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This is a part of Wesleying's 2025 Unofficial Orientation Series. You can check out our welcome post with links to other articles here. This is our annual student activities fair, where you can schmooze—or more likely, be schmoozed—to your heart’s content. By the time classes start, you’ll likely be successfully moved into your dorm, blissfully free from your parents, and finally finding the time to figure your shit out. Soon, you’ll realize that you have a little too much time on your hands—and you might want to fill that time with Organized Social Activities. Thankfully for you, there are about 300 student groups at Wesleyan, so you have many, many options. Joining student groups is one of the best way to meet people outside of your dorm and in different class years. You could find best friends! Mentors! Something new about yourself! It’s all up to you. As your Orientation Leaders, advisers, and basically everyone else will tell you—stick to the Rule of Seven . Each class you take, group you join, job you have, and any other thing you might do counts as one commitment, and you should try to have only seven full-time commitments per semester. With a standard four-course load, that leaves three spots for you to fill with whatever the hell else you want. That’s what this post is for. Student Group Directory All student groups that are funded and sanctioned by the  Wesleyan Student Assembly  are managed and organized on WesNest . You may be wondering: what the hell is  Absent Toast ? You can find out by using your Wesleyan login to  browse all of the groups t hat are active on campus. This centralized system will help you find what you’re looking for, even if you’re not sure what that is yet. The Student Involvement Fair takes place annually, usually in mid-September. You will most definitely be receiving emails about this, so be prepared. Be there or be square! (And shameless plug incoming, but keep an eye out for our booth!) The  WSA  holds a Student Involvement Fair every year so that you can browse for your future all-consuming time commitment in person. You can talk to a real human if you have questions about the group, are trying to decide which dance group to join, or just want a bunch of free candy. As a past Wesleying editor wrote many years ago: I’m sure you’re excited to check out all that Wesleyan has to offer when it comes to student groups, and these student group leaders will be surely armed with candy or cookies, all in an effort to get you to simply sign up for their email listservs. Do this with caution. If you don’t see yourself joining the group at all or even participating in the group long-term, it’s best to avoid giving them your email and signing up. My email account still cries from freely signing up for too many things—they’ll never take you off the listserv, no matter how you beg. It’s true. You’ll probably put your email on ten different sheets of paper. You’ll emerge with pockets full of chocolate and emails out the wazoo. I would advise doing your research  before  you go to the fair so that you can seek out the tables of the groups you already know you’re interested in first. Create Your Own Copied and pasted from an old post because it is the same and very straight-forward: It’s sur prisingly easy to create your own student group. Student group registration is handled by the WSA, and recognition comes from  CoCo , or the  Community Committee . By registering with CoCo, you get access to the student activities fund handled by the  SBC , or  Student Budget Committee , and the  Student Involvement (OSI)  office, which comes in handy when you’re planning events or other group activities. Funds! Organization! Camaraderie! And hey—you might feel pressured at times to "do it all," but stick to your gut, heed the Rule of Seven, and keep this semester comfortable. There’s always spring semester (and the next three years) to  make all the mistakes and  try new things. You could gleefully ignore the Rule and take five classes and join four clubs because  they’re all so cool,  but consider this: SLEEP. Sleep is a wonderful thing, and you won’t get nearly enough of it. Balancing fun and work and school is already a tough adjustment, don’t make it too hard on yourself by signing up for every single group at the student activity fair. That will almost certainly end with you crying on the first floor of Usdan by October. (And listen, it is okay to cry in Usdan. It seems like everyone is doing it.) Join a couple clubs and have fun, but don’t be afraid to take this semester/year to get your bearings first. The camaraderie will always be there for you. As a final Wesleying note, if you'd like to join our own little humble club, reach out to us at wesleyingblog@gmail.com or on our Instagram or Twitter .

This is a part of Wesleying's 2025 Unofficial Orientation Series. You can check out our welcome post with links to other articles here. Dear frosh of 2029, As you are probably fretting about your first day of college, a sense of melancholy (or jittery excitement if you hated high school) has crept up on you. Are you making lists of toiletries and gettin g boxes from Staples to pack your life into? Wondering how much action your soon-to-be bed has gotten in the past? A lot, probably. But don’t be too frazzled. Before you finish your housing form, get your roommate assignment, and make yourself sick with what-ifs and worries, Wesleying 's here to answer your 40-ish most pressing questions related t o waking-up-and-instantly-having-300-or-so-of-your-peers-to-hang-out-with. The pertinent FAQ doesn’t change much from year to year, so we tend to update/repost much of the original guide by Norse Goddess Holly-and-Xue ’08 (because i t’s still damn good and we’re still damn lazy) every year. This revamped guide is up to date and full of Wesleyan lingo! Q: How are the dorms furnished? This varies by dorm. All rooms have a bed, desk, chair, and some sort of dresser/closet for each inhabitant. Most, but not all, also have shelving, whether it’s a separate bookcase or planks stapled to the wall. If you’re extra lucky, you might even get a corkboard panel on your wall (like in some WestCo or Nics rooms). But Bennet only has dressers and a singular pole to hang your clothes on. That’s right, Bennet Hall, not even a closet. But you guys still get AC and drywall and a general lack of decrepitness. Q: Are there floor plans I can look at? Yes: This link will satisfy all your floor plan needs. Q: How big are the freshman rooms? Big enough. Or real big. Here are our personal sizing estimates: Clark : You'll share a small room with one or two other people. The triples are SMALL. Bennet: Pretty much the same as Clark, but its really mostly just doubles at this point. Let us never forget our 2025 homies who endured the horror of forced Bennet triples. Butts : You'll either have one of the biggest rooms on campus or a closet for a bedroom. There are singles, doubles, and triples in Butts. The triples could probably fit your whole hallway plus more if you tried. The singles on the other hand...well, just be grateful you don't have roommates. The first floor is renovated, complete with AC, and feels a little more spacious without the cinderblock walls. At least you'll have big windows! Nics:  Single? See Butts single. Two-room double? The best of two worlds: having a roommate and having your own room. One-room double? Sucks if you’re in the dungeonbasement. WestCo: Mostly consists of two room doubles and some singles. There is one hall with four one-room doubles, which are pretty big and carpeted, with stony walls. If you get a two-room double, take the inner room! Endless amounts of closet space await you. 200 Church: An ’08 student says, “Normal-ish in most all ways including size but the walls are so fucking thin you can hear people next door breathe. But geez, you can’t beat the location.” Q: I’ve been assigned to ‘Bennet Hall.’ Where is that? Here . Close to the Freeman Athletic Center (because that’s why you’re really asking). Q: I got stuck in the Butts. Wah wah wah . Many of our friends lived in the Butts last year. You will also know many people who live there. The Butts are actually Wesleyan’s best kept secret. They have their own dining hall (Summies), the rooms are spacious and have a lot of natural light, and although the showers kind of suck, ResLife makes up for it in their attempts at creating a Butts community. Here's what Taylor Dillon ’19 had to say about it: "Living in the Butts is a great time all-around. If you’re in a triple in the Butts, you’re guaranteed a huge space with air conditioning. There is a dining table in Butt A’s kitchen, as well as a large seating area with a TV just outside of the kitchen where people watch games, play Super Smash Bros, and do homework during the week. The location is one of the best part of the Butterfield dorms. The “Butthole” is the space in between all of the Butterfield dorms and is a great place to do homework on a sunny day, or eat your Summerfield takeout in. Lastly, the community in the Butts is great because you have both freshman and sophomore students living in the dorms. This means you have a good opportunity to meet people in a different class while living in the Butts. Sophomore transfers often live in Butt B and the Copes (small halls filled with just sophomores) are in every single Butterfield building. Overall, the Butterfield dorms offer a unique experience where freshmen can meet upperclassmen and create a community spanning across three different dorms." (Editor's note: I was an RA in Butts for the past two years and honestly I promise you'll come to love the Butts, fires, floods and all.) (second editor's note from Nymph: I also lived in the Butts for two years and I still kind of miss it sometimes... it really is a great place to live as a freshman!) To you, it's the Butts... to me, it's a home. Q: Okay, okay, but what is it like living in all the other dorms? Well, here’s what these former students have to say: Ray Achan ’19 on Bennet: “Bennet is a friendly environment. I quickly became close to everyone in my hall.” Aviv Rau ’19 on Clark: “Clark often gets stereotyped as the'“athletes’ dorm' (which isn’t necessarily false), but it’s diverse both in student interests and demographically. Overall, Clark has great study lounges, AC (!), an elevator, and is conveniently located, so you’ll grow to love living there.” Will Barr ’18 on WestCo : “I lived in WestCo both my Freshman and Sophomore year. WestCo tends to attract artistically-minded people to its community, which I like to describe as traditionally non-traditional. WestCo has been a community on campus for decades, and throws a magical springtime celebration every year for like a lot of years (20? 30?). There are also cool tunnels. It has a progressive history, with Up2 being the first mixed-gender hall at Wesleyan and the first hall to establish gender-neutral bathrooms. Which speaks to WestCo’s tradition of self-governance. WestCo has a weekly community meeting where we do fun things, have group hugs, and talk about important things. WestCo also has its own artistic venue that has hosted everything from sleepovers, performance art, photography shows, open mics, ciphers, poetry readings, plays, and dance performances. It’s a groovy place. Azher Jaweed ’19 on  200 Church: “Church made my transition from home to dorm easier, providing a comfortable place for me to come home after a long day of readings and assignment. Our communal commitment to social justice and activism brought us together, and there is no other place I’d rather have been during my freshmen year.” Alexis Jiminez ’19 on Writer’s Block: “Writer’s Block is a really chill place to live—it's a relatively small group, which means you can get comfortable and make friends really easily. It is a program house you can easily spend all your time in; most rooms are singles that make it great for studying, but the moment you need some company, you can go to the lounge and you will always find someone to talk to.” Q: How big are the beds? Twin Extra Long : too big for your sheets and too narrow for imaginative sex. Be aware that some mattress pads that  claim  to be twin XL are not .  Q: What’s the deal with my roommate(s)? Who are they? Well, their name(s) will show up in your WesPortal soon, so keep an eye out. They’re probably going to be the person or people you’ll be eating several of your first Usdan meals with! Q: OMG I HATE MY ROOMMATE. Can I get rid of them? Speak with your Resident Advisor. You can request a room change if absolutely necessary. No matter what, remember that you don’t have to be close with your roommate, as long as you communicate well. Q: What’s with the gender-neutral bathrooms? In most of the dorms, you piss/shit/shower with all of your hallmates regardless of gender. Some halls vote on whether or not they’d like gender-neutral bathrooms during Orientation. Q: What are the fire hazard rules in my dorm? Will I get in trouble for bringing my psychedelic blacklight tapestries?! Fuck, man! These are the fire safety guidelines . You’re not allowed to have candles, incense, halogen lamps, and appliances without automatic shutoff, among other things. You’re also not allowed to smoke within close proximity to any University buildings. Fire inspections are performed once or twice a year (in some dorms more than others). There are fire drills. Most people disregard the fire hazard policies entirely, but Fire Safety can monitor which rooms/halls do this more than others. People get fined quite a bit, so be careful/discreet . Q: Can I paint my room? No, because then you would get fined. These are all the things you can get fined for. You can try to paint a mural in your hall; just ask your RA at the beginning of the year about this (a form needs to be filled out with ResLife). Q: How do I get shit to stick to my walls? Double-sided tape. Duct tape. Packaging tape. Poster tack. Experiment with different tapes and sticky things, just don’t make holes in your walls (you’ll be fined). (Unless they’re really tiny invisible holes. Most dorms are cinderblock so it’ll be hard to pushpin everything. Maybe you’ll be lucky enough to find one hole that is located perfectly for your tapestry .) Generally speaking, anything that doesn’t ruin your posters won’t stick to the cinderblock. People in Bennet and Clark have it easier since they have drywall. Command strips are decently helpful, and as long as they survive the first month of humidity, they’ll last the year. ( un meli-melo 's note: To be perfectly honest, making sure your walls remain pure will be an end-of-year stress. Pro-tip: if/when some paint chips come off then, use toothpaste or go to Home Depot and ask for Wesleyan White. I personally used a knife to get at the bits of Command strips that wouldn’t get off my wall, and now I have a dulled knife.) Q: Should I get extra lighting for my room? There is a harsh fluorescent ceiling light in every room. Many of my friends call it homophobic lighting. But soft lighting is nice to have, so get whichever cool glowy lamp thing from Ikea you want. Or string lights. They’re cheap and wonderful. Q : Should I bring a rug? What size? Rugs make your room cozier, and you’ll be glad to have one in the winter. The floor of a two-room double in the Nics or WestCo is nicely covered (from your bed to your desk) by an 8? x 10?. If you’re in a single in the Butts or the Nics, perhaps a 5? x 7? would be better. In a one-room double or triple, speak to your roommate(s) about how much you’d want to fill up floor space and go from there. Q: Where can I buy things for my room after I move in? Definitely stop by the Waste Not! tag sale on August 31st, 12-3 and September 1st, 10-1. Get there early! Waste Not! collects students’ unwanted furniture at the end of the year, and sells them for great prices during move-in weekend. You should definitely stop by on Saturday because there may not be much left on Sunday. Q. Can I study in my room? Not recommended. You will always be an arm’s length away from doing something else, and when you’re being forced to find a derivative 30 times for a problem set, it’s suddenly really appealing to start watching the tape holding your posters up slowly slide off the cinderblock wall. If you’re into group work, Sci Li will be your new home. Studying in your room is also not recommended if you have a roommate, since you don't want to make them feel like they have to tiptoe around while you get your work done! Q: My clothes smell funny. What should I do? Washing machines and dryers are free! (And this was not always the case.) But unfortunately, they sometimes look like this: Clean up, people. Please don't be one of the people who leaves their finished load in the machine for hours at a time. But also don't be the person who takes someone else's laundry out of the machine less than five minutes after their cycle has finished—or, god forbid, before their cycle has finished. Nymph 's note: Always remember to check the inside of a washer or dryer before throwing your clothes in. You never know what people have put in there. During my freshman year, one of my friend's favorite shirts got ruined because he threw it in the dryer, not knowing that there was already some black paint in there. Black PAINT. Seriously, you never know... Q: WesID card? Middletown Cash? Points? WTF? Your WesCard is your lifeline. You’ll get it during Orientation. Do not lose it or it’ll cost you money. You need it for food, mail, facility access, and to laugh at your ID photo for the entirety of your college career. Points are the default meal plan monopoly money; upperclassmen are on all-points, but frosh and sophomores have a set number of “meals” and then a handful of points. Middletown Cash is different from points. You can use it at certain restaurants in Middletown, and it carries over from year to year (points don’t). Q: So where do I eat? There are lots of options on campus . There are also lots of options i n Middletown and within driving distance. Check out Frank Pepe’s Pizza in New Haven if you’re by the train station or just want good pizza. You can also text in your order to Summerfields! Text your order to 860-759-9700 , receive an order number and go to the express pick-up to pay without waiting in line! ( maury ‘s note: although sometimes the text line is longer than the normal line, so keep that in mind) Q: How do I register my car? Bring your insurance, registration, and $100 to the Office of Public Safety (on High Street). You will then get a sticker to place in the rear window of your car showing that it’s registered. The sticker will indicate what year you are and thus the appropriate parking lot you should be in. All freshmen must park their cars in the V-lot. P-Safe and the University is not too keen on frosh bringing their cars anymore, so make sure to get approved for a parking permit ASAP! More info here . Q: I don’t have a car! What do I do? To quote Droz from PCU (a movie which is based on life at Wesleyan, by the way): “Will you have a car? Someone on your hall will. Find them and make friends with them on the first day.” Or use a bike. I kind of feel bad for the kids who bring cars and end up leaving them to rust in the parking lot because campus is so small. Q: HOW DO I GET HOME TO MOMMY AND DADDY?! There is a shuttle that goes on weekends to Bradley Airport and the New Haven Train Station. Metro North sells tickets to Grand Central Station and other Connecticut/New York locations. The closest Amtrak station is in Meriden, CT, about 20 minutes away by car. Q: How far away is New York and/or Boston by car? Shut up. You’ll never go. Q: Seriously! Okay, they are each about 2-4 hours away ( Middle town is not a misnomer). This can vary greatly based on traffic, so plan ahead accordingly. Hartford is about 30 minutes away and so is New Haven. Q: Should I bring a bike? If you want to, sure. The campus is walkable and a bike isn’t necessary, but it is useful to have around, especially to get to Middletown. The Wesleyan Outing Club often sponsors bike rides throughout the area, and if you need to go from the Butts to the CFA in a hurry, a bike really comes in handy (just make sure you bring a solid U-lock). Just know that campus is  definitely  not flat, so you will develop some extreme calf power. Sadly, the Bird scooters which were briefly present during my freshman year have since vanished. Q: What’s in Middletown? Decapitated deer heads. ( Nymph 's note: I have no idea what this part means, but I'm leaving it in anyway.) Lots of things (if you stop bitching that it’s not New York). Impressive selection of food, a nd overall a great town with lots of cool history. Q: Is there anywhere to go swimming? Miller’s Pond is conveniently located about 5 miles away… which is slightly too far to walk but provides another reason to bring your bike. The Freeman Athletic Center has a pool. Q: Can I bring my dog/cat/bearded dragon/leopard gecko? Reslife’s Faustian housing contract only allows fish in 10 gallon tanks or smaller. This means you can bring awesome fish (Barracuda, Piranha, Sharks, Stingrays, Tuna) to Wesleyan. Q: But I miss my dog! I want to bring him! Well, you’ll probably g et fined a lot of money. Good luck. Q: Seriously, I need my dog to support my physical/mental health. If you need a support animal for your physical/mental well-being , ResLife does offer accommodations. Be sure to register with accessibility services so you can get approval. Q: Where can I find liquid refreshment? Middletown is conveniently located next to a river containing a substantial amount of liquid refreshment. Q: What about other sorts of … err… It will be offered to you. Time to find some older friends! Q: I don’t drink/smoke. Will I be left out?  