As we mentioned the other day, we’re going to spend the occasional Daily Deac highlighting some of our favorite places and spaces on campus.

If you read yesterday’s Daily Deac (12:30 Wednedsay), one of my lasting impressions of sitting on the Quad in the wind and the snowing cherry blossoms was that it felt like magic.  And one of the places on campus that is the most magical – at least for me – is Scales Fine Arts Center and the Wake Forest University Theatre.

Scales is a place where art and beauty are created.  People are transformed through costumes and plays and musicals.  The physical spaces of the stages are made and remade with every play and performance, taking us from the time of Shakespeare to the Dust Bowl era to the 1940s.  Beautiful and provocative student art can be found in the galleries.

There is magic made there with lighting and sound, the subtle parts of a performance that can help move you and stir the imagination in delicate ways.   If you’re lucky and you know the right people, you might be able to get a glimpse at the booths and the catwalks above.  That is certainly special.

There are artists and musicians and actors and designers and dancers – and even if you don’t see them on stage performing, you might catch glimpses of them working in the halls or the studios or the stages.

The building itself, with its contemporary shape, has lots of halls and nooks and hidden places.  From the areas backstage, the winding dressing rooms and green room, to the wings of the stage, to the loading dock (oddly my favorite) and the prop areas, it is a wonderful place.

If your students haven’t seen a theatre, dance, or musical production this year, or visited the gallery – urge them to do so.  Scales is a special place full of talent.

And magic.

Deac families, today I spent about 1/2 hour up on the Quad.  I want you to experience it as I did.  Here goes:

You see…

• Four young men playing ping pong in front of Reynolda.  Then you see the occasional sprint as one of them gets a ball that strayed off the table.
• Piles of pink cherry blossom blooms that are down from the trees.  When the wind blows, you see the ones on the ground blow farther along the brick, and with big gusts you see blooms detaching from the trees and floating through the air like a pink snow.
• People eating at the cafe tables outside of Subway and outside of Reynolda.
• Visitors taking pictures of the Chapel from the midpoint of the Quad.
• Tons of orange tulips poking high from the flowerbeds outside of Reynolda.
• A table near the arch with a young brown dog tied to it.  In front of the dog, a young man sits on a skateboard and rolls back and forth in front of the dog, which confuses him and makes him bark.
• People walking to their next destination – students in shorts and tshirts (with the occasional student in a suit who is clearly heading to an interview), administrators going to meetings or lunches, an administrative assistant carrying a huge plant to her car, likely a gift for Administrative Professionals Day.

You hear…

• Chinese being spoken by a group of students.
• The click-click of the ping pong ball as it hits the table.
• Snippets of conversations; some with real people walking by, some just via cellphone.
• The brown dog barking at Skateboard Guy.
• Birds chirping.
• A lawnmower in the distance.  As time passes, the sound gets closer and closer.

You feel…

• A cool, gentle, breeze.  It picks up and then ebbs off as you sit there.
• Warm sun or cool shade, depending on which cafe chair you chose.
• A sense of peace.  It is beautiful, calm, and quiet.
• Childish delight when the wind gusts and you get the snow of pink flowers.  It looks like something magical.
• Falling flowers gentle landing on your arm or leg or in your hair.
• Physically you feel very comfortable.  These cafe chairs are great seats.  You could sit here a long time before you’d want to move.

You smell…

• Fried food on the breeze.  Not sure if it is coming from the direction of the Pit or if it is being vented from the food court of Benson.
• Fresh, clean air.  There is not a hint of Winston Salem’s famous tobacco smell today.

You taste…

• The food or drink you brought to the table.

That’s 12:30 on a Wednesday, Deac families.  Hope you enjoyed it.

Every Wake Forester experiences the campus in his or her own way.  You find your favorite times of day (or night), favorite seasons, favorite places to be alone or places to eat or places to study.

And as we get closer to the end of classes, some of our students might be realizing that they are soon going to be packing up and leaving for the summer.  Or for the seniors, leaving for Whatever Comes Next.  I’d bet you a cup of ZSR Starbucks that some of our students will be getting a little misty eyed thinking about their favorite places and things they do here that make them the happiest.

I don’t know what your Deac’s favorite places, spaces, or things are.  But I thought it might be fun to showcase a few of the usual suspects over the next few weeks leading up to graduation.  Today’s entry is – the Rare Books Room.

If your students have not already discovered the Rare Books Room, they need to get themselves to the ZSR Library toute de suite.  It is a calm and quiet place.  They can browse some old and very valuable books, and talk to the dedicated library staff there.  There are all sorts  of treasures, and aesthetically it is lovely.  When I go in there, it makes me happy.  

Here’s a picture of our philosophy professor Christian Miller giving a lecture there.

