Politics+Society

A photo shows a close up of a trans flag stole worn by a graduating senior. In the background another student wears a Pride fag stole.
Summer 2023
Early in 2023, in between completing the requirements for their math major and training with Wellesley’s crew team, Charlie (a pseudonym) considered what they wanted to accomplish before graduating in May.More
Kemi poses in her kitchen with her younger daughter and the Ukrainian couple her family sponsored.
Summer 2023
Last fall, Karen “Kemi” Kemirembe ’12. Kemi, her husband, Troy Carl, and their toddler daughter welcomed a Ukrainian family of three into their home through a U.S. government program, Uniting for Ukraine.More
A photo portrait of Emily Y. Yu
Summer 2023
Emily Y. Wu ’06 always knew she wanted to be a journalist. Now she’s the CEO of Ghost Island Media, an award-winning podcast network in Taiwan, where she produces audio stories.More
An official portrait of Kayle Stevens '99 shows her in uniform and has an American flag in the background.
Summer 2023
Should the U.S. Senate confirm the nomination of Kayle Stevens ’99 later this year, she would not only become the first Wellesley woman to be a Brigadier General in the Air Force, but she and her father would be the first Black father-daughter duo to hold that ranking.More
An illustration shows a figure running across a field through the rain toward a warmly lit cottage.
Summer 2023
In September 2022, Monica Byrne ’03 gave most of her possessions away and put the rest in storage. “The pandemic had erased my life,” she writes, “and I had to start over.”More
A collage illustration depicts protest signs saying "Women, Life, Freedom," and showing Masha Amini. The images evoke the red, green, and black of the Iranian flag.
Summer 2023
The “woman, life, freedom” movement shares the language and struggle of other uprisings worldwide, writes anthropologist Narges Bajoghli ’04.More
A photograph of Wellesley’s lightweight four at the 1977 Philadelphia nationals. Pictured are Polly Munts Talen ’77, Kim Cooke Himmelfarb ’77, Eleanor Horrigan Spyropoulos ’80, Karen Cunningham Van Adzin ’79, and Elizabeth “Ping” Pingchang Chow ’79
Summer 2023
Lessons in Privilege A huge mazel tov from my heart to Peggy McIntosh (“ Unpacker of Privilege ,” spring 2023). In 1987, I was a new teacher at Groton School, where there was one other…More
A photograph of a yellow tassel from a graduation cap
Summer 2023
This year, sitting at the media table in the big white tent on Severance Green, I was especially nostalgic. My classmate Jocelyn Benson ’99, secretary of state of Michigan, delivered the commencement address to the class of 2023—another yellow class, serendipitously.More
Ann Velenchik, associate professor of economics and writing
Spring 2023
Ann Velenchik, associate professor of economics and writing, drew on her own experience as a working mother to teach a first-year writing class, Having It All? The Problem of Women and Work. In it, her students grappled with questions about the economic and social roles they will face as they move into the world and decide how, when, or whether to start families of their own.More
A photo portrait of Peggy McIntosh in Cheever House
Spring 2023
In January, Peggy McIntosh, a senior research scientist at the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW) and its former associate director, received an exciting call from Jean Kilbourne ’64. “Welcome to the National Women’s Hall of Fame,” Kilbourne told McIntosh, notifying her that she would be inducted in September.More