Wellesley In the News

Lorraine O’Grady (Wellesley '55) was an intelligence analyst for the US State Department at the height of the Cold War, a professional translator, a rock critic at the Village Voice, a professor of art and literature at New York’s School of Visual Arts, and finally, in her 40s, a groundbreaking artist. That last one stuck, late as she came to it, prompting her to muse that she’s “only had time for masterpieces.” Boston will be able to see for itself when “Lorraine O’Grady: Both/And,” her career survey, arrives at Wellesley College’s Davis Museum next month.

Initiated by the Brooklyn Museum, the exhibition touches O’Grady’s deep roots right here: She grew up in Roxbury, the child of Jamaican immigrants, and was among the few Black students to graduate from Wellesley itself in the 1950s. “Both/And” would appear to close the circle, but O’Grady, at 89, is still active — her exhibition of all-new work opens in Chicago in April. Here, a look at a few of her landmark works coming home to Boston next month.

Comedian Aparna Nancherla references Wellesley College researchers and their study on introversion in her new book Unreliable Narrator: Me, Myself, and Imposter Syndrome.

The new FAFSA form, launched Dec. 31, has already presented several challenges for minority students....The change in aid eligibility for some families with multiple college students may be substantial, and oftentimes unexpected, particularly for students who are already enrolled in college and will see a change from their aid package for the upcoming school year. "The price tag is about to go up a lot, and they don't even know it," Phillip Levine, a professor of economics at Wellesley College told The New York Times.

A narrower selection of EVs eligible for tax incentives could push more consumers toward leasing, said Jay Turner, an environmental studies professor at Wellesley College and author of “Charged: A History of Batteries and Lessons for a Clean Energy Future.”

Wellesley College’s Davis Museum's retrospective on alum Lorraine O’Grady ('Lorraine O’Grady: Both/And', February 8 - June 2, 2024) is listed as one of WBUR's 14 art exhibits to explore this winter.

Philip Levine, an economics professor at Wellesley College and one of the study’s authors, said that if colleges can’t support lower-income students with sufficient financial aid to make their degrees affordable, admitting them could prove an empty gesture. “It’s difficult not to support this philosophically, because selective colleges really do have a major socioeconomic disparity problem,” he said. “But this is a resource issue … The financial aid system is already woefully inadequate. It’s just a matter of crunching the numbers.”

"There is a world of opportunity in front of all of us—if we focus on improving women’s health—to improve health for everyone and, by extension, to make this a better, more equitable, prosperous, and healthy world," writes Wellesley College President Dr. Paula A. Johnson for the National Academy of Medicine.

"On January 1, 2024, Prime Min­ister Keith Rowley offered a disappointing New Year’s greeting to his nation. It is as though he were speaking about another country at another moment," writes professor Selwyn Cudjoe for the Trinidad Daily Express.

The war in Ukraine has again entered a new phase. With neither side believing that it can make significant territorial gains, the action has expanded beyond the front lines... The attacks are “an acknowledgment of the stalemate,” said Stacie Goddard, an international security expert at Wellesley College. “This is all they can do.”