Good Monday morning, Deac families!  Here’s a little bit of news from everywhere to help you start your week.

This weekend was perhaps the most beautiful one we have had all spring.  It was sunny all weekend, highs in the mid-70s, and all of the flowers and flowering trees seem to be exploding with blooms all at once.  It is hard to imagine a prettier time at Mother So Dear.

On Friday we had the first of two Campus Days for Accepted Students, with about 400 families (1,000 people total) attending.  These events are for students who have been admitted into the Class of 2018.  Some have already committed to WFU, others are kicking the tires between their final top choices.  It is a wonderful day for students and families to experience all Wake has to offer.  One new feature this year was a version of the Campus Involvement Fair at the end of the day, when student organizations manned tables around the Quad to feature the work of their organizations.  Many thanks to all the students who were there to greet the new families, and also to the Spirit of the Old Gold and Black and cheerleaders and dance team.  And of c0urse, our Demon Deacon!  I had also seen a great “Did You Know?” about some of Wake’s points of pride.  Did you know we did all this?  Did You Know

Friday we received an announcement that alumna Melissa Harris-Perry (’94) will return to campus as a chaired professor in the department of Politics and International Affairs.  This is a big get for Wake Forest.  Dr. Harris-Perry is an award-winning scholar and author who has taught at Tulane, University of Chicago, and Princeton. Her first book, “Barbershops, Bibles, and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought,” won the 2005 W. E. B. Du Bois Book Award from the National Conference of Black Political Scientists and 2005 Best Book Award from the Race and Ethnic Politics Section of the American Political Science Association.  Her academic research is inspired by a desire to investigate the challenges facing contemporary black Americans and to better understand the multiple, creative ways that African Americans respond to these challenges.  She spoke on campus a couple of years ago and she is dynamic , interesting, and passionate.  She is going to be someone who engages students deeply in the classroom, and she will bring with her a wealth of knowledge and connections through her journalism career.

We also learned late last week of a $3 million gift from Blue Cross Blue Shield NC (BCBSNC) to support the University’s well-being initiative.  The $3 million gift from BCBSNC will help us create a campus community dedicated to well-being and support initiatives across eight dimensions: physical, emotional, spiritual, social, intellectual, financial, occupational, and environmental.  It will support the transformation of Reynolds Gym into a comprehensive center for well-being, fund a new director of well-being position, provide seed grants for faculty research on health and well-being, and support new well-being programs on campus.  This is big news too and very exciting.

Finally, residence hall selection has taken place.  As happens every year, there are some students who did not select a room (for a various of reasons).  If your student is in the Yet to Be Assigned group, here is some information about that process and how it plays out over the summer.

As always, big things are happening at Wake Forest.  And your students are the beneficiaries!

 

 

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