Closing Out the Last Week Before Classes

Students will be returning to campus this weekend, and it will be nice to have them back.  Campus doesn’t feel quite the same without them.

Here’s a few miscellaneous things to close out your week on this dreary, misty Black and Gold Friday:

Our superstar midfielder, Jack Harrison, has decided to leave WFU for the MLS draft.  Jack came in as the number one soccer recruit in the country (if memory serves), and he – as well as the rest of the men’s soccer team – gave us a fantastic, thrilling season. Jack was really exciting to watch. He is fast as lightning but had precision moves like Swiss clockwork. I will miss seeing him on our pitch, but hope he lands on a fantastic pro team. Cheers, Jack!

Every spring, we host a TEDxWFU conference on campus. This is an exciting collaboration, with lots of work by students involved in entrepreneurship (as well as other areas). The 2016 TEDxWFU will be held February 20th, and it has an impressive line of speakers.

Some of you have been emailing or calling to ask about when Family Weekend 2016 will be.  We do not yet have a date. Family Weekend has always been held on a football weekend (well, at least as long as I can remember), and the 2016 schedule is not out yet.  As soon as we have a date, we will post it on the Parents’ Page and here in the Daily Deac.

Speaking of events, the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life has asked us to share information about a webinar about men’s fraternity recruitment and new member education. You can register for that online, or see an archived slide show about sorority recruitment.

Greek organizations make up a very small percentage of the registered student organizations on campus, and there are more students on campus who are not Greek than who are. We hope all of our students will find meaningful engagement in a club, intramural sport, political or artistic group, etc. In that vein, there is one more event to mention – if your student is looking to find new ways to get engaged in on-campus activities, there will be a Student Involvement Fair on Sunday, January 24th. The new semester is a great time to try something new, widen your social network through different activities, and perhaps even uncover a new interest. Recommend it to your students.

And not to end the blog on a somber note, but this felt important to share.  Today I stumbled across this article, Why I Won’t Be Taking Shots on my 21st Birthday, written by a journalism student at the University of Nevada, Reno.  It’s about her personal experience with alcohol poisoning, what she went through, and what could have happened to her but for quick thinking friends and good medical care.  This is not an easy read.  There is a disturbimg picture or two.  But consider giving it a read, and think about talking to your Deacs about making sure they are not putting themselves in harm’s way.

We wish your sons and daughters safe travels back here.

— by Betsy Chapman