8 a.m. View of Campus

Today’s Daily Deac is giving you a glimpse of some of the campus around 8 am.

As you drive onto the north part of campus near Polo Road, it’s hard not to notice all the construction.  The entry drive dead ends into the building site for Farrell Hall, our new business building.  For months, it had been tons of wire fencing and orange fencing and a long stretch of portajohns near the intersection of the streets.  There were piles of rocks, and bricks, and building materials.  Now when you see it, a lot of those items are gone.  Instead you see a vast stretch of red clay that is being leveled and shaped and ultimately groomed for grass and sidewalks.

We had all become so accustomed to looking at Farrell from the outside – now you see the sides being erected, now the roof going on, now the windows installed, now the bricks, etc.  It was very easy to watch on a daily or weekly basis and see what was changing.  Now the work is almost all being done on the inside – which we can’t see – so it is starting to take on a certain amount of suspense as to what the final outcome will be.  Sort of like having a wrapped present that you can see the shape and size of the box and the nice paper and bows, but you can’t wait to tear it open and see the inside.  My prediction is that it will be a grand facility for our students and faculty.

Moving closer to the Quad, there were a few joggers making the loop around campus.  In the parking lot between Kitchin and Poteat Halls, there was a large crane that appeared to be doing some work either on the trees or the roof.  They had the whole parking lot closed off and had put a cover over the Zipcar that is nearest the work.  No idea what was taking place but it was a lot of equipment for the job.

Up on the Quad proper I saw a handful of students who clearly were headed to summer school classes, with backpacks and water bottles and the ever-present cell phone.  It was a little overcast this morning with a threat of maybe a drizzle.  There were drops all over the green cafe tables and chairs along the Quad – though whether that had been rain or leftover dew I could not say.  The hydrangeas on the Quad are spectacular right now – large and full and lush.

Off to Starbucks I went for a meeting, and unlike during the normal semester, it was easy to find a seat in the balcony or the entry level floor.  There were only a couple of students there.  I saw a number of girls wearing jeans (which seemed like it would be too hot in this weather), and one of the girls had jeans plus cowboy boots.  Later I saw some other girls arrive in shorts, as if to balance out the sartorial choices of the group.

I saw some faculty members having meetings with students as well.  This kind of mentoring/academic advice/general friendship is something that is a real hallmark of the Wake Forest experience, and I am always happy to see students getting to know their professors outside of their academic buildings and office hours.  From what I could tell, this student was getting some great advice and mentoring from this faculty member.

At this point, I got my coffee and settled in for my meeting.  But that was the view from the early morning, and it looked like it was going to be another good Wake Forest day.  Good coffee, happy faces, great colleagues.