Rainy Thursday
I was on campus early this morning. It was raining and there were not a lot of students up yet. We are getting the remnants of what had been Hurricane Sally – just a good bit of rain, no real wind to speak of. But it is exactly the kind of weather that makes you want to stay indoors.
Putting aside the rain, at this point during a pre-COVID semester, your Deacs would have likely attended a host of in-person social events. From student organization information sessions to social gatherings on their hall, these are an important part of the college experience, particularly on a campus like Wake Forest where connections and involvement are so important to our students. The pandemic put a halt on traditional Orientation experiences, first-week celebrations, and large group events that are part of our campus tradition. We hope to be able to host these kinds of activities as soon as it is safe to do so.
BUT it’s important to know that across campus, organizations and departments pivoted quickly to offer engagement opportunities and activities that keep the health and safety of our students as the forefront. Here’s a sampling of them:
There is a great video by Ally Swartzberg (’22), Wake Forest Student Government Speaker of the House, about how ’24s can find belonging through various programs and clubs on campus. For information on Wake The Forest and the Virtual Involvement Fair, go to go.wfu.edu/waketheforest. For more about First Year in Focus and CHARGE, check out studentengagement.wfu.edu/leadership/
Campus Recreation offers a wide variety of outdoor activities, both for fitness and fun. With the Wellbeing Center opening in accordance with North Carolina Phase 2.5, those opportunities continue to expand. More information can be found at campusrec.wfu.edu.
Student Organizations and departments are filling our events calendar, The Link, with hundreds of events that are a blend of in-person and virtual. Events are visible to students with their WFU account here, as well as the Corq phone app.
Some Wellbeing-focused options that might be of interest include Wellbeing Coaching, Koru Mindfulness courses, and the ResilientWake Workshop series. More information at go.wfu.edu/thriveremotely.
In other activities and events news, I received an email today about two upcoming watch parties for football home games (NC State and Notre Dame). To register to attend, students should download the Screamin’ Demon Rewards App and enter the desired lotteries – NC State vs Wake Forest and/or Duke’s Mayo Classic Truist Drive-in. Once a student has entered, they will be able to invite up to three other students to join them for their entry. Upon acceptance of the invite, everyone will be linked together for entry into the lottery.
Finally, I got an update on our Face to Face speaker forum about the first event of the year:
The Face to Face Speaker Forum at Wake Forest University will host a virtual speaking event on October 20th at 7:30 pm EDT, with pre-programming beginning at 7 pm. This event will feature a virtual conversation between two powerhouse political analysts, Peggy Noonan and Eugene Robinson. The conversation will be moderated by Michele Gillespie, Dean of the College. Noonan served as a special assistant and speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan, and writes a weekly column for the Wall Street Journal. Robinson is a columnist and associate editor of The Washington Post. He also provides political commentary to MSNBC.
The event is free for Face to Face Speaker Forum season subscribers and students, faculty and staff at Wake Forest, as well as students and faculty in the Winston-Salem area. Visit go.wfu.edu/facetoface to register for this event. Tickets for general audience are $10.
As I say so often, the Wake Forest experience is like a smorgasbord – the more bites you sample, the richer and fuller your experience will be. So dig in and try a bit of everything!