“What does research mean to you?”
To the co-founders of Wesleyan’s newest student organization, WesSir, research is a
platform for cultivating a community.
Founded this summer by Shekinah Mba (’26), Ethan Chu (’26), Diana Tran (’26), Lauren
Eldarazi (’26), and Abigail Oduro (’27), WesSir hopes to increase students’ comfort with
finding research opportunities and contacting faculty members. In particular, Abigail
would describe the organization as an entity to help students confront the barriers
associated with joining a lab.
WesSir made its official entrance into the Wesleyan community with a dynamic mixer,
and through research-based icebreakers and piping-hot pizza, created a bridge
between freshmen looking for their start in research and those studying in our labs
today. Lauren Eldarazi commented the event was “a good place for people to meet us
and see the people behind the club, and put some faces to the emails they’re getting.”
When asked about her motivation behind participating in WesSir, Lauren cited her
participation in WesMass, a program providing mentorship and early research exposure
for undergraduates interested in STEM. She hopes that WesSir provides a “central
space on campus for active researchers and those wanting to get involved, especially
those from underrepresented backgrounds.” Furthermore, Shekinah Mba noted how
prior to WesSir, there was a lack of a platform for student researchers to be “open and
honest about the struggles we’re facing.” One of her core aspirations for WesSir is that
the organization will build an interdisciplinary community that highlights the core values
of activism and “collective liberation.”
co-founders of WesSir, an initiative seeking to encourage undergraduate participation in
research.
As the five undergraduate students worked together to strengthen the undergraduate
research community, they found encouragement in faculty advisors Prof. Raquel Bryant
Prof. Jesse Torgerson.
The latter, who was in attendance at the mixer, advised student researchers, as founder
of the Traveler’s Lab, to “take yourself seriously,” emphasizing “you can do real
research.” Torgerson also gave updates about the Traveler’s Lab, a unique research
group that allows student interests’ to drive studies on archeology, art history, and
literature. Therefore, whether a project is sparked from a course project or a professor’s
dissertation, Torgerson assures that undergraduate researchers in the Traveler’s Lab
are able to contribute to the trajectory of their projects every step of the way.
For students seeking to join WesSir, Abigail emphasizes that the organization
encompasses all types of on-campus research, from humanities to STEM studies.
Therefore, as WesSir enters its first semester on campus, student researchers can find
joy in knowing they are not alone in their endeavors to explore.