowships were announced in March: Three of them took home the prestigious prize that provides $28,000 for a year of “independent, purposeful exploration and travel.” Beatrice Denham ’14 will visit countires ranging from Morcco to Uzbekistan to apprentice as a brickmaker and study local traditions of construction. Using visual journaling (mapping, gestural sketching, and architectural drawing) Mayrah Udvardi ’14 will explore the forces that threaten indigenous communities. Audry Wozniak ’14 will be studying three musical traditions (gamelan, muqam, and cimbalom band) in five different countries.

Poetic Laurels

In March, Frank Bidart, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the Humanities and professor of English, won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry for his 2013 collection, Metaphysical Dog. The award is the one of the most distinguished American prizes offered to a poet for a single publication. For more on the volume, see “A Poet’s Identity” in the fall ’13 issue.