Wheaton power. The college community pushed Go Beyond: Campaign for Wheaton to new heights in the 2011 fiscal year. With extraordinary generosity, alumnae/i, parents and friends committed $18.5 million in new gifts and pledges this year. The campaign total now stands at $95.4 million. Wheaton will raise $120 million by June 30, 2014.
Go Beyond: Progress
Fall 2011 by
Wheaton power. The college community pushed Go Beyond: Campaign for Wheaton to new heights in the 2011 fiscal year. With extraordinary generosity, alumnae/i, parents and friends committed $18.5 million in new gifts and pledges this year. The campaign total now stands at $95.4 million. Wheaton will raise $120 million by June 30, 2014.Kate Cronin ’11
Fall 2011 by
Kate Cronin ’11, of Baton Rouge, La., will take her lifelong fascination with the written word and the art of storytelling to Argentina, where she, as a Fulbright scholar, will spend the year teaching English and conducting independent research on the country’s vibrant cinema industry. She will be assigned to teach English to students who are themselves training to be English teachers. Cronin attributes her appreciation for the structure and power of language to her parents, both of whom are English teachers. “Stories are my favorite thing in the world,” she says. “When I was a little girl I hated art museums. My mom was clever enough to figure out that if she just told me the stories of the pictures—Bible stories, the myths and the historical circumstance that inspired the paintings—I would be smitten, and I was.”
Merretta Dickinson ’12
Fall 2011 by
Merretta Dickinson ’12, a double major in anthropology and classics, found her true passion thousands of miles from home, working with schoolchildren in Namibia. “I discovered that I have a passion for helping others, one stronger than I had thought,” she says, recalling her work in an after-school program at the Bernhard Nordkamp Center in Katutura. “This work made me less materialistic than I had ever been, extremely grateful for the opportunities that I have been given by my parents, country and Wheaton, and made me realize that I really do want to devote my life to making a difference for people.” The Bowdoin, Maine, native has been awarded a $10,000 Davis Projects for Peace grant to establish a sustainable tutoring program that aims to change lives by helping students with mild learning differences learn to read fluently. She will start tutoring programs in two schools, set up a training program for volunteer tutors, and hold workshops for the schools’ teachers. Her peace project continues work that she took on last summer as a volunteer at a nonprofit organization located just north of Katutura’s capital. “My project for peace will bring opportunity and help some of the dreams of these children become reality. This is not only about individual successes, but also about improving the quality of life for the community in Katutura.”
Jessica Emory ’11
Fall 2011 by
Jessica Emory ’11, a double major in math and biochemistry, entered the world of weavers, spinners and knitters as a child growing up in New Hampshire. She plans to expand her horizons by working with other artisans around the globe on a yearlong project that will be supported by the Watson Foundation. Emory will work with and learn from farmers and fiber artists in Cambodia, Romania, Iceland, Mongolia and the Falkland Islands. The Barnstead, N.H., native plans to explore how native crafts are made, marketed and used in each country, and discover how these traditional arts maintain their place in modern society. “I may be part of a dying breed from a small New England town, but being a Watson scholar means having the opportunity to become a part of an inclusive international league of artisans who continue to perpetuate traditional crafts and shape the relevance of art.”