Not at all. You’ll be offered all kinds of things out of goodwill and the spirit of sharing. If you say “no,” people will respect that and eventually remember. There are often alternative activity groups that provide really fun things to do on weekend nights for people who don’t partake in the debauchery. Q: What happens if I get sick? First of all, change that question to “What happens when I get sick,” because it will happen. The most common illnesses that go around campus are the common cold, the flu, mono and Norovirus. A few winters ago, there was practically a gastroenteritis epidemic, a.k.a. the two-day shit-and-vomit extravaganza. Last year probably half the campus all had the flu in the same week. No matter the actual illness, it’ll be dubbed WesPlague . Unfortunately, you’ll just have to tough it out, though if you’re really ill, it’s worth it to email your professors and usually they’ll grant you an extension or understand if you skip class (Really! They’re nice people!). Weshop sells an assortment of cold remedies, and if you go to health services, they’ll give you a little cold-care pack of ibuprofen and cough drops. It would also help to have your own thermometer, crackers, tea, Vitamin C, and Gatorade. The health center offers gyno exams and tests for every STD imaginable, though you have to pay for those. They also offer Plan B and Orthotricyclen-Lo for ridiculously low subsidized prices. If there’s a medical emergency, call P-Safe and they’ll send an officer to escort you to the Middlesex Hospital. Really intens e medical emergency? Call 911. Q: Do I have to pay for my own condoms? No! WesWell at 287 High St. has a wide assortment of condoms, lubes, and other items. You can visit it at any time the health center is open and pick up what you need. Don’t rely on your RA stocking the bathroom with condoms because the one big idiot on your hall will take them all and turn them into water balloons, leaving you sexually stranded come Saturday night. Q: My neighbor is hot. Should I... No! (Usually.) Hall booty is bad booty. You will spend lots of time with the people on your hall for the first couple of months as you cling to each other for social warmth. This is all well and good, but a warning: You share a bathroom with them. Your friends are their friends. You will see them in the hall every day. When you break up, you will see who they’re bringing home on Friday nights. They will see who you’re bringing home on Friday nights. They will see you not bringing anyone home on Friday night and playing Angry Birds alone in your underwear. But if it does happen, try to make it as least awkward as possible afterward. That being said, dormcest is not the same thing as hallcest —at least you guys are on different floors… (Thao’s note: Some hallcest actually works out. My roommate met her boyfriend on the first day here at Wesleyan and they have been dating ever since.) (Thao’s additional note: Marshall and Lily from How I Met Your Mother ) ( un meli-melo ‘s note: If you’re going to do dormcest, make sure you don’t have to pass your ex-hookup’s floor on your way to yours; one degree of separation is still awkward af. It’s a small campus so awkwardness is going to happen no matter what, but sometimes it’s best to pause your hormones and remember that eye contact during Usdan brunches is already bad enough, you definitely don’t want to run into that bad booty when you’re hurtling down the stairs with dirty laundry. Perhaps the moral here is that abstinence is key, folks.) Q: How do I earn money? Go to Handshake . All job postings will go up on August 1st. Start looking as soon as you can and sending out emails to employers about a week or two before school starts. Work-study students are preferred for most of these, but look at the postings anyway. They’ll most likely still hire you, but won’t be able to pay as much. You can also get a part-time job on Main Street. Explore Middletown! Q: Where can my pen pal send me mail? Go to your WesNest and navigate to My Information –> Student Profile to find your mailing address. It will begin with “45 Wyllys Avenue,” which is pronounced “Willis” even though it’s spelled silly. All mail now goes to the package room, which is in the basement of Usdan. Q: Is there Greek life on campus?   A bit. Alpha Delt (Alpha Delta Phi, an all-gender literary society) and PsiU (Psi Epsilon, a co-ed society) have houses, but there’s also Rho Ep (Rho Epsilon, Wesleyan’s only sorority… although last year they did dissociate from Greek life. They still exist, though). The secret societies are still secret. Eclectic ha s housing too. Q: Do I really have to attend everything in the packet during Orientation week? This is college. You don’t have to do anything, but it’s highly recommended. You’ll meet lots of other people going through the same thing you are and you might learn something in the process. Got questions? Get answers. Email us at wesleyingblog@gmail.com or leave a comment below and we’ll see what we can do. Happy living, Frosh!

Whether you’re a prefrosh or about to start your last semester at Wesleyan you will learn something new from this post (unless you’re a health center pro). This is part of our 2025 Unofficial Orientation series. You can check out our welcome post with other articles here If you think you’re going to make it through four years of a liberal arts education without once having to find some medical support do I have news for you.  This guide is made with the help of some very knowledgeable people on campus, most who have already graduated. We have gone through the post and updated everything that needs updating so you can save yourself at least a little trouble when it comes to navigating the terrain that is the Wesleyan Medical Services.  Before we begin let me stress the need to wash your hands. Physical Health On-campus your go-to resource is the Davison Health Center . Staffed with nurses and doctors, you can schedule an appointment (STRONGLY preferred) or walk-in if you have an emergent need during business hours, and they are available by phone after hours. They can do basic tests and offer vaccines, prescriptions, and other services. They also have free cold/flu care packs that you can pick up! All visits and services will be billed directly to private and university-sponsored insurance.  Services that cannot be charged to insurance will go directly to your student account. You should be offered the choice to have laboratory services billed to your student account rather than to insurance (called “client billing” at the Health Center). These student account charges will be labeled to protect confidentiality (i.e. STI tests will be billed to your student account as “miscellaneous fee” from the Health Center). As of Fall 2020, the health center now uses a Student Health Portal t o manage appointments and send messages between doctors and students. It’s also where all your medical forms can be filled out, including your vaccine record. Fun fact: Wesle yan? More like Sex-leyan . The health center has a bunch of !!!free!!! sexual health things, including condoms, dental dams, and lube. It’s not your vegan, gluten-free, or otherwise fancy protection, but it’s free. Your RA will try to put out a bag of them in the bathrooms or the hallway, but you are all still children and someone WILL make water balloons out of those condoms. You don’t want to be unprepared if the ~time~ comes. Just please use protection…let’s just say that things… go around.   some more fun ;):  Most regular latex condoms contain casein, which is made from milk protein, and/or glycerin, which is often made from animal fat. So if you’re vegan and allergic to latex, condoms aren’t gonna be your thing :/ so in this case, look into other lubricants–Vitamin E oil is definitely a sexy move–and other methods of contraception because ALL SEX SHOULD BE SAFE SEX :) Off-campus, and for more serious needs, Middlesex Hospital is right down the street from campus. If you need to go to the ER, heed these tips (from experience): In serious emergencies always call 911 before calling Public Safety (9/10 times P-Safe will refer you to 911 or call 911 for you), take a friend with you, and be prepared for expensive ambulance fees (Wesleyan’s insurance covers a lot of the cost of a hospital visit, and there are free bed funds/financial support if you qualify, but a trip to the hospital can still get pretty pricey). The first ambulance ride is “free,” but there have been people who have ubered if it’s not an emergency. But remember, it’s best to be safe than sorry.   On the topic of alcohol: Wesleyan, administration, P-Safe, and all those looking out for us are very well aware that students are going to drink. You’re going to have to take an alcohol education course before coming to campus (AlcoholEdu) which will essentially teach you safe drinking. Evidently, not many people follow this the first few weekends every semester. In the case that you or a friend gets alcohol poisoning, or is hurt due to alcohol, know that the University won’t hold it against you . If you and a friend are drunk and someone needs to go to the hospital, don’t try to push it off. You will not get in trouble for calling P-Safe or Middlesex. Wes wants to make sure everyone is safe, and that starts with being responsible and calling for help when you need it. Of course, the basics: eat well, get a reasonable amount of sleep every night (easier said than done, but really, sleep is super important), exercise, and take care of yourself. For concerns about nutrition, allergens, or food sensitivities, you can speak to the staff of the Davison Health Center, Sierra Fowler of the WesWell office at the Health Center, or the managers and nutritionist at Bon Appetit , who handle Wesleyan’s food service. Sierra Fowler in WesWell can also help with sleep habits, safer sex, and other health topics. WesWell has a group of students called Peer Health Advocates who can provide information and supplies and often facilitate programs on campus about a variety of health topics and habits. Sportsleyan The Freeman Athletic Center has a wide variety of athletic equipment and facilities that are open to all students for free, just check their hours . The Physical Education Department offers .25 credit classes in a variety of sports and activities (a great way to force yourself to workout if you’re like me and want to workout but “can never find any time”.) Intramural and club sports of all types will be advertised on campus and are a great way to make friends and get exercise. Also, WesBAM (Wesleyan Body and Mind) is the student-run exercise collective on campus. They offer FREE classes in yoga, zumba, cardio kickboxing, and other activities taught by certified student instructors on a per-class or semester basis. Check out their instagram here for updates on class schedules and special events. Seriously when else in your life are you going to have multiple FREE workout classes available to you each week? If you are a student who has ongoing health needs, be sure to communicate with the Health Center and your class dean. They can be an invaluable resource. If your health might impact your participation or performance in the classroom, you should also contact the Disability Services Office to identify yourself, and plan to talk with your professors. In order for any sort of accommodation to be provided in class, official documentation must be on file with the University. Even if you’re not sure about what accommodations you want or need, get in touch with Dean Laura Patey , associate dean for student academic resources and the administrator of services for students with disabilities. She can help you determine what will help you and be a liaison to professors or ResLife. In college, things are handled differently than in high school. A note from mom is not what you need to get you out of class. TRY your best not to miss class, but if you must, contact your professor first. Let them know that you won’t be making it to class and they might be more lenient. If your illness is serious, it definitely helps if you’ve been in touch with the Health Center or your class dean. It is entirely your responsibility to attend office hours or meet with a classmate to make up missed class content and work. Also be sure to ask if any announcements were made in class, which could involve changed due dates, extra office hours or other critical information. If you so happen to be sick on the day an assignment is due, emailing a copy to the professor, or even dropping it off at their office, can go a long way. If you can hand it in, HAND IT IN. Many professors will not allow make-up exams, so be sure to check on their policies. In short, advocate for yourself, be proactive and take care of yourself so that physical illness does not hinder your Wesleyan experience. Mental Health On-campus, Wesleyan’s Counseling and Psychological Services ( CAPS ) can provide a full complement of mental-health services. CAPS is staffed by psychologists and therapists and has one part-time practitioner who can prescribe medications if needed. The staff is trained in issues that commonly affect college students and is able to see students weekly, periodically, or just once. The sessions are covered by your tuition and completely confidential (unless, as is stipulated by law, you declare an intention to hurt yourself or others).. 8-to-8 is a free and confidential listening service staffed by specially trained students. They are available, counter intuitively, from 7 pm until 7 am by phone at 860-685-7789 or from 7 pm to 2 am online by instant messenger at wes8to8.com . (If you’re interested in volunteering, they hold interviews in the spring!) In partnership with CAPS, a variety of student-run support groups have been held in past semesters, including those for grief, disordered eating, and general mental health. Look for those advertised on campus once the semester gets underway. Finally, there are a number of licensed therapists in practice within walking distance from Wesleyan’s campus. Depending on your needs and your insurance coverage, one of these individuals may be the best fit. CAPS has a list on their website, and you may also be able to search your insurer’s website for this information. If you are concerned about a friend, you can make an appointment with CAPS to discuss your concerns and do not need to disclose your friend’s name. In an emergency, you can contact an RA, PSafe, or the on-call CAPS clinician. Remember that in an emergency, your friend’s safety and the safety of others is of utmost concern. In general, mental health is aided by the things that aid physical health: eating well, exercise, and sleep. Spending time with friends and building a comfortable, solid support network of trusted individuals is also important. The transition to college can be difficult and tumultuous, and it is not uncommon for students to find that they are struggling. There are so many resources available to students, and you are encouraged to seek them out if you feel you are in need of them. If you are already facing mental health issues, or have in the past, do not be surprised if they reemerge or change during the transition to college, or later in your college career. Advocating for yourself, being proactive, and taking care of yourself can help make sure they do not stop you from having an enjoyable, successful, and meaningful time at Wesleyan. Disability Resources As stated above, in order for any sort of accommodation to be provided in class, official documentation must be on file with the University. Even if you’re not sure about what accommodations you want or need, get in touch with Dean Patey, Associate Dean for Student Academic Resources and the administrator of resources for students with disabilities. She is located at North College, Room 021/022, telephone x2332, lpatey[at]wesleyan[dot]edu.   She holds office hours while classes are in session. She can help you determine what will help you, be a liaison to professors and ResLife and to CAPS or the Health Center (for mental health issues, physical disabilities and medical conditions that might require accommodation), and she is generally awesome! Be sure this list of documents , including the Disabilities Services Notification Form, have been filled out and submitted. (Hopefully, if you’re looking for accommodation for the first semester, this is already done). All professors are strongly advised to have a statement on their syllabus about disability accommodations. Plan to meet with your professors to discuss accommodations in the first week or so of classes. Open lines of communication are key! Most Wesleyan professors are very open to these types of conversations. The earlier that you can communicate with your professors about your needs, the better the needs can be met and the easier your time will be. Dean Patey can provide tips on how to go about doing this. If you are a student coming to campus with any sort of physical health issue, mental health issue or disability, know that you are not alone. Many Wesleyan students are dealing with these issues, and many are doing it highly successfully. Those that are the most successful are almost always those who are the best self-advocates. Take the time to be knowledgeable about what you are facing, and the resources available to you. Don’t be afraid to share your experience with a supportive community, be it an established campus group or the students you meet in your hall. To quote kitab : I came to Wes with a more-complicated-than-average medical history, and I see an off-campus therapist while I’m at school. I have found the Health Center, CAPS, Deans, and student groups to be very helpful and my peers to be far more understanding, accepting, and supportive than I initially gave them credit for. My advice: keep your friends in the loop; they can be a vital support system. Don’t be afraid to try a bunch of therapist/doctors/etc. and pick the one you like the best. Keep needed information handy so you don’t have to search for it (I have one Word document with a summary of my health and all my medical contact info). Set aside time to care for yourself, from exercise, to have fun with friends, to setting up doctor’s appointments. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.   Resources for Survivors of Sexual Assault Although it’s difficult to think about, it is also important to know the resources available to you if you are sexually assaulted.  Here is a chart explaining how Wesleyan deals with sexual assault cases, more info is avaliable on page 25 of the student handbook .  First and most importantly, take care of yourself.  Call CAPS (888-999-5545), Davison Health Center (860-685-2470) or the Women and Families Center (888-999-5545) – located on Main Street in Middletown – at any time to talk to someone about your feelings and your options. Someone from Women and Families Center can escort you to Middlesex Hospital for evidence collection and treatment if this option is right for you.  Public Safety can also provide you with a ride to Middlesex. Having evidence collected does not mean you must report to the police or to the school. The counselors at CAPS, the chaplains, and the other members of the Sexual Assault Response Team are always available to talk about experiences of sexual violence whether or not these experiences happened at Wesleyan. Debbie Collucci is also the Title IX coordinator at Wes (and also nicest person ever). While she is a mandated reporter, there are many courses of action you are able to take if you meet with her to disclose assault or harassment, such as a no-contact agreement, support from professors, or further escalation. Her office is room 112 in North College. If any of this seems wrong or incomplete, or there are new updates for this year, please let us know in the comments or by email at wesleyingblog[at]gmail[dot]org.