It was a sunny but cooler weekend this weekend, Deac families, and there was a ton of stuff happening on campus.  It was a baseball weekend, with our Deacs playing Boston College.  In a very Pro Humanitate gesture, proceeds from the baseball series against Boston College will be given to The One Fund Boston.   Given the number of Wake Forest families in the area, this was a very nice thing to do. Then again, our baseball team is probably more sensitive than most to helping their fellowmen – if you did not know this, our head coach, Tom Walter, donated a kidney to one of his players a couple of years ago.  Unbelievable story; if you don’t know it, read it here.

There was the Earth Day Fair and the Food Justice Summit, an East Asian Spring Festival, and the Chi Rho Big Concert.  In terms of the unofficial activities, this was also the weekend where the DKE fraternity hosted its annual mudfest – no, that’s not the proper name – but it is a backyard party that appears to have a Slip N Slide and all the mud you can handle.  Coming home from the Earth Day Fair, we saw some young ladies absolutely covered in mud making the long walk back to their residence halls, then as we drove by the DKE house we saw all the hilarity in their back 40.  It is a spring tradition here.

I talked to some of the students I know at the Earth Day Fair, and they expressed how stunned they were to have only a week and half of classes left.  They can’t believe how fast the semester has flown by for them.  It was tempting to tell them “just wait – time speeds up exponentially the older you get,” but that is one of those statements that classifies me as an Old Lady in the eyes of 18 and 19 year olds.

They will find out soon enough.

Have a great week, Deac families.  May spring be sprung where you are, and let this week be the most boring news cycle ever.  I think we all need some good news.

Deac families, it’s been a busy week on campus.  Today is the second of two Campus Days, where we are welcoming our accepted students and families in the Class of 2017.  There are about 400+ families here, and unlike last Friday’s event, today is overcast and windy with stormy looking skies.  We expect rain at any time.

And while the families this week do still look excited and eager (and a little anxious), my impression is that there seemed to be a lot of people looking at cell phones beyond just the normal texting and checking of work email and Facebook.  I heard several people talking about the news of the morning: parts of Boston on lock down, which seems inconceivable.

We have many, many WFU families in the Boston area.  The campus is thinking of you.  We are also thinking of MIT, who lost one of its campus employees in the violence that happened overnight.  Also in the flurry of this difficult week was the terrible explosion in Texas, and we hope and pray there are no affected Deac families there either.

We have been working with Residence Life on campus to help share information that students received about Room Selection and an issue with the process caused by a technical, vendor issue.  There are two recent stories out on the Parent News section of our Parents’ Page, so you can read more there.

As a reminder, any time we have news to share with parents and families, it goes out on that Parent News page.   And in the event of an actual emergency, we have the Wake Alert website as the primary information source.

Intern C (’13) blogs today about the DESK project that took place on Monday of this week.

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Monday, student organizations gathered on the Mag Quad from 3-7 pm to volunteer at D.E.S.K. (Discovering Education Through Student Knowledge). Beginning in 2000, the goal of D.E.S.K is to provide desks and other school necessities to children in the local community who are in need of these school supplies to study and learn in their homes.

Leaders for each student group met with their child on March 27^th to talk about what that child would like their desk to look like. The children and their parents then came to campus Monday to help paint or further discuss their desk ideas and to enjoy a day of fun on the quad with music, a moon bounce, pizza and the Wake student groups.

By the end of the event, around 55 elementary school children received desks.

Here are pictures of some of the finished products!

Last week, students celebrated the annual week-long celebration: Springfest! Students “sail[ed] into Springfest” on Monday evening where music group, Green River Ordinance and Mandolin Orange played on the Mag Quad.

On Tuesday afternoon, the quad became a “marketplace marina” where many local shops and stores brought a selection of items to the quad so that students could shop in between classes and their other activities; “Bands on the Sands” allowed student bands to perform in front of their peers on Tuesday night. Many students gathered on the quad and surrounding patio areas to enjoy the music and time with friends. Shorty’s Tuesday trivia was also Springfest themed.

From Wednesday through the rest of the week, the Deacon Shop held their Deacon Discount days, marking items 50%, 60% and even 70% off! Wednesday’s events concluded with comedy central when Student Union welcomed various comedians to campus.

Coinciding with the first day of the Masters on Thursday, the campus traditions council gave out free Arnold Palmer drinks (Iced tea and lemonade)—Arnold Palmer is a Wake Alum! Later that evening, Davis field was transformed into a beach where students could enjoy inflatable water slides, games, smoothies and funnel cakes. In preparation for Shag on the Mag, Student Union also hosted a shag dancing short course.

