Wellesley students featured in CNN election interview

Five Wellesley students were interviewed on Thursday morning’s Newsroom with Carol Costello about their views of the 2016 presidential election. The students – Sabrina Liang ’19, Hannah Lindow ’16, Michelle Lu ’18, Emily Rodriguez ’16 and Sydney Stewart ’18 – represented diverse political opinions and support for various candidates, including Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and Ted Cruz, while some were still undecided. The students also discussed Hillary Clinton ’69 and the role of gender throughout this primary season. Host Costello and the five Wellesley students noted “they were proud of the open nature of the Wellesley campus [and] that they feel they can talk to each other no matter what their political views [are].”

President Obama discusses Wellesley Lecturer Melinda Lopez in Havana Speech

On March 22, President Barack Obama visited Havana, Cuba and spoke to the Cuban people about the future of relations between the two countries in the first visit by a sitting U.S. president to Cuba in 90 years. President Obama mentioned hope for reconciliation between the United States and Cuba, using personal stories to illustrate his point. “You see it in Melinda Lopez, who came to her family’s old home. And as she was walking the streets, an elderly woman recognized her as her mother’s daughter, and began to cry.  She took her into her home and showed her a pile of photos that included Melinda’s baby picture, which her mother had sent 50 years ago. Melinda later said, “So many of us are now getting so much back.” Melinda Lopez is a lecturer in theatre studies, and has written many plays including “Becoming Cuba.”