This is part of Wesleying's 2025 Unofficial Orientation series. Check out the welcome post with other articles here The packing list : possibly the most exciting part of the entire pre-frosh experience. There’s nothing quite like that first pilgrimage to Bed Bath and Beyond, walking through the forest of twin XL sheets and Premium, Ultra High Thread Count, Norwegian-Silk-Worm-Excrement-Infused ® towels. Every which way you look there’s something else that you couldn’t possibly live without in the perfect dorm room you’ve conjured up in your head. In past years the Wesleying packing list has been incredibly comprehensive in case you were going to forget your doormat. However more recently we’ve been trying to shorten the list a little. Anything we take off will be mentioned at the bottom of this post. I’m also going to plug  Wesleyan’s Waste Not Sale . In the spring of the previous year, students are invited to donate any items they no longer want to Waste Not. The Waste Not Sale takes place in the first couple days of school and is a great place to pick up a lot of things on this list for low prices. Profits from the Waste Not Sale go towards environmentally-based projects, local charities, and financial aid. This year the sale is on S aturday, September 6 (12-3 PM) and Sunday, September 7 (10 AM - 1 PM) . You can find the locations and more details here . Don't miss out! Please keep in mind however that Waste Not items may run out, so it’s your call if you want to buy an item before you arrive or at Wesleyan. The Waste Not Sale gets crowded fast, so you want to get there  early  (like earlier than whatever you think is early) and be prepared to have to wait an hour or so in line. Its hectic, but you can hang with all your new friends and meet people.  Waste not madness The list below is broken down into different general categories. Lots of the stuff like pens and notebooks may appear pretty obvious but I’ll put it in there in case you enjoy crossing things out. But without further ado: Study Laptop (Also a laptop sleeve) Pens Pencils (Mechanical ones are nice) Notebooks (You need 8 max, but if you’re good at managing your space you can probably do it with 2 or 3) Desk lamp (Wesleyan does not provide desk lamps so this is a big one) Sticky notes (useful for reminders) A marker or sharpie Scissors Ruler Stapler (It can be nice to have a mini stapler in your backpack for when you need to staple your homework before you turn it in. I made my entire freshman math class indebted to me this way) Pencil Holder Calculator (If you’re planning on taking a class that may require one: mainly in STEM or econ) Folders/binders (might be useful for keeping readings organized although not necessary) Organize Backpack Good ol’ milk crates (or just storage bins if you like your room to look nice) Little whiteboard for your door (Penis drawings become an art form) Command strips/hooks (these are a game changer for hanging things) Organizing trays Sewing kit (I bought one and I used it so you never know, but if you don’t bring one someone will let you borrow one) Scotch Tape (bc why not) Lounge Rug (Really ties the room together) Editor’s note: if you can get a washable rug, you will be so grateful. My rug last year held at least 6 different types of bodily fluids and the next global pandemic and even the strongest vacuum could not salvage it in the slightest Extension cord (I’d recommend waiting until you see your room and then buying one after, some rooms have an insane number out outlets while others only have one or two) Headphone/Earbuds (Definitely worth having) Speaker Mirror Photos from home and some way of putting them up Posters/art Fan (can be super useful for those three weeks of heat right before winter starts) Books (Even if you probably won’t have time to read them) Chair/beanbag (Nice for when people are hanging out and there isn’t enough space on the bed) Bathe (All toiletries, body wash, shampoo, and the like are available at Weshop if you don’t want to have to travel with them) Towels (Two or three is ideal) Bathrobe (Actually super nice to have) SHOWER FLIP FLOPS (Think of the generations of people who have used that shower before you and all the things that have touched that shower floor, do you really want your feet to be in contact with that?) Shower caddy - get a mesh one! Comb Hair dryer Body wash Shampoo/Conditioner Razor/shaving cream Facewash Face lotion Lip balm (pretty useful) Deodorant Body lotion Toothbrush and toothpaste Floss Nail clippers SUNSCREEN (Yes you can get sunburns even in the winter because the white snow reflects) Sleep Twin XL sheets (might be worth getting 2 sets although this isn’t necessary) Pillows (Tip: you use a pillow every single day, invest in a good one) Mattress pad (This is basically essential.  Different levels of mattress pads do exist, choose carefully or you might end up with a meh sheet of foam that doesn’t do much) Comforter/comfy blankets (Something nice and comfy) Sleeping bag/light blanket (If you have a sleeping bag and have space to bring it you might as well because you never know, otherwise it’s not too necessary) Health Stuff Your prescriptions (There is a pharmacy in the Walgreens down the road for potential refills) Band-Aids Ibuprofen Thermometer Cough Drops Facemasks - for covid and wesplague alike Contacts/contacts solution and case/glasses Coldeze/Motrin/Emergen-C (If you have a cold you can ask the health center for a cold kit, which includes “common over the counter medicine, cough drops and other goodies to help relieve some of your cold symptoms.”) Tampons and p ads Vitamins Hand sanitizer (If you’re on the move, ya gotta) [Editors’ note: Gatorade and its more sophisticated cousin Pedialyte. You’ll thank us later.] Clean Air freshener of some sort (Also available at Weshop) Laundry hamper (Must have) Laundry detergent/pods (Check out these cheap laundry sheets that Wesleyan has dispensors for on campus) Editor’s note:  allllllright. we all know you’re buying tide pods for a lil midnight snacc.  But actually, tide pods are an environmental nightmare and don’t disintegrate completely, which might even ruin your EDGY ALL-BLACK WARDROBE  too, so stick with some good old powder or liquid detergent. Wear your clothes in the shower. 2 for 1. And when you inevitably lock yourself out of your room, you won’t be chilling in a tiny-ass towel waiting for your roommate to come back from basketball practice because you forgot your phone in your room. The room that you locked. Seems personal but ok Tide Pen (Pretty useful) Vacuum (Essential if you have a rug, all sorts of stuff will get in there) Paper towels (Useful, but instead of packing these buy them at Weshop) Trash bin (Wesleyan does not provide these) Recycling bin Trash bags All-purpose cleaner (Great for quickly cleaning shared spaces and keeping yourself COVID-free!) Eat (Most of this stuff I wouldn’t pack and instead just buy when I arrive. Price Chopper on Wash is cheap & good!) (editor’s note 2019: everything on this list is huge, pls invest) Refrigerator (Actually pretty nice to have) (you can 100% Waste Not it but also look out for upperclassmen selling there’s on wesadmits!) Microwave (available in all dorm kitchens, but may also be nice to have) Microwave safe bowl/plate Electric Water Boiler Tupperware (Super useful for when you want to take some food from Usdan for later) Mug (you can get so many cool ones from waste not from years past) (you can also get shot glasses at Waste Not lmao) Travel mug Water bottle Utensils Cups (You can get real cups and be fancy but you can also just get solo cups at Weshop) Dishes (Not super necessary. You can go fancy and get real plates or just skip the trouble and get some disposable ones at Weshop) Bottle opener (Also available at Weshop) Zip Lock bags SNACKS!! (Maybe some of those Wesleying famous chocolate acai berries) Dress Hangers (you can get tons and tons and tons and tons of these at Waste Not) Boots for the winter (of the rain and snow variety) Good ol’ normal shoes Maybe some nicer ones too Socks Shirts Sweater/hoodie Light and heavy jackets Bottoms: pants/skirts/tights Work out clothes Sweats/loungewear Lots and lots of underwear (Like socks, you can never have too many pairs) Things to keep you warm: Hat/gloves/scarf Umbrella Accessories: jewelry/bags/sunglasses/watch Swimsuit Recommended: One v fancy outfit for a ~formal~ that you’ll always hope to be, but never actually are, invited to. Formal season is a  thing.  it’s a  thing.  Specific Wesleyan Move in Stuff You’ll probably get a list of things to bring with you to orientation, but it’s a smart idea to bring a government-issued ID, your bank account info (account/routing number) if you’re applying for a campus job. Debit/credit card/$$$$ (#expensleyan) Things from past year’s lists that didn’t make this year’s USB drive White-out Eraser Swiss army knife (could be useful, but not necessary) Envelopes/Stamps (If you need these you can buy them at WesStation on campus) Duffel bag (if you’re bringing one hopefully you’re packing stuff inside it and therefore don’t forget it) Tacky adhesive (command strips are better) Flashlight (Most phones have this capability now) Batteries (These are only useful if you’re bringing something that requires batteries and virtually nothing else on this list uses batteries) Screwdriver (unless you’re the sort of person who is fiddling with things a lot, there’s always someone you can borrow a screwdriver from though) Phone and phone charger (It’d be impressive to forget these two) Doormat (why was this on the list? meli’s note: WHY NOT) Washcloths (If you have towels they all become one) Alarm clock/radio (We have phones now so this is a little excessive.  If you’re the sort who needs more than one alarm to wake up an alarm clock may be useful however) Printers (no one I know actually uses their printer) Tissue boxes/Facial tissues (Don’t pack this unless you need it for the trip. They are readily available at Weshop) Pepto Bismol (If you need it you can get it at Weshop) Dishwashing soap/sponge (Not really necessary unless you plan on doing a lot of cooking.  Even then in many dorms there’s at least a communal dish soap) Plastic bags (I don’t know what these are intended for, maybe to replace trash bags? I suppose they could also be a “You never know” item) Big whiteboard for inside your room (can do wonders for your organization and time management) Cutting knife/board (Unless you’re going to be a real dorm chef. I definitely recommend buying these in Middletown) Safety pins (These could be useful in certain situations but you can probably just borrow them or buy some at Weshop when they become necessary) Car registration, insurance, and $100 for those bringing a car to campus (This isn’t necessary as you can register your car  online . Please don’t forget to bring your registration and insurance info though) Iron/ ironing board (If you’re trying to be fancy I guess. There’s always the old shower steam trick) Happy packing! Reach out to us at wesleyingblog[at]gmail[dot]com or dm us @wesleying if you have any questions or comments!