The week concluded with free ice cream on the Mag Quad on Friday afternoon and the much anticipated, Shag on the Mag Friday night. This annual dance is held in a large tent that covers the Mag Quad in its entirety. Students dressed in their brightest spring dresses and suits to enjoy an evening of live music, dancing and catered food.

Our hearts are heavy following the horrific incident at the Boston Marathon.  In the past few years, we have seen a good number of incoming first-year students from the Boston area, which means there are a lot of Deac families up there.  We are thinking of you, and praying for you, and hoping you and your friends and loved ones are not hurt.

We also have a lot of runner Deacs – students, faculty, staff, alumni, and families alike.  I see people running all over campus and the surrounding roads every day, and sometimes I’m one of them.  Dean Steve Reinemund of the Schools of Business hosts “Dawn with the Dean” each week, and we also have a “Run, Forest, Run (or Walk, Forest, Walk)” group that meets.  We have track and field athletes, running clubs, you name it.

And today we hurt for Boston, and we hurt for runners everywhere who worked and trained so hard to qualify for this elite event only to have it so horrifically scarred.  And we are grateful for first responders, medical personnel, and everyone who helped in the immediate aftermath.

An alumna friend of mine – who calls herself a “former non-runner” – posted something on Facebook last night urging anyone who runs races to wear something today from a race you’ve run – a tshirt, a race bib, a hat, whatever – in support of those in Boston.  If you are a Deac runner, consider doing this.

I do not yet know of the impact the Boston incident had on the WFU family.  I can tell you that our outstanding administration – including the Chaplain’s office, Counseling Center, Campus Life, and News Service among others – work tirelessly in these cases to find out where our campus community is impacted and to offer help and support where they can.  As we have updates, we will let you know.

Boston and runners everywhere, we are with you.

Campus Day was held this past Friday for students (and their parents and families) who have been accepted into the Class of 2017.  As you may remember if you attended with your own student, this day is all about giving students an opportunity to experience Wake Forest one more time in its many facets – academic, campus life, residence hall life, and more.

The Parent Programs office always has a display at Campus Day so we can (hopefully!) meet our new families.  From those who stopped by our table, it seemed like about half the families and students at Campus Day were already enrolled and were so excited to see their college home again; the other half were in the final stages of trying to decide between Wake Forest and [other top choice].

The day started a bit ominously, with early morning rain, but it cleared up before the crowds were arriving and the day turned into a beautiful sunny one.  All the flowers and trees are in bloom right now, and Wake Forest is in all her glory.

At the end of Campus Day, our wonderful Spirit of the Old Gold and Black marching band went into the final assembly in Wait Chapel and with the help of the Demon Deacon led the students and families out onto the Quad with a rousing version of the fight song, O Here’s to Wake Forest.  The trumpets led the way and the rest of the band formed a sort of tunnel outside.  You can watch it here on Youtube.

Once all the families were outside, the Spirit of the Old Gold and Black continued playing for them, and the Deacon was there to dance with students and take pictures with them.  Again, video available on Youtube.   Pretty much a perfect ending to the day.  

And for your current students…around the end of Campus Day there appeared to be a big exodus from campus for some students heading to the beach for the weekend, probably with some of our fraternities and sororities.  I saw a lot of painted coolers and students with luggage and big smiles on their faces.  For those who stayed, Friday night was Shag on the Mag, the tented beach dance on the lower Quad, which is the highlight of Springfest.

We have one more Campus Day this Friday – so we’ll be at it again.

We’ve been having a string of absolutely glorious days on campus.  Shorts weather, voleyball on the sand courts weather, reading your homework on the Quad grass weather.  Best time of year, in my opinion.

Tomorrow we will be hosting Campus Day for Accepted Students.  There should be somewhere in the range of 300 families coming – some of whom know their student will be enrolling (or is already enrolled) and they just want to lay eyes on the place every chance they get.  Other families will be coming with students who are trying to make final visits to decide between their top two options.  We hope that they choose Wake.

In addition to Campus Day, the University is hosting a very interesting conference.  Tony Atala, who has made a name for his remarkable work at the Institute for Regenerative Medicine, will be speaking, among others.  If your students have interest in the medical field or bioethics, this is a chance to hear from some experts – including Ken Starr.  Details below.

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A reminder to all –

“After the Genome: The Language of our

Biotechnological Future Conference,” 

April 12 & 13

Events run morning, noon, and night in Pugh Auditorium 

Featured speakers include none other than Ken Starr (of Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky fame), along with Dr. Anthony Atala, Director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine; Ronald M. Green, Dartmouth; Ezra E.H. Griffith, Yale; Arthur Frank, Calgary, and many others.

We hope to see many of you there. 

Sponsored by the

WFU Office of the Provost, the Humanities Institute and

Baylor University