This is a part of Wesleying's 2025 Unofficial Orientation Series. You can check out our welcome post with links to other articles here. Eating and drinking is a necessity for all living beings, even during your hazy college days. While we all have to adjust our food standards from delicious home-cooked meals to university food, trust me, it could be worse. Wes has been ranked before on top college dining hall lists, and we’re even ranked #2 by One Green Planet for Most Vegan-Friendly Colleges. There’s a plethora of awesome vegan food and many options on campus to fulfill your desires This is the part of the orientation series where we remind you to eat your veggies. Usdan Marketplace Home to the ‘main’ dining hall, the  Usdan University Center  (whose pronunciation baffles everyone—correctly pronounced  yooz-dan  and not  ooze-dan  or  uss-dan  or  uzz-dan ) is where you’ll pick up your packages, send your mail, and hang out. The largest of the three Usdan eateries is the Usdan Marketplace, occupying the entire second floor. Here you’ll find what you’d expect in a conventional cafeteria: Rotating menu ‘Classics’ section Pizza Pasta station Deli Fried/grilled food Assorted cereals Salad bar Vegan section Kosher section Celiac-friendly section Bread and bagels and a panini grills Mongolian grill (stir-fry station during lunch, rotating quesadillas, fajitas, grilled cheese, Philly cheese-steaks, breakfast sandwiches) Amazing ice cream Drinks. Breakfast includes breakfast sandwiches, the bagel station, a waffle station, fruit, yogurt, and assorted cereals; brunch on the weekends includes two omelet stations, but the line fills up quick so get there early. You pay by meal or by points, and it’s an all you can eat buffet. You'll learn quickly whether you prefer quiet side or loud side , though you can always switch it up. On your first night of college you can watch all the new freshman walk up the outside stairs and try to enter the building, only to realize that they have to go back down and inside to enter. Maybe you'll even unlock boozedanning, another thrilling activity to do on campus. All the Bon Appetit employees are super nice and you’ll probably end up learning a few of their names by the end of the year. Nothing like a good Usdan insider connection. Price : One meal swipe or 6 points (breakfast) 9 points (lunch) or 11 points (dinner), 11 points (brunch) Hours : Weekdays: Breakfast (8-10:30am), Lunch (11am-2pm), Dinner (5-8pm). Weekends: Brunch (11am-2pm), Dinner (5-8pm). Summerfields (Summies) imagine gettin' crunk with all your friends here picking up your late-nite breakfast special....incredible The other main dining hall is located in the heart of the  Butterfields (Butts , arguably the best part of living here was the ability to get food without going outside), on the first floor south end of  Butt C . Summies is a little different from the Marketplace: there’s a specific and generally non-rotating menu; you order what you want, pay, and then pick it up. The menu includes standard “American” fare (burgers, fries, etc.), a variety of salads, taqueria food (enormous quesadillas, burritos, and tacos), and the rare daily special (check bon appetit's instagram  for updates). A meal swipe will get you a drink and almost anything on the menu (plus a dessert if you eat dinner). Once inside Summies, there’s also drinks and fruit available for free. At peak times (12-1pm for lunch and 6-7pm for dinner) Summerfields will be super slow, but at other times most items are pretty quick. Download the Reuser  and Mobile Order  apps ahead of time to save the hassle at your first summies visit. You can order ahead of time with the mobile order app, and it will give you notifications of your order's status, or you can order in person at the front desk. You need to "check in" and "check out" your reusable boxes, which can easily lead to hoarding them in your room. Return your boxes people!!! Price:  Meal or varied points, with some sides or add-ons costings more. Hours:  Lunch (Monday through Friday, 11am-2pm), Dinner (every day, 5:30-9pm). Late Night Late Night  is a great place to go if you need some fuel to work on that paper or problem set due the next morning, and also the greatest place in the world to be drunk. Late night summies was one of the greatest parts of my freshman year, and I hope it is part of yours too. Pretty much anything fried or grilled is available, as well as some assorted desserts and drinks. Late Night is notorious for evaporating points really quickly; be careful but don’t miss out! Price:  Meals or points. Hours:  Every day, 9:30pm-1am. Star & Crescent Located at  Alpha Delta Phi , the  Star & Crescent  has been around for 145 years and offers amazing food for lunch and dinner on most weekdays. The weekly  S&C  menu is posted on their instagram  each week, and looks genuinely more and more mouth watering each week. Each meal includes a salad, entrée, and a dessert. It's communal seating, so you can either eat with your friends/the friendly Alpha Delts or get take out if you’re in a hurry.  First three freshmen eat free! Come earlier than whatever you think is early. Price:  15-17.50 points or free if you’re lucky. Hours:  Lunch (Mon-Thurs noon-1pm), Dinner (Mon – Thu 6-8pm), and Friday 5 dollar Smorgasbord. Sometimes suddenly closed, which you can usually find out somewhere online. WesWings No need for me to waste my breath, this explains it all: “Established in 1991 by Karen Kaffen and  Ed Thorndike ’89  and located in the basement of 156 High St. (the former eating club of Delta Tau Delta, right by the intersection of Church and High),  WesWings ’ menu is based primarily not on wings but on fried chicken, and its atmosphere and menu feels more like a ski lodge eatery than a college cafeteria. WesWings tends to be on the pricey side (especially the daily specials), but it’s well worth it (again: especially the daily specials, updated on the website everyday). It’s also the only (on-campus) breakfast option on weekends (shoutout to the breakfast pail) other than Usdan and is a generally advisable weekend option, since Usdan dinner sucks on weekends. For those of you that live in the Butts and like to kvetch about the location, keep in mind this eatery is literally right in your backyard. Check out the restaurant’s site for cool old photos and WesWings history.” –  Zach Schonfeld ’13 WesWings, or more popularly known as Swings, is more popular with upperclassmen because they have more points. But even for frosh, its a good place for an occasional fancy points dinner. Located below Writers Block. Check out the Swings and Red and Black website here , where they post their specials each week. Price:  Points only, varies. Hours:  Every day, 11-8. Red & Black Café Also owned and run by  Ed Thorndike ,  R&B  offers awesome sandwiches, paninos, soups, and a whole lot more. R&B  is often a nice change of pace if you’re getting tired of  Usdan  and  Summerfields  food, though it can be a bit pricey. Also a great place to study, and a haven for those who live in junior village right across the street. If you’re one of those people that ends up with a million points at the end of the semester (or you know a friend in that position), R&B is a great way to use up points and save yourself from the monotony of Usdan. Also home to the most amazing thanksgiving sandwich and tuna salad ever. These student love red and black so much they made a video  about it! Price:  Points only, varies. Hours:  Weekdays: 8am-8pm, Weekend: 9am-5pm. Sometimes randomly closed. Pi Café she's small but mighty Your one-stop-shop for anything coffee- or pastry-related.  Pi Café  is located on the first floor of Exley , and is a popular place for breakfast and lunch, as well as afternoon studying. Lines are CRAZY on the weekday mornings (I'm talking sometimes upwards of 50 people in line). If you try to go ten minutes before or after morning classes, you almost certainly will be late, but sometimes it’s still worth it.  Pi  offers a variety of inventive coffee- and chocolate-related drinks (try the Chaider), as well as bagels, pastries, sandwiches, and salads.  Pi  is reasonably cheap and a good place if you’re looking for midmorning or afternoon snack. Pi closes fairly early, though during Reading Period before exams it’s sometimes open from 9pm-midnight. In the afternoons, especially towards the end of the semester, you’ll be lucky to get a seat, but it’s a nice study break if you work in  SciLi  or the 24 Hour Room/Fishbowl. If you buy one Chai Charger every day, you’ll run out of points pretty quickly, so time your coffee addiction with your lunch and dinner (free to-go cups in Usdan and Summies) to save some money. Price:  Mainly points but meal swipes on Weekday mornings, varies. Hours:  Mon – Thu: 8am-10pm, Fri: 8am-5pm, Weekends: 12-6pm. Usdan Café Usdan Marketplace's little sister. Another fairly quick, fairly cheap place to grab a snack, sandwich, sushi, coffee, or a drink. They also have soup, which is usually the same as what the  Marketplace  is serving.  Usdan Café  is located on the first floor of  Usdan . Like the  Marketplace  upstairs, the line is a mile long between 11:55am and 12:20pm.  Usdan Café  does not always have the best food, but the sushi is a great time-saver if you want to grab a quick bite before going to class. The coffee is not free, even if you have your own cup, though sometimes if you ask they’ll let you have some anyway. Price:  Mainly points but possibly some meal combos on weekdays Hours:  Every day, 8am-8pm. Espwesso Café Pronounced as if a baby was saying ‘espresso,’  Espwesso Café  is entirely student-run.  Espwesso  runs early in the morning, late at night, and some hours in-between (keeps changing) on weekdays (Sunday through Thursday).  Espwesso’s  atmosphere in the basement of  Allbritton  also makes it a nice place to just relax and have a cup of coffee with a friend, to work on your papers, or get together for group projects. Also a popular spot for occasional poetry readings, vendor sales, or music. Price:  Points and Middletown Cash Hours:  Unclear. Check their insta  for more updates in the future! Weshop Essentials All-important for juniors and seniors. Still fairly critical for freshmen and sophomores (especially those who live in WestCo, which is connected to Weshop, and spend way too many points here).  Weshop  (pronounced Wes-Shop or bastardized to weh-shop, never wee-shop) is Wesleyan’s own mini-supermarket described by some as a mix between Whole Foods and a gas station. You can get all sorts of packaged foods, milk, juices, meats, cooking supplies and utensils, cleaning supplies, hygiene products, candy, and a whole lot of other stuff. You can also get fresh food, including fresh fruits, veggies, and cheeses if you don’t sign up for the  Fruit and Veggie Co-op  or the  Cheese Co-op . Prices tend to be way higher than at regular super-markets, but you spend your points. If you have a kitchen in your building, you might try your hand at cooking with some stuff from  Weshop .  Weshop  has accepted meal swipes for a sandwich, poke bowl, or salad, along with a bag of chips, an apple, and cookies. It’s also a good option if you’re short on time and want to grab a bite before or after class, though lines can be pretty crazy long around noon. Be careful if you’re a freshmen, this place eats up points. Make sure to befriend Tom, Wendy, and all the amazing people who work there. Price:  Points only, varies; meal swipes 11am-2pm. Hours:  Sun – Thu, noon-midnight, Fri – Sat, 2-6pm. Daniel Family Commons The third and final food location in  Usdan . The  DFC  is located on the third floor and is used by faculty and staff. The food is usually identical to the stuff in the  Marketplace , with fewer choices, but tastes better for some reason (I suspect the use of fancier plates/flatware). Students can only use the  DFC  if invited as the guest of a professor or administrator. There is, however, a lunch voucher program that allows a professor to get lunch with up to three students for free at the  DFC . Each professor has at least one of these vouchers, and more are readily available at the office of  Dean Mike Whaley . Price : points only, or free. Hours:  Weekdays, 11:30am-1:30pm. Wesleyan Local Food Co-op The Local Food Co-op is a weekly farmer’s-market-type event in the basement of Usdan. At the beginning of each semester, you can sign up for a share of fresh seasonal produce, dairy, cheese, bread, granola, meat, tofu, seitan, or any combination thereof. You can split a share with up to six people, which is great as shares are pricey and more food than one person probably wants any given week. You pay for shares at the  beginning of the semester using points, then go every week to pick up whatever you already bought. The Co-op is more popular with people living in houses with kitchen access, but a good idea for anyone craving more homey food. (I heard of this too late and wasn’t able to do it my freshman year but it sounds awesome and I recommend checking it out.) Highly recommended if you’re a spoiled West Coast kid completely dismayed at Usdan’s veggie options. Check out their insta  here for more info! Price:  Points, varies, but for an idea, a produce share was about 120 points last semester. Hours : Wednesdays, 5-7 P.M. (last year, might change) Editor's note: I would like to take this opportunity to warn you guys now: on Saturdays and Sundays, absolutely nothing is open on campus until 11:00. So, if you’re anything like me— carless and desperate for coffee at 8am— I strongly suggest you either bring your own Keurig and/or some granola bars for a weekend breakfast before Usdan brunch opens up! Good luck with all that eating and drinking, there’s truly no better place for it. Think we missed something or have a question? Email us at wesleyingblog[at]gmail[dot]com or dm us @wesleying

This is a part of Wesleying's 2025 Unofficial Orientation Series. You can check out our welcome post with links to other articles here. Middletown  has so many fantastic dining options that at first you might feel like this turtle: faced with an almost insurmountable mountain of deliciousness. Much like the above turtle, though, you’ve got to start somewhere. We’re here to give you a head start. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but just some places that Wesleying writers through the years have enjoyed while at Wes. From coffee-shop casual to awkward-family-dinner upscale, there’s food in Middletown for every occasion. This is our guide to some of the best places to eat in town.  Prices are on a $ to $$$ scale. Also worth noting is that a lot of Middletown restaurants accept  Middletown Cash . Enjoy! Diner/American Athenian :  diner, $$ Sometimes you just really need a diner, and Athenian provides that vital resource. I can vouch for Athenian’s great food and service in the daylight hours, but as  pyrotechnics  sagely noted in the past: “4am trips to Athenian for milkshakes and gravy-fries is something every Wes kid should experience.” (edit: unfortunately I don't think Athenian is 24 hrs anymore :( but maybe you can just go bring a milkshake to the parking lot to recreate this past Wes experience) You’ll need a car to get there, since it’s located up Washington Street, but the wide selection of diner food that awaits you there is worth the ride. Coffee Shops Klekolo :  coffee shop, $ Conveniently located on Court Street just off Main, Klekolo is a neat little place with a bit of an edgier atmosphere than your run-of-the-mill coffee shop. It’s home to a fantastic selection of fair-trade coffees and pastries. I’ll let this “rabid coffee addict” from last year’s post tell it like it is: “Klekolo is the salvation of students who can’t choke down Usdan coffee without spiking it love a good cup of free trade coffee for about a dollar a cup. Klekolo offers Starbucks-esque extras (amaretto shot in your mocha, anyone?) but their simple cup of joe is better than anything you’ll find in Middletown. Common patrons include a recent Connecticut politician, local artists, disaffected mid-twenties with piercings (not yet confirmed if these are Wes grads) and an ambitious Middletown chess club. Caution: cash only.” Brew Bakers :  coffee shop and brunch place, $$ Brew Bakers has two different locations — both on Main Street, but on opposite ends. Located at 169 Main Street, they offer a selection of sandwiches, bagels, all-day breakfast, and something called an omelette sandwich?? It tends to be pretty popular for brunch on Saturdays and Sundays, especially among Wesleyan students, so be prepared for a bit of a line. Sweet Harmony Café and Bakery :  coffee shop and brunch place, $$ Sweet Harmony, like Klekelo, is where you go for coffee that’s not whatever Pi Cafe is serving. Sweet Harmony has an extensive menu of sandwiches, salads, and obviously desserts and baked goods, which makes it a good brunch stop if you’re trying to avoid the Brewbakers lines. Perk on Main :  coffee and crepes, $$, Middletown Cash A personal favorite, Perk on Main is a great place to grab a coffee, smoothie, or any of their many sweet and savory crepe offerings. They recently moved to a bigger location, which seems to have cut down on their lines! And it takes  Middletown Cash ! Unlike most coffee places around, Perk is open until 8 PM daily, making it a great date-night stop for dinner or dessert. Perk advertises itself as being “socially and environmentally conscious,” boasting that they “purchase 100% Wind Energy for its long term sustainability,” “generate the same amount of garbage as an average single family home,” and “donate our coffee grounds to local gardens and farms.” Perk is also a big study spot for Wes students. Thai Typhoon :   Thai, $$ Typhoon caters a lot of small Wesleyan events and student-group functions, so you’ll probably be eating their food sometime in the near future, even if you don’t go to their restaurant on Main Street. Everything I’ve had from there has been really good; you certainly can’t go wrong with their Pad Thai. I’d recommend eating at the restaurant, too: it’s a huge space with lots of tables and a fairly laid-back atmosphere. For those of you who are 21+, it’s also worth noting Typhoon is BYOB for $1, so it can be a cheaper option if you’re trying to have a glass of wine or beer with your dinner! Thai Garde ns:   Thai, $$, Middletown Cash One of the most popular Thai restaurants in Middletown, Thai Garden has affordable prices, a kick-ass Pad Thai, and (reportedly) a free Thai iced-tea drink if you present a WesI D. Middletown Cash i s accepted here. Vietnamese Pho 170 :  Vietnamese/Thai $ Pho 170 offers both Thai and Vietnamese cuisine in this no-frills restaurant. The seating is pretty limited, but reviews show that the pho is worth the wait! Also, the menu is definitely at a student-friendly price-point, so you don’t have to splurge to get a break from the Wesleyan campus food offerings or cooking. Japanese Hachi :  Japanese, $$ Hachi (literally the Japanese word for ‘eight’) serves a standard array of reasonably priced sushi, hibachi, and other Japanese fare. The interior is cozy and welcoming, though there might be a wait on weekends or holidays (especially family weekends). They also have an insane lunch special of three rolls for only $12. Definitely an affordable alternative to Mikado, if you’re looking for Japanese cuisine. Mikado:   Japanese, $$$ Mikado is an underground but upscale place just off of Main Street near Exit 16 (the door is in the back of the buildings on Main Street) that offers an extensive variety of sushi and other Japanese food like udon, soba, and tempura. The booths are pretty comfortable and good for larger parties, but this is not exactly a regular destination for an easy meal. While everything is high quality and well done, the prices are a little prohibitive on a college budget. Maybe a nice place for a date, a fancy birthday celebration, or to make your parents take you out on Homecoming weekend. Moonlight Sushi Bar and Grill :  Japanese/Asian Fusion, $$, Middletown Cash Moonlight is another student favorite, with menu items spanning sushi, hibachi, Bento boxes, and Japanese curry. They’re conveniently located on Main Street with the lower level of the restaurant opening into Metro Square (home of Metro Movies and Metro Spirits, if you’re looking for a complete night on the town). You can sit upstairs for the hibachi grill, or downstairs for the full menu and sushi bar. Very popular spot for formals. Fujiya Ramen :  Ramen, $$ Fujiya Ramen opened in August 2017 and has quickly become a favorite among Wesleyan students and Middletown residents alike! The restaurant, which serves lunch and dinner, makes Tokyo-style ramen with ingredients imported from Japan. The bowls are huge, the broth is flavorful, and there’s plenty of options for getting exactly what you’re in the mood for. I went here for my birthday last year and it was great. Himalayan Tibetan Kitchen :  Himalayan/Nepalese, $$ Apparently people who live in the surrounding area have noted that Tibetan Kitchen is a good spot for “sightings of Wesleyan students.” And fo r good reason — the place is incredibly popular among us college-age whippersnappers and has proved since it opened in 2011 to be home to some of the best food on Main Street. Tibetan food is pretty hard to describe if you’ve never had it, and I’m not really going to try to do so. There are lots of curries, soups, spicy things, and a wide selection of vegetarian and vegan dishes, but honestly, just check it out yourself. They’re also cash-only, so stop by an ATM before you head out there. Indian Tandoor :   Indian style, $$, Middletown Cash Tandoor provides quality Indian food at reasonable prices (which you can use you r Middletown Cash on). Y ou can order takeout or delivery by phone or online, which is super convenient. I’d also recommend going there for a sit-down meal, though; the restaurant itself offers good service and a fairly quiet and peaceful atmosphere. I’ve only been there for dinner, but apparently their lunch buffet is pretty good, too. Udupi Bhavan :  Indian/vegetarian, $$ Udupi Bhavan offers a fully vegetarian menu of food from the Udupi region of India, and according to Isaac Moss '25, has dosas that are "absolutely flames." Located at 749 Saybrook Road, it’s about a 10-minute drive from campus. Though I've never been there I've heard amazing things about the freshness, authenticity, and community there. Haveli India :   Indian, $$ Haveli is probably one of the best restaurants in Middletown, and has one of the best reputation among students. Good Indian food is necessary for many of us to even make it through the semester, and Haveli is pretty well priced, which makes it the go-to catering option for a lot of events at Wesleyan. Haveli is a sit-down Indian restaurant about a ten-minute drive from campus down South Main St. The restaurant itself is a very warm and cozy set of dining rooms in an old little inn right on the road. They also serve a lunch buffet matching their dinner for quality, which is saying a lot. You can look at about $15 or $20 dollars per person all told, depending how many you bring along with you (protip for amateur group eaters: the more people you bring, the less it costs, and a good way of ordering Indian is ordering one less dish than you have in your party). Don’t worry about being hungry: it’s lot of food and almost no one finishes their plate. Don’t forget to order naan. Mexican La Boca :  Mexican style, $$ Middletown is filled with delicious places to get your fill. La Boca is one of the more popular restaurants, and rightfully so: the more Americanized Mexican food is good, and the ambiance too. Their lunch specialties are killer, and although their dinner options are a little more pricey, the selection is not to be scoffed at, and apparently their burritos are quite filling. And don’t forget the wide assortment of drinks. They changed to a nice new location on Main Street, with more space for activities like in-house music performances. As a bonus, La Boca regularly hosts fun events during the week, such as open mike nights and Trivia Tuesday on (you guessed it) Tuesday nights. They have karaoke on Sunday nights, too. Iguanas Ranas Taqueria:   Mexican $$ This place is right next to Junior Village, and has the cutest porch. I think this would be the perfect place to have sunset margs with all your Junior besties, but unfortunately they don't have their liquor license yet. RIP. However, it gets good ratings on google, and looks like it has really authentic Mexican food that is pretty affordable. I'm hoping to go soon, and you should too.   Italian/Pizza Luce :   Italian style, $$$  I’ve eaten at Luce twice. The first time, I got dinner with my family and the families of both my roommates (yes, I lived in a forced triple my freshman year, and yes, the dinner was sufficiently awkward). The s econd time was a few months later, when a bunch of my hallmates and I dressed up and set out to have a “fancy” evening. The food was very good, as far as I can remember, and worth the fairly expensive prices. If you’re looking for a nice Italian place to go on a date, or to take your folks when they come to visit, this is definitely an option to consider. Mondo :  Gourmet pizza, $$$, Middletown Cash Mondo is a short walk away from campus and a good use of your time. When you’re tired of ordering Dominos pizza, Mondo has the more gourmet alternative— which also means it’s sort of pricey. Bring a few friends along, however, and it’s totally worth it: I recommend splitting a few of the smaller pizzas, mixing up between the Mondo Bianco (white sauce pizza with spinach or broccoli covered with ricotta & mozzarella, garlic and fresh basil) and something of your own creation (sun dried tomato tastes good on everything). I have friends who like their paninis and pastas, but I go there to get my pizza on. If you have a large party, you might want to reserve a table because they often get pretty busy. This is another favorite for catering events, so you can look forward to department events and evening meetings with Mondo. Amici :  Italian style, $$$ Just like Luce, Amici offers nice Italian food for a slightly lower price without as strict of a dress code. You’ve got your salads, your paninis, chicken and veal dishes, steaks, a good selection of seafood, and pasta pasta pasta out the wazoo. Amici is located on Main St near the Police Station and the other dozen restaurants in that area. According to my sources, Amici’s bread basket is to die for. They also have a large outdoor seating area, which is very pleasant on the few warm summer/spring nights we get to experience in New England. Empire Pizza :  Italian/Pizza, $$, Empire Pizza offers another pizza option that’s not Dominos, though I have not actually eaten here. It’s worth noting that in addition to pizza, they also serve burgers, salads, and sandwiches. Krust :  Pizza/bourbon bar, $$ With two sections (a noisy bar room and a slightly-less-noisy second room), this North End establishment is a fun and tasty option for fresh-made woodfire pizza (much better than Usdan pizza, that’s for sure). There are lots of creative pizza options at Krust, so definitely venture beyond your classic cheese or pepperoni if you visit. Krust is also open late (offering food service until 11:30 PM Fridays and Saturdays and bar service until at least 1 AM daily), which is rare for Middletown restaurants. I’d definitely recommend a visit! Dessert NoRA Cupcake Company :  dessert, $ Even though they’re a newcomer to the Middletown food scene, NoRA Cupcake Company has already made a huge name for itself in Middletown and the greater Connecticut area. With deliciously elaborate cupcake flavors ranging from PB&J to Strawberry Peach Lemonade to Mexican Wedding Cake, the NoRA store (located next to O’Rourke’s on the North End) is a fun place to snag the perfect dessert. Even if you don’t make it to the store, you’re sure to encounter “Lil’ NoRA,” the company’s decked-out cupcake truck, parked on William Street on weekend nights. You can even vote for the truck’s weekly flavor selections. Nothing like some good cupcake democracy. Check out their  website  to see what’s on the menu for the day/start drooling in advance. Froyo World :   dessert, $ Froyo World is a  huge hit  among Wesleyan students and in the Middletown community. It’s everything you could ask for in a self-serve frozen yogurt joint: lots of flavors (I’ve enjoyed their s’mores, samoa, and salted caramel varieties), endless toppings (they have a whole dispenser of Lucky Charms marshmallows! And a Nutella gun, for crying out loud), and a large space to sit down and enjoy. My one warning is that their cups only come in two sizes: huge and huge-er. You will inevitably get too much yogurt. But you probably won’t regret it. 0 Degree :  dessert, $$ This restaurant is hugely popular with Wes students after just a few years on Main Street. In addition to bubble tea, 0 degree serves a very particular  (and aesthetically pleasing) kind of dessert—Rolled Thai Ice Cream. The ice creams come in a variety of flavors, my favorite being a Banana-Nutella mixture called Chunky Monkey. Aside from it’s shape, this Thai street food distinguishes itself from regular ice cream in that it isn’t sickly sweet or sugary. I, personally, like this attribute about the food because  it means I can eat a lot of it without feeling too gross; however, if you are someone with a die-hard sweet tooth you can satisfy your cravings by adding a bunch of awesome toppings like Graham Crackers, gummy bears, and whipped cream. Durham Dari Serve :  ice cream/frozen yogurt, $ While this Connecticut establishment is a bit farther off-campus than most other places on this li st (and has a frustratingly-spelled name), it’s well-worth the 12-minute drive down South Main Street/CT-17 S to this classic ice cream stand in Middletown’s neighboring town, Durham! You can enjoy on e of dozens of hard-serve flavors or classic soft-serve offerings in massive servings (I’ve never needed more than the massive “one-scoop” cone). May be cash only (unclear!). Check their Facebook page for hours before you head out, as the Dari Serve closes up shop every winter when the weather starts feeling like the frozen treats they offer. I particularly recommend a Dari Serve stop as a study break during spring finals or on the way to/fro m a Miller’s Pond outing. Misc It’s Only Natural Restaurant :  vegan, $$$, Middletown Cash I’ve somehow never been to It’s Only Natural, a now 100% vegan restaurant on Main Street, but I’ve only heard good things about it. Its menu boasts an impressive selection of creative vegetarian dishes, using plenty of locally-sourced ingredients. It’s on the pricey side, but it’s an enticing alternative to your WesWings seitan burger or the Usdan vegan station. You should also check out the It’s Only Natural Market, a health food supermarket across the street from the restaurant’s new location. Both the restaurant and market accept Middletown Cash, too! Neon Deli :  Deli, $ Neon Deli is not technically part of Wesleyan University, but it’s practically an institution, and most likely the most-frequented non-Wes non-mobile food option. Located at the corner of Cross and Vine streets (across from Freeman Athletic Center, practically on campus) and offers subs/sandwiches and a fair array of grocery-type items. Pro tip: Lobster roll. Even if you’re not eating in (seating is limited and it’s not exactly a dining atmosphere), a lot of people come here to get cooking supplies they can’t get/don’t want to pay for at WesShop. The building in which the deli resides is owned by Wesleyan (the abandoned store to the right used to be Club Liquors but closed a several years ago). The university had planned to turn the whole building into an expanded WeShop, but it seems those plans have been shelved for the time being . Some Neon Deli history, courtesy of The Argus. ( 2013: After a bunch of debate and Wesleyan community outcry, the WSA has withdrawn its proposed tobacco ban resolution, which would b an the sale of tobacco on Wesleyan-owned property, mainly Neon Deli. The Deli is the closest place for students to get cigarettes, and a poll sent out the student body came back with 64% in favor of dropping the ban. If you smoke, you’re welcome. Read more in  this  Argus  article. ) Eli Cannon’s Tap Room :   Restaurant-bar, $$$ I’ve got to leave this to  gabzalot  to explain: “For those of you over 21 (especially those who love beer, but even for those who don’t), this place is yet another  must.  Located at the end of the downtown area, it’s a slight walk away from campus, but well worth the trip. Throughout the year, this place rotates through dozens of different ales in order to always have the 36 freshest ones available to you, many of which you have probably never heard of. Their extensive and ever-changing tap menu tells you where each beer is from and what style it is to help you out. And if you’re still unsure of what (or how) to pick a beer, just ask a waiter and they’ll hook you up with something really good. And what really makes the place is the fabulous indoor decor and the back outdoor patio, so be sure to check both the inside and the outside out. It’s this sort of place that makes being 21 really worth your while…” Shah's Halal Food : Halal  $$ This chain recently came to Main Street, and while its delicious food, the real thing we aren't talking about enough is that it is open until 3AM ON WEEKENDS???? It's even open until midnight the rest of the week. People, open your eyes! You could have a Saturday late night summies at 12:30 and then go get a SECOND late night here! Incredible. That’s about the North and South of it, folks. You have four years to explore all of Middletown’s diverse and really quite wonderful, locally-owned restaurants, and there are plenty that even we haven’t covered. Feel free to help add to our list, but this should start you off pretty nicely. Happy eating!

Middletown  has so many fantastic dining options that at first you might feel like this turtle: faced with an almost insurmountable mountain of deliciousness. Much like the above turtle, though, you’ve got to start somewhere. We’re here to give you a head start. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but just some places that Wesleying writers through the years have enjoyed while at Wes. From coffee-shop casual to awkward-family-dinner upscale, there’s food in Middletown for every occasion. This is our guide to some of the best places to eat in town.  Prices are on a $ to $$$ scale. Also worth noting is that a lot of Middletown restaurants accept  Middletown Cash . Enjoy! Diner/American Athenian :  diner, $$ Sometimes you just really need a diner, and Athenian provides that vital resource. I can vouch for Athenian’s great food and service in the daylight hours, but as  pyrotechnics  sagely noted in the past: “4am trips to Athenian for milkshakes and gravy-fries is something every Wes kid should experience.” (edit: unfortunately I don't think Athenian is 24 hrs anymore :( but maybe you can just go bring a milkshake to the parking lot to recreate this past Wes experience) You’ll need a car to get there, since it’s located up Washington Street, but the wide selection of diner food that awaits you there is worth the ride. Coffee Shops Klekolo :  coffee shop, $ Conveniently located on Court Street just off Main, Klekolo is a neat little place with a bit of an edgier atmosphere than your run-of-the-mill coffee shop. It’s home to a fantastic selection of fair-trade coffees and pastries. I’ll let this “rabid coffee addict” from last year’s post tell it like it is: “Klekolo is the salvation of students who can’t choke down Usdan coffee without spiking it love a good cup of free trade coffee for about a dollar a cup. Klekolo offers Starbucks-esque extras (amaretto shot in your mocha, anyone?) but their simple cup of joe is better than anything you’ll find in Middletown. Common patrons include a recent Connecticut politician, local artists, disaffected mid-twenties with piercings (not yet confirmed if these are Wes grads) and an ambitious Middletown chess club. Caution: cash only.” Brew Bakers :  coffee shop and brunch place, $$ Brew Bakers has two different locations — both on Main Street, but on opposite ends. Located at 169 Main Street, they offer a selection of sandwiches, bagels, all-day breakfast, and something called an omelette sandwich?? It tends to be pretty popular for brunch on Saturdays and Sundays, especially among Wesleyan students, so be prepared for a bit of a line. Sweet Harmony Café and Bakery :  coffee shop and brunch place, $$ Sweet Harmony, like Klekelo, is where you go for coffee that’s not whatever Pi Cafe is serving. Sweet Harmony has an extensive menu of sandwiches, salads, and obviously desserts and baked goods, which makes it a good brunch stop if you’re trying to avoid the Brewbakers lines. Perk on Main :  coffee and crepes, $$, Middletown Cash A personal favorite, Perk on Main is a great place to grab a coffee, smoothie, or any of their many sweet and savory crepe offerings. They recently moved to a bigger location, which seems to have cut down on their lines! And it takes  Middletown Cash ! Unlike most coffee places around, Perk is open until 8 PM daily, making it a great date-night stop for dinner or dessert. Perk advertises itself as being “socially and environmentally conscious,” boasting that they “purchase 100% Wind Energy for its long term sustainability,” “generate the same amount of garbage as an average single family home,” and “donate our coffee grounds to local gardens and farms.” Perk is also a big study spot for Wes students. Thai Typhoon :   Thai, $$ Typhoon caters a lot of small Wesleyan events and student-group functions, so you’ll probably be eating their food sometime in the near future, even if you don’t go to their restaurant on Main Street. Everything I’ve had from there has been really good; you certainly can’t go wrong with their Pad Thai. I’d recommend eating at the restaurant, too: it’s a huge space with lots of tables and a fairly laid-back atmosphere. For those of you who are 21+, it’s also worth noting Typhoon is BYOB for $1, so it can be a cheaper option if you’re trying to have a glass of wine or beer with your dinner! Thai Garde ns:   Thai, $$, Middletown Cash One of the most popular Thai restaurants in Middletown, Thai Garden has affordable prices, a kick-ass Pad Thai, and (reportedly) a free Thai iced-tea drink if you present a WesI D. Middletown Cash i s accepted here. Vietnamese Pho 170 :  Vietnamese/Thai $ Pho 170 offers both Thai and Vietnamese cuisine in this no-frills restaurant. The seating is pretty limited, but reviews show that the pho is worth the wait! Also, the menu is definitely at a student-friendly price-point, so you don’t have to splurge to get a break from the Wesleyan campus food offerings or cooking. Japanese Hachi :  Japanese, $$ Hachi (literally the Japanese word for ‘eight’) serves a standard array of reasonably priced sushi, hibachi, and other Japanese fare. The interior is cozy and welcoming, though there might be a wait on weekends or holidays (especially family weekends). They also have an insane lunch special of three rolls for only $12. Definitely an affordable alternative to Mikado, if you’re looking for Japanese cuisine. Mikado:   Japanese, $$$ Mikado is an underground but upscale place just off of Main Street near Exit 16 (the door is in the back of the buildings on Main Street) that offers an extensive variety of sushi and other Japanese food like udon, soba, and tempura. The booths are pretty comfortable and good for larger parties, but this is not exactly a regular destination for an easy meal. While everything is high quality and well done, the prices are a little prohibitive on a college budget. Maybe a nice place for a date, a fancy birthday celebration, or to make your parents take you out on Homecoming weekend. Moonlight Sushi Bar and Grill :  Japanese/Asian Fusion, $$, Middletown Cash Moonlight is another student favorite, with menu items spanning sushi, hibachi, Bento boxes, and Japanese curry. They’re conveniently located on Main Street with the lower level of the restaurant opening into Metro Square (home of Metro Movies and Metro Spirits, if you’re looking for a complete night on the town). You can sit upstairs for the hibachi grill, or downstairs for the full menu and sushi bar. Very popular spot for formals. Fujiya Ramen :  Ramen, $$ Fujiya Ramen opened in August 2017 and has quickly become a favorite among Wesleyan students and Middletown residents alike! The restaurant, which serves lunch and dinner, makes Tokyo-style ramen with ingredients imported from Japan. The bowls are huge, the broth is flavorful, and there’s plenty of options for getting exactly what you’re in the mood for. I went here for my birthday last year and it was great. Himalayan Tibetan Kitchen :  Himalayan/Nepalese, $$ Apparently people who live in the surrounding area have noted that Tibetan Kitchen is a good spot for “sightings of Wesleyan students.” And fo r good reason — the place is incredibly popular among us college-age whippersnappers and has proved since it opened in 2011 to be home to some of the best food on Main Street. Tibetan food is pretty hard to describe if you’ve never had it, and I’m not really going to try to do so. There are lots of curries, soups, spicy things, and a wide selection of vegetarian and vegan dishes, but honestly, just check it out yourself. They’re also cash-only, so stop by an ATM before you head out there. Indian Tandoor :   Indian style, $$, Middletown Cash Tandoor provides quality Indian food at reasonable prices (which you can use you r Middletown Cash on). Y ou can order takeout or delivery by phone or online, which is super convenient. I’d also recommend going there for a sit-down meal, though; the restaurant itself offers good service and a fairly quiet and peaceful atmosphere. I’ve only been there for dinner, but apparently their lunch buffet is pretty good, too. Udupi Bhavan :  Indian/vegetarian, $$ Udupi Bhavan offers a fully vegetarian menu of food from the Udupi region of India, and according to Isaac Moss '25, has dosas that are "absolutely flames." Located at 749 Saybrook Road, it’s about a 10-minute drive from campus. Though I've never been there I've heard amazing things about the freshness, authenticity, and community there. Haveli India :   Indian, $$ Haveli is probably one of the best restaurants in Middletown, and has one of the best reputation among students. Good Indian food is necessary for many of us to even make it through the semester, and Haveli is pretty well priced, which makes it the go-to catering option for a lot of events at Wesleyan. Haveli is a sit-down Indian restaurant about a ten-minute drive from campus down South Main St. The restaurant itself is a very warm and cozy set of dining rooms in an old little inn right on the road. They also serve a lunch buffet matching their dinner for quality, which is saying a lot. You can look at about $15 or $20 dollars per person all told, depending how many you bring along with you (protip for amateur group eaters: the more people you bring, the less it costs, and a good way of ordering Indian is ordering one less dish than you have in your party). Don’t worry about being hungry: it’s lot of food and almost no one finishes their plate. Don’t forget to order naan. Mexican La Boca :  Mexican style, $$ Middletown is filled with delicious places to get your fill. La Boca is one of the more popular restaurants, and rightfully so: the more Americanized Mexican food is good, and the ambiance too. Their lunch specialties are killer, and although their dinner options are a little more pricey, the selection is not to be scoffed at, and apparently their burritos are quite filling. And don’t forget the wide assortment of drinks. They changed to a nice new location on Main Street, with more space for activities like in-house music performances. As a bonus, La Boca regularly hosts fun events during the week, such as open mike nights and Trivia Tuesday on (you guessed it) Tuesday nights. They have karaoke on Sunday nights, too. Iguanas Ranas Taqueria: Mexican $$ This place is right next to Junior Village, and has the cutest porch. I think this would be the perfect place to have sunset margs with all your Junior besties, but unfortunately they don't have their liquor license yet. RIP. However, it gets good ratings on google, and looks like it has really authentic Mexican food that is pretty affordable. I'm hoping to go soon, and you should too. Italian/Pizza Luce :   Italian style, $$$  I’ve eaten at Luce twice. The first time, I got dinner with my family and the families of both my roommates (yes, I lived in a forced triple my freshman year, and yes, the dinner was sufficiently awkward). The s econd time was a few months later, when a bunch of my hallmates and I dressed up and set out to have a “fancy” evening. The food was very good, as far as I can remember, and worth the fairly expensive prices. If you’re looking for a nice Italian place to go on a date, or to take your folks when they come to visit, this is definitely an option to consider. Mondo :  Gourmet pizza, $$$, Middletown Cash Mondo is a short walk away from campus and a good use of your time. When you’re tired of ordering Dominos pizza, Mondo has the more gourmet alternative— which also means it’s sort of pricey. Bring a few friends along, however, and it’s totally worth it: I recommend splitting a few of the smaller pizzas, mixing up between the Mondo Bianco (white sauce pizza with spinach or broccoli covered with ricotta & mozzarella, garlic and fresh basil) and something of your own creation (sun dried tomato tastes good on everything). I have friends who like their paninis and pastas, but I go there to get my pizza on. If you have a large party, you might want to reserve a table because they often get pretty busy. This is another favorite for catering events, so you can look forward to department events and evening meetings with Mondo. Amici :  Italian style, $$$ Just like Luce, Amici offers nice Italian food for a slightly lower price without as strict of a dress code. You’ve got your salads, your paninis, chicken and veal dishes, steaks, a good selection of seafood, and pasta pasta pasta out the wazoo. Amici is located on Main St near the Police Station and the other dozen restaurants in that area. According to my sources, Amici’s bread basket is to die for. They also have a large outdoor seating area, which is very pleasant on the few warm summer/spring nights we get to experience in New England. Empire Pizza :  Italian/Pizza, $$, Empire Pizza offers another pizza option that’s not Dominos, though I have not actually eaten here. It’s worth noting that in addition to pizza, they also serve burgers, salads, and sandwiches. Krust :  Pizza/bourbon bar, $$ With two sections (a noisy bar room and a slightly-less-noisy second room), this North End establishment is a fun and tasty option for fresh-made woodfire pizza (much better than Usdan pizza, that’s for sure). There are lots of creative pizza options at Krust, so definitely venture beyond your classic cheese or pepperoni if you visit. Krust is also open late (offering food service until 11:30 PM Fridays and Saturdays and bar service until at least 1 AM daily), which is rare for Middletown restaurants. I’d definitely recommend a visit! Dessert NoRA Cupcake Company :  dessert, $ Even though they’re a newcomer to the Middletown food scene, NoRA Cupcake Company has already made a huge name for itself in Middletown and the greater Connecticut area. With deliciously elaborate cupcake flavors ranging from PB&J to Strawberry Peach Lemonade to Mexican Wedding Cake, the NoRA store (located next to O’Rourke’s on the North End) is a fun place to snag the perfect dessert. Even if you don’t make it to the store, you’re sure to encounter “Lil’ NoRA,” the company’s decked-out cupcake truck, parked on William Street on weekend nights. You can even vote for the truck’s weekly flavor selections. Nothing like some good cupcake democracy. Check out their  website to see what’s on the menu for the day/start drooling in advance. Froyo World :   dessert, $ Froyo World is a  huge hit  among Wesleyan students and in the Middletown community. It’s everything you could ask for in a self-serve frozen yogurt joint: lots of flavors (I’ve enjoyed their s’mores, samoa, and salted caramel varieties), endless toppings (they have a whole dispenser of Lucky Charms marshmallows! And a Nutella gun, for crying out loud), and a large space to sit down and enjoy. My one warning is that their cups only come in two sizes: huge and huge-er. You will inevitably get too much yogurt. But you probably won’t regret it. 0 Degree :  dessert, $$ This restaurant is hugely popular with Wes students after just a few years on Main Street. In addition to bubble tea, 0 degree serves a very particular  (and aesthetically pleasing) kind of dessert—Rolled Thai Ice Cream. The ice creams come in a variety of flavors, my favorite being a Banana-Nutella mixture called Chunky Monkey. Aside from it’s shape, this Thai street food distinguishes itself from regular ice cream in that it isn’t sickly sweet or sugary. I, personally, like this attribute about the food because  it means I can eat a lot of it without feeling too gross; however, if you are someone with a die-hard sweet tooth you can satisfy your cravings by adding a bunch of awesome toppings like Graham Crackers, gummy bears, and whipped cream. Durham Dari Serve :  ice cream/frozen yogurt, $ While this Connecticut establishment is a bit farther off-campus than most other places on this li st (and has a frustratingly-spelled name), it’s well-worth the 12-minute drive down South Main Street/CT-17 S to this classic ice cream stand in Middletown’s neighboring town, Durham! You can enjoy on e of dozens of hard-serve flavors or classic soft-serve offerings in massive servings (I’ve never needed more than the massive “one-scoop” cone). May be cash only (unclear!). Check their Facebook page for hours before you head out, as the Dari Serve closes up shop every winter when the weather starts feeling like the frozen treats they offer. I particularly recommend a Dari Serve stop as a study break during spring finals or on the way to/fro m a Miller’s Pond outing. Misc It’s Only Natural Restaurant :  vegan, $$$, Middletown Cash I’ve somehow never been to It’s Only Natural, a now 100% vegan restaurant on Main Street, but I’ve only heard good things about it. Its menu boasts an impressive selection of creative vegetarian dishes, using plenty of locally-sourced ingredients. It’s on the pricey side, but it’s an enticing alternative to your WesWings seitan burger or the Usdan vegan station. You should also check out the It’s Only Natural Market, a health food supermarket across the street from the restaurant’s new location. Both the restaurant and market accept Middletown Cash, too! Neon Deli :  Deli, $ Neon Deli is not technically part of Wesleyan University, but it’s practically an institution, and most likely the most-frequented non-Wes non-mobile food option. Located at the corner of Cross and Vine streets (across from Freeman Athletic Center, practically on campus) and offers subs/sandwiches and a fair array of grocery-type items. Pro tip: Lobster roll. Even if you’re not eating in (seating is limited and it’s not exactly a dining atmosphere), a lot of people come here to get cooking supplies they can’t get/don’t want to pay for at WesShop. The building in which the deli resides is owned by Wesleyan (the abandoned store to the right used to be Club Liquors but closed a several years ago). The university had planned to turn the whole building into an expanded WeShop, but it seems those plans have been shelved for the time being . Some Neon Deli history, courtesy of The Argus. ( 2013: After a bunch of debate and Wesleyan community outcry, the WSA has withdrawn its proposed tobacco ban resolution, which would b an the sale of tobacco on Wesleyan-owned property, mainly Neon Deli. The Deli is the closest place for students to get cigarettes, and a poll sent out the student body came back with 64% in favor of dropping the ban. If you smoke, you’re welcome. Read more in  this  Argus  article. ) Eli Cannon’s Tap Room :   Restaurant-bar, $$$ I’ve got to leave this to  gabzalot  to explain: “For those of you over 21 (especially those who love beer, but even for those who don’t), this place is yet another  must.  Located at the end of the downtown area, it’s a slight walk away from campus, but well worth the trip. Throughout the year, this place rotates through dozens of different ales in order to always have the 36 freshest ones available to you, many of which you have probably never heard of. Their extensive and ever-changing tap menu tells you where each beer is from and what style it is to help you out. And if you’re still unsure of what (or how) to pick a beer, just ask a waiter and they’ll hook you up with something really good. And what really makes the place is the fabulous indoor decor and the back outdoor patio, so be sure to check both the inside and the outside out. It’s this sort of place that makes being 21 really worth your while…” Shah's Halal Food : Halal $$ This chain recently came to Main Street, and while its delicious food, the real thing we aren't talking about enough is that it is open until 3AM ON WEEKENDS???? It's even open until midnight the rest of the week. People, open your eyes! You could have a Saturday late night summies at 12:30 and then go get a SECOND late night here! Incredible. That’s about the North and South of it, folks. You have four years to explore all of Middletown’s diverse and really quite wonderful, locally-owned restaurants, and there are plenty that even we haven’t covered. Feel free to help add to our list, but this should start you off pretty nicely. Happy eating!

Eating and drinking is a necessity for all living beings, even during your hazy college days. While we all have to adjust our food standards from delicious home-cooked meals to university food, trust me, it could be worse. Wes has been ranked before on top college dining hall lists, and we’re even ranked #2 by One Green Planet for Most Vegan-Friendly Colleges. There’s a plethora of awesome vegan food and many options on campus to fulfill your desires This is the part of the orientation series where we remind you to eat your veggies. Usdan Marketplace Home to the ‘main’ dining hall, the  Usdan University Center  (whose pronunciation baffles everyone—correctly pronounced  yooz-dan  and not  ooze-dan  or  uss-dan  or  uzz-dan ) is where you’ll pick up your packages, send your mail, and hang out. The largest of the three Usdan eateries is the Usdan Marketplace, occupying the entire second floor. Here you’ll find what you’d expect in a conventional cafeteria—a rotating menu ‘Classics’ section, pizza, pasta, deli, fried food, grilled food, assorted cereals, a salad bar, a vegan section, a Kosher section, a celiac-friendly section, bread and bagels, Panini grills, a Mongolian grill (stir-fry station during lunch, rotating quesadillas, fajitas, grilled cheese, Philly cheese-steaks, breakfast sandwiches) amazing ice cream, and a fair variety of drinks. Breakfast includes breakfast sandwiches, the bagel station, a waffle station, fruit, yogurt, and assorted cereals; brunch on the weekends includes two omelet stations, but the line fills up quick so get there early. You pay by meal or by points, and it’s an all you can eat buffet. You'll learn quickly whether you prefer quiet side or loud side , though you can always switch it up. On your first night of college you can watch all the new freshman walk up the outside stairs and try to enter the building, only to realize that they have to go back down and inside to enter. Maybe you'll even unlock boozedanning, another thrilling activity to do on campus. All the Bon Appetit employees are super nice and you’ll probably end up learning a few of their names by the end of the year. Nothing like a good Usdan insider connection. Price : One meal swipe or 6 points (breakfast) 9 points (lunch) or 11 points (dinner), 11 points (brunch) Hours : Weekdays: Breakfast (8-10:30am), Lunch (11am-2pm), Dinner (5-8pm). Weekends: Brunch (11am-2pm), Dinner (5-8pm). Summerfields (Summies) imagine being drunk with all your friends here picking up your late-nite breakfast special.... The other main dining hall is located in the heart of the  Butterfields (Butts , arguably the best part of living here was the ability to get food without going outside), on the first floor south end of  Butt C . Summies is a little different from the Marketplace: there’s a specific and generally non-rotating menu; you order what you want, pay, and then pick it up. The menu includes standard “American” fare (burgers, fries, etc.), a variety of salads, taqueria food (enormous quesadillas, burritos, and tacos), and the rare daily special (check bon appetit's instagram for updates). A meal swipe will get you a drink and almost anything on the menu (plus a dessert if you eat dinner). Once inside Summies, there’s also drinks and fruit available for free. At peak times (12-1pm for lunch and 6-7pm for dinner) Summerfields will be super slow, but at other times most items are pretty quick. Download the Reuser and Mobile Order apps ahead of time to save the hassle at your first summies visit. You can order ahead of time with the mobile order app, and it will give you notifications of your order's status, or you can order in person at the front desk. You need to "check in" and "check out" your reusable boxes, which can easily lead to hoarding them in your room. Return your boxes people!!! Price:  Meal or varied points, with some sides or add-ons costings more. Hours:  Lunch (Monday through Friday, 11am-2pm), Dinner (every day, 5:30-9pm). Late Night Late Night  is a great place to go if you need some fuel to work on that paper or problem set due the next morning, and also the greatest place in the world to be drunk. Late night summies was one of the greatest parts of my freshman year, and I hope it is part of yours too. Pretty much anything fried or grilled is available, as well as some assorted desserts and drinks. Late Night is notorious for evaporating points really quickly; be careful but don’t miss out! Price:  Meals or points. Hours:  Every day, 9:30pm-1am. Star & Crescent Located at  Alpha Delta Phi , the  Star & Crescent  has been around for 145 years and offers amazing food for lunch and dinner on most weekdays. The weekly  S&C  menu is posted on their instagram each week, and looks genuinely more and more mouth watering each week. Each meal includes a salad, entrée, and a dessert. It's communal seating, so you can either eat with your friends/the friendly Alpha Delts or get take out if you’re in a hurry.  Price:  15-17.50 points or free if you’re lucky. Hours:  Lunch (Mon-Thurs noon-1pm), Dinner (Mon – Thu 6-8pm), and Friday 5 dollar Smorgasbord. Sometimes suddenly closed, which you can usually find out somewhere online. WesWings No need for me to waste my breath, this explains it all: “Established in 1991 by Karen Kaffen and  Ed Thorndike ’89  and located in the basement of 156 High St. (the former eating club of Delta Tau Delta, right by the intersection of Church and High),  WesWings ’ menu is based primarily not on wings but on fried chicken, and its atmosphere and menu feels more like a ski lodge eatery than a college cafeteria. WesWings tends to be on the pricey side (especially the daily specials), but it’s well worth it (again: especially the daily specials, updated on the website everyday). It’s also the only (on-campus) breakfast option on weekends (shoutout to the breakfast pail) other than Usdan and is a generally advisable weekend option, since Usdan dinner sucks on weekends. For those of you that live in the Butts and like to kvetch about the location, keep in mind this eatery is literally right in your backyard. Check out the restaurant’s site for cool old photos and WesWings history.” –  Zach Schonfeld ’13 WesWings, or more popularly known as Swings, is more popular with upperclassmen because they have more points. But even for frosh, its a good place for an occasional fancy points dinner. Located below Writers Block. Check out the Swings and Red and Black website here , where they post their specials each week. Price:  Points only, varies. Hours:  Every day, 11-8. Red & Black Café Also owned and run by  Ed Thorndike ,  R&B  offers awesome sandwiches, paninos, soups, and a whole lot more. R&B  is often a nice change of pace if you’re getting tired of  Usdan  and  Summerfields  food, though it can be a bit pricey. Also a great place to study, and a haven for those who live in junior village right across the street. If you’re one of those people that ends up with a million points at the end of the semester (or you know a friend in that position), R&B is a great way to use up points and save yourself from the monotony of Usdan. Also home to the most amazing thanksgiving sandwich and tuna salad ever. These student love red and black so much they made a video about it! Price:  Points only, varies. Hours:  Weekdays: 8am-8pm, Weekend: 9am-5pm. Sometimes randomly closed. Pi Café she's small but mighty Your one-stop-shop for anything coffee- or pastry-related.  Pi Café  is located on the first floor of Exley , and is a popular place for breakfast and lunch, as well as afternoon studying. Lines are CRAZY on the weekday mornings (I'm talking sometimes upwards of 50 people in line). If you try to go ten minutes before or after morning classes, you almost certainly will be late, but sometimes it’s still worth it.  Pi  offers a variety of inventive coffee- and chocolate-related drinks (try the Chaider), as well as bagels, pastries, sandwiches, and salads.  Pi  is reasonably cheap and a good place if you’re looking for midmorning or afternoon snack. Pi closes fairly early, though during Reading Period before exams it’s sometimes open from 9pm-midnight. In the afternoons, especially towards the end of the semester, you’ll be lucky to get a seat, but it’s a nice study break if you work in  SciLi  or the 24 Hour Room/Fishbowl. If you buy one Chai Charger every day, you’ll run out of points pretty quickly, so time your coffee addiction with your lunch and dinner (free to-go cups in Usdan and Summies) to save some money. Price:  Mainly points but meal swipes on Weekday mornings, varies. Hours:  Mon – Thu: 8am-10pm, Fri: 8am-5pm, Weekends: 12-6pm. Usdan Café Usdan Marketplace's little sister. Another fairly quick, fairly cheap place to grab a snack, sandwich, sushi, coffee, or a drink. They also have soup, which is usually the same as what the  Marketplace  is serving.  Usdan Café  is located on the first floor of  Usdan . Like the  Marketplace  upstairs, the line is a mile long between 11:55am and 12:20pm.  Usdan Café  does not always have the best food, but the sushi is a great time-saver if you want to grab a quick bite before going to class. The coffee is not free, even if you have your own cup, though sometimes if you ask they’ll let you have some anyway. Price:  Mainly points but possibly some meal combos on weekdays Hours:  Every day, 8am-8pm. Espwesso Café Pronounced as if a baby was saying ‘espresso,’  Espwesso Café  is entirely student-run.  Espwesso  runs early in the morning, late at night, and some hours in-between (keeps changing) on weekdays (Sunday through Thursday).  Espwesso’s  atmosphere in the basement of  Allbritton  also makes it a nice place to just relax and have a cup of coffee with a friend, to work on your papers, or get together for group projects. Also a popular spot for occasional poetry readings, vendor sales, or music. Price:  Points and Middletown Cash Hours:  Unclear. Check their insta for more updates in the future! Weshop Essentials All-important for juniors and seniors. Still fairly critical for freshmen and sophomores (especially those who live in WestCo, which is connected to Weshop, and spend way too many points here).  Weshop  (pronounced Wes-Shop or bastardized to weh-shop, never wee-shop) is Wesleyan’s own mini-supermarket described by some as a mix between Whole Foods and a gas station. You can get all sorts of packaged foods, milk, juices, meats, cooking supplies and utensils, cleaning supplies, hygiene products, candy, and a whole lot of other stuff. You can also get fresh food, including fresh fruits, veggies, and cheeses if you don’t sign up for the  Fruit and Veggie Co-op  or the  Cheese Co-op . Prices tend to be way higher than at regular super-markets, but you spend your points. If you have a kitchen in your building, you might try your hand at cooking with some stuff from  Weshop .  Weshop  has accepted meal swipes for a sandwich, poke bowl, or salad, along with a bag of chips, an apple, and cookies. It’s also a good option if you’re short on time and want to grab a bite before or after class, though lines can be pretty crazy long around noon. Be careful if you’re a freshmen, this place eats up points. Make sure to befriend Tom, Wendy, and all the amazing people who work there. Price:  Points only, varies; meal swipes 11am-2pm. Hours:  Sun – Thu, noon-midnight, Fri – Sat, 2-6pm. Daniel Family Commons The third and final food location in  Usdan . The  DFC  is located on the third floor and is used by faculty and staff. The food is usually identical to the stuff in the  Marketplace , with fewer choices, but tastes better for some reason (I suspect the use of fancier plates/flatware). Students can only use the  DFC  if invited as the guest of a professor or administrator. There is, however, a lunch voucher program that allows a professor to get lunch with up to three students for free at the  DFC . Each professor has at least one of these vouchers, and more are readily available at the office of  Dean Mike Whaley . Price : points only, or free. Hours:  Weekdays, 11:30am-1:30pm. Wesleyan Local Food Co-op The Local Food Co-op is a weekly farmer’s-market-type event in the basement of Usdan. At the beginning of each semester, you can sign up for a share of fresh seasonal produce, dairy, cheese, bread, granola, meat, tofu, seitan, or any combination thereof. You can split a share with up to six people, which is great as shares are pricey and more food than one person probably wants any given week. You pay for shares at the  beginning of the semester using points, then go every week to pick up whatever you already bought. The Co-op is more popular with people living in houses with kitchen access, but a good idea for anyone craving more homey food. (I heard of this too late and wasn’t able to do it my freshman year but it sounds awesome and I recommend checking it out.) Highly recommended if you’re a spoiled West Coast kid completely dismayed at Usdan’s veggie options. Check out their insta here for more info! Price:  Points, varies, but for an idea, a produce share was about 120 points last semester. Hours : Wednesdays, 5-7 P.M. (last year, might change) I would like to take this opportunity to warn you guys now: on Saturdays and Sundays, absolutely nothing is open on campus until 11:00. So, if you’re anything like me— carless and desperate for coffee at 8am— I strongly suggest you either bring your own Keurig and/or some granola bars for a weekend breakfast before Usdan brunch opens up! Good luck with all that eating and drinking, there’s truly no better place for it.

This is the last part of this year's ThesisCrazy  Series. Interviews by Zoomy Alexandra Segal ’25  (she/her), major and thesis in anthropology, carrel #409 Title:  “On the Nose: What to Learn from Funk and Fragheads” On her topic: “My topic is about perfume, and how queer people specifically use perfume to play with gender, to play with sexuality, to play with a sense of self through the sensorial experience of our noses and smell and to become other people, relate to other people, dream of other people, but also envision different versions of ourselves through olfaction.” On how she thought of her topic: “I was introduced to smell as like a lens to analyze structural power last February because of a talk that the Sniff working group posted on campus. The Sniff working group is a faculty group from all different departments, they come together and they talk about smell, and I’d never heard of it before. It was buried in some email, like the “events happening this week” email. It wasn't really advertised well, but it was their only event that was open to students and I was like, holy shit, I want to do that. And then the next day they were doing a perfume making workshop. I went to the talk and ended up connecting with the person giving the talk, who was the founder at the Institute for Art and Olfaction, which is where I did my field work last summer. And from then on, I was like writing all these papers about scent as a way to analyze structural power.” On their current mental state:  “I'm really excited to share my work with my interlocutors. I think that when I was doing this project, a lot of the people that I was talking to were saying things like “fragrance has no gender,” and things like that. And it's like, I totally understand the rejection of the mass market and creating a binary of what is masculine and what is feminine. And still, there's so much potential in the fact that those are seemingly natural things, and to explore that and feel what it feels like to be generally femme-presenting and then put on a really sharp, masculine cologne. What does that feel like in your body? Also, what does it feel like to present that to somebody else and look at their confusion? One person that I was talking to in the mall, she was like, “Yeah, women can wear men's cologne, I guess, but they'll always ask ‘Where's the man?’ and we'll never be able to find him.” And, like, that's confusing for people and I think that that confusion is what queer and trans people lean into, because it's also a much safer way to play with gender than maybe a visible presentation would be. I just want to talk about this with people and I'm really excited to keep the conversations going and share my work with people and have people read it and talk about it. And that's where my mind has shifted, I think, because I'm ready to have those conversations instead of just being up in my bed stressed and writing about it for so long.” On her most upsetting thesis experience:  “Missing the deadline. I was trying to search for the submission link and the only place that the submission link was in was in an email from 10 days prior to the deadline. You couldn't search in your WesPortal. So I was like, listening to the 10, 9, 8, and I just started laughing because I was like, this is hilarious that like, after all of this, the thing that's tripping me up is not finding the link. And that was really upsetting, but my friends came home after the champagne pop and I was naked in bed, crying. The light was coming in, and my friends all lined up around my bed and were really comforting, so it turned into a pretty beautiful moment. And then I petitioned, with the help of my advisor and my department chair. It ended up being approved within 13 minutes after the deadline to submit the petition. And then I did Undies in Olin and it was fine.” On what she did after she handed her thesis in:  “Because I missed the champagne pop, I ended up having my DIY Prosecco pop on this very porch. I just texted people “show up if you're free”, because I really wanted to feel the yeast and the bubbles and the stickiness. And I felt really grateful that my friends wanted to also provide that for me, and it was just really nice to still have that moment.” On her favorite form of procrastination: “I cooked a lot. It's a really nice way to get your mind off of things. And then you get a beautiful snack, but it can take like four or five hours if you really put in your elbow grease, plus the dishes.” On her favorite part of her thesis: “This answer is probably going to change every day, but right now… I gave my readers these scent strips that accompany the thesis, so that you smell them as the material comes up in the text. I think that was a really cool way to play with form and also just embrace what my thesis is really about, which is to encourage people to know the world through smell, and to increase access to perfumery in general.  I'm doing a perfume workshop next week which I'm very excited about. It's for this class called Producing and Performing Anthropology. I always wanted to do some kind of sensory aspect to the thesis, but it's not considered by the department to be a part of the thesis. But for me, it is.” Advice for future thesis writers: “ Know that you will get behind and that it will be fine. Like, you can turn in the work in an unfinished state and still be really, really proud of it, and trust that this is a living document that you will return to in some fashion. People will want to engage with your work, no matter the state that it's in, and to be open to that conversation and that vulnerability in sharing your work will make it a lot better and richer and more meaningful, I think.” If their thesis was a song: “I have a playlist about my thesis, kind of, but it's like a weird song. It's called “One, Two, Three” by Kenichi Kasamatsu. It's just a two minute song of people breathing.” On her most used word/phrase: “Perfume, fraghead, funk is a really big idea in my thesis, queerness, definitely a lot in there.” Theses feces:  “A lot better.”

This is a part of our ThesisCrazy  Series. You can sign up here  for a short 10 min interview! Interviews by Zoomy Cate Goodwin Pierce ’25  (she/they), Psychology & FGSS double major, African-American Studies minor, thesis in FGSS, carrel #453 Working Title:  “ Riveted: A Gendered and Anti-imperialist Analysis of America’s Obsession with Denim ” On her topic: “ I looked at denim throughout US history with an intimate methodology. So that meant de-centering Lees, Levis, Wranglers, all the big companies and how they worked and advertised, as well as market trends or sales or that kind of thing. I was talking about real people, real interpretations of individual feelings with denim. I framed my thesis around this YSL quote where he was like, ’I wish I had invented blue jeans, they have simplicity, modesty, self-expression, and sex appeal.’ But he’s like such a high-fashion-world business mind that my four chapters were kind of like a challenge to him of what a more intimate research of denim and blue jeans would be. My chapters were endurance, nostalgia, resistance, and transgression. I talked about everything from coal miners and the indigo interaction with denim and the rivets, to cowboys and cowgirls and how they kind of wrestle with American masculinity, to denim’s usage in social movements, like SNCC and the anti–Vietnam War movement, and then finally to transgression, which was about queer interpretations and assumptions of denim to express or pass in their sexuality.” On how she thought of her topic: “ I’ve been kind of obsessed with material history for a while. Sophomore year I took a class with Professor Kaisha Esty, which was about an intimate historical methodology. So I kind of wanted to tie those things together. I drew a lot from Saidiya Hartman. I didn’t really do critical fabulation but I use so many pictures. I think I had like 80 images in my thesis. I feel like  having pictures really brought it to life and played with form in a way. It’s hard to talk about something so visual without having pictures, and I really wanted to kind of spark people’s interests and curiosity with those images.” On their current mental state:  “ Now that it’s done, it’s kind of twofold. On one hand, I feel very proud of myself. But also, I was working on this for 20 months, and so now it’s like, 'what do I think about now that I’m not thinking about denim all the time? What do I fill my time with?' I’m very bad at being just chill and rotting, which I’m trying to get better at. I think that part of me made writing a thesis so much more enjoyable, and now that it’s over, I’m like, wow, what do I do?” On her most upsetting thesis experience:  “ There were definitely some sections that were really kind of emotionally hard to write. My third chapter was all about resistance movements and that all starts from like college students wearing denim, which then exploded out into much larger nationwide protest movements. Reading about the repression campaigns, the physical and mental stress and harm that universities caused their students in the 60s in the 70s, I felt like I know what these narratives are talking about quite personally. Even reading stats, the higher faculty support of a student protest, the safer the students are. So like, the highest faculty support for anti-Vietnam was at Berkeley and they had these huge wins. and the least amount of faculty support was at Kent State, which is where four students ended up dying because National Guardsmen shot into a crowd of protesters. And so thinking about that, thinking about FJP now and SJP, it was really like, 'whoa, okay, this is really applicable and really, really personal.' And that was just exhausting, honestly. But also at one point, my advisor was encouraging me to drop this to a senior essay and I really had to sit him down and was like, 'I am writing a thesis, and I’m writing a good-ass thesis, and you are gonna help me.' Because I was playing with form in a way where he was like, it’s cool, it’s good, but like, it’s just not a thesis, and I was like, 'well, it’s gonna be a thesis now, because I am writing a thesis.' I love my advisor, but there were some moments where I really had to be my own cheerleader.” On her favorite form of procrastination: “ There’s a TV show called The Traitors, which is so good. I watched a season in probably three days. I love it so much. But honestly, I am so type A, like ridiculously type A, and I set so many like incremental deadlines for myself that other than my daily rot on Instagram reels, I feel like my brain is just kind of set up for these kinds of projects. There was just never really a time that I was like, I’m just not gonna do this. I still love my topic and that just never dwindled. I feel very, very lucky to have found something that I care so much about.” On what she did after she handed her thesis in:  “ I submitted on that Wednesday, so I submitted on the 16th, and so on the 17th, I went to Miller’s. I started drinking at about 3:30pm, and then went to Macbeth absolutely wasted, and then went to Bar Night and just kept on drinking and partying until about 2am. Little known story, the champagne pop was probably one of the most stressful parts. Popping that fucking cork is a lot harder than you think. And so I had a cider before to socially lubricate myself to get ready for it.” Advice for future thesis writers: “I think what really worked for me was having those incremental deadlines, and also getting ahead on your research. I visited Levi’s headquarters during the summer of 2024, and that was kind of my initial push into my research. But then, I really spaced it out so that I had deadlines to hold myself to, and also, celebrating the little stuff was so important for me to get it done. So I would finish chapter two outline and I would take the afternoon off to celebrate that, or at the end of chapter, like writing chapter three, I would celebrate that. So, like, really breaking it up so that you have smaller goals to tackle and also have more opportunity to celebrate and feel really proud of yourself. I also think if you do not have a topic that is so exciting and thrilling and just everything to you, it’s not worth it. It just is not worth it. It’s too time consuming and stressful of a process to do something that you are not so passionate about and eager to read about and think about every single day. And if that’s not you, hey, no judgment, but it is just not worth it.” On her favorite part of her thesis: “ I really loved chapter two, which is all about nostalgia, because I end up talking about dude ranches and how they became this kind of cultural fortress for the US, and dispensing Americanism throughout the West after the military had left. But honestly, I think my favorite part of my thesis is like, telling other people what I’m writing about and everyone  having an anecdote. Everyone  has something to say about denim or jeans, and so my thesis as a way to connect with people outside of the actual text is my favorite part of it.” If their thesis was a song/movie/TV show: “ If it was a song, ‘Levii’s Jeans’ by Beyoncé. Okay, I talk about a couple of movies in my thesis. So I’m thinking City Slickers , maybe Back to the Future . I mean, all of those just have jeans in them. Maybe Back to the Future , because in every single time  that is in Back to the Future I , II , and III , they’re all wearing jeans, if they’re in the 1850s or 2015. And I think that encapsulates it pretty well.” On her most used word/phrase: “ I mean, denim, maybe like—oh God, I say physical manifestation probably 10,000 times.” Theses feces:  “ Wow. Honestly, they’ve been a lot more regular, which I’m loving.” Georgia Reed-Stamm '25 (any pronouns) , Film and Latin American Studies double major, thesis in film. Title: You First.  On their topic: "Long time friends confront newfound desires after their first day of sophomore year of high school. So it's two best friends, and one of them has just transferred to a Catholic school. They've never not gone to school together, and so they're like meeting up after school and just kind of meandering around their small town. One of them is an artist, which is kind of important to the plot, and eventually a breach of trust kind of forces them to confront some feelings of desire. So overall it's a queer coming of age romance." On how they thought of their topic: "Well, so originally I was kind of pitching it as the pretty universal queer experience of being in love with your best friend in high school. Obviously not every queer person experiences it, but I've talked to a lot of people about it and everyone has their version of that story. It usually ends badly. So the idea for the film was kind of taking that experience and sort of reimagining it in like a “what if it went kind of right” way. But definitely not without all the teenage awkwardness and angst and all of that stuff. It’s still real, just a somewhat reimagined version of that experience." On their mental state: "I'm feeling good. Especially with it being a film, I feel like I'm at a point where you know, when you look at a word for long enough or you say it over and over again and it's just like, those are just sort of syllables and not a word. That's how I feel about it. At this point, it's like sounds and images. I was like showing it to someone recently and they laughed at a joke and I was like, “oh, right, this is like a story with words and jokes.” I've watched it so many times I feel I’ve lost any objectivity. I'm excited for other people to see it because I feel like I'll be reminded that it's actually like a film." On their most upsetting experience: "My lead actor dropped out a week before we shot. I had a break down for like a few hours and then I was just like, all right, no time to waste. If it was any less time it would have been impossible, and if it was any more time, I might have not been so down to business about it. I just really locked in and found a new actor as quickly as I could and she's a fantastic and wonderful person. A couple weeks ago I also had sound issues that I thought would ruin everything. And ultimately it doesn't, but it's hard to not feel like that."   On their favorite form of procrastination : "I mean, I'm very talented at procrastinating in general. Definitely all the natural YouTube ways to procrastinate, but I feel like with this project in general  I had a lot of fun chatting with people, like Saskia, my DP. There were definitely a few moments where we were just having so much fun chatting and it was my assistant director’s job to be like, okay, guys, we’ve got to get back to work." On what they did after turning it in: "The next day I just was so lazy. I just stayed in bed and listened to the Harry Potter audiobook and ate junk food. Also it's like I've been doing those things honestly anyway throughout the process, but with so much guilt attached. So it was really nice to get to do it and not have to feel guilty." On their advice for future thesis writers/filmers: "I think that with art, it's obviously hard to not be defensive, but I also feel like the more people you show the scripts too, or like the cuts of the movie during the second semester and like the more you pitch as like, 'my feelings are not gonna be hurt, just please tell me like what could be better,' then the better it's going to be. I think that sometimes Wesleyan film students are conceited and coddled and they don't want to hear that, which is fair, but I don't think you should be doing this work then." If their thesis was a song: "I mean, I think during the summer when I was writing it, the songs that I listened to the most and thought about were Good Luck Babe by Chappell Roan and Be Sweet by Japanese Breakfast."   Theses feces: "Lately pretty good. Honestly probably better since theses were done because I’m eating better and sleeping more. I’m on the up."  You can watch Georgia's film this weekend at the theses showings!

Theses are due a week from today and we want to hear about them NOW!! Sign up for a short interview (we know your time is precious) here and read a past year's example here!

He looks so happy here! Like he’s a boy at his seventh birthday party and his parents have just gifted him $700 worth of Fortnite V-Bucks. It recently came to my attention that we, as Wesleyan students, have been criminally underselling Michael Roth’s Wikipedia page . Created in 2007, this treasure trove of Michael Roth knowledge is practically begging to be explored. Let’s dive in! Almost immediately upon navigating to the page, several fascinating tidbits emerge. Aside from his infamous book Safe Enough Spaces , Michael has edited several volumes on Freudian philosophy . (This will be important later!) The article also mentions that Michael makes $1.3 million a year. 1.3 MILLION DOLLARS! Just think of all the students you could send to Wesleyan with that money! It’s got to be at least thirty, right? No… twenty? Fifteen? :( Well. Anyway. Most notably, the article’s table of contents reveals a startling discrepancy: Waiter! More controversies, please! Michael is not without his fair share of “controversies.” In a break with typical Wikipedia etiquette, these various controversies are listed out of order. A Wesleyan student viewing this list will also notice that it has not been updated in quite some time . However, it does give us quite a bit to work with. Unwillingness to divert more funds to underrepresented academic departments, poor handling of cases related to sexual assault, tensions surrounding workers’ unions… clearly, Michael was born to be a college president!  In 2008, Michael found himself in a hotbed of controversy following his campaign against Zonker Harris Day. During this Wesleyan holiday, named after a marijuana-loving character from Garry Trudeau’s Doonesbury comics , students would attend a festival featuring art and musical performances. They would also smoke weed on Foss Hill. Michael did NOT like this. He demanded that the name of the festival be changed, stating, “The institution should make it clear that it’s not supporting things that are stupid.” In response, students fought to continue the tradition, renaming it “Ze Who Must Not Be Named Day.” Thanks to their brave efforts, the festival was reinstated in 2011. Garry Trudeau’s response to Michael’s actions. The article also mentions Michael’s use of physical force against others in the fall of 2012, when students were protesting the end of need-blind admission. At one point, when confronted by a reporter, Michael grabbed their microphone and pushed his forehead into their camera lens . In another instance, he saw students chalking the sidewalks of Wyllys Ave: a perfectly legal form of protest, since Wyllys is a public street. Michael did NOT like this. He grabbed a student by the arm and towed them onto campus property to be questioned by a PSafe officer. The article states, “Many found this to be an unnecessary and controversial action by Roth.” “You got games on your phone?” In 2020, Michael faced pushback following the school’s implementation of Workforce Time, a system for tracking employee hours. Uncomfortable with the fact that Workforce tracks employees’ locations as they work, students and staff circulated a petition calling for the use of a different system. Michael did NOT like this. He stated, “I’ve seen the petition, but it says things like ‘Roth wants to know where custodians piss and shit.’ Although that’s an interesting idea, as a Freudian , it’s just misinformation.” We did NOT need to know that you think piss and shit are “interesting,” Michael! Keep that to yourself next time. The controversies surrounding Michael Roth’s Wikipedia page are not limited to the article itself: the article’s Talk page , while now peaceful, was once a battleground for forces of good and evil. As they worked tirelessly to update Michael’s page, the heroic user Nomoskedasticity was thwarted by the villainous user 74.88.196.81. Their exchange offers an illuminating look into the inner workings of Wikipedian bureaucracy. 74.88.196.81 took issue with Nomoskedasticity’s citation of the Wesleyan Argus  when discussing Zonker Harris Day. “The biased referenced matter… asserts without any proof that the day in question is ‘inspiring University participants to emulate Zonker Harris's drug habits,’” they contended. “What habits are those and if this conduct can be defined, which (and how many) students are being inspired by Zonker or are engaging in what he engages in?”  A (very) brief sample of the heated exchange between Nomoskedasticity and 74.88.196.81. Nomoskedasticity responded by politely reminding 74.88.196.81 of Wikipedia’s policies regarding verifiability , under which the Argus would be considered a reliable source. 74.88.196.81 was furious. “This is absurd,” they sputtered, before churning out a 500-word essay that bashed Nomoskedasticity’s editing skills. Nomoskedasticity once again responded calmly, which further enraged their dastardly foe: another vitriolic essay was produced, this time 10 paragraphs long and with cited sources. Eventually, 74.88.196.81 was IP banned for “disruptive editing.” It seems that Wikipedia wasn’t a safe enough space for them. Thus concludes our deep dive into Michael “M-Dawg” Roth’s Wikipedia page. But don’t despair: this is, after all, only the tip of Wesleyan’s digital iceberg. Stay tuned for further internet exploration.