Lots of news
Families received a message yesterday about an instance of shots fired off campus at Quantum Lane, where the Deacon Station apartment complex is; read it here. Sadly, there is no neighborhood that is immune to crime, and any time there is a weapon involved, it is concerning. (Full disclosure, I live not far down the road from this location). To give you an update on what I know: the Winston-Salem Police Department is investigating the shots fired; our WFU Police is assisting. WFU PD is also coordinating increased patrols in the area. You may remember that WFU employs off-duty Winston-Salem PD officers to do nightly patrols of the neighborhoods surrounding campus, which includes Deacon Station. Since COVID began, we have increased those patrols; following Sunday night’s incident, there will be increased officer presence and patrols. As always, if I get any additional info, I will share it here.
In COVID-related news, a message went out to the campus community today (as well as parents and families) about our decision to stay in Orange operating status another 10 days; read it here. We can all see from the dashboard that the restrictions of the last 10 days have made a nice dent in the number of positive cases. The good news is that our testing, contact tracing, and quarantine/isolation process are working as intended. We want to make it to Thanksgiving as we’d planned, and 10 more days in Orange gives us our best shot. Thank you for your understanding, and thanks to our students for their continued help and compliance.
Standard Daily Deac fare each Monday is our Letters So Dear (’24s received it this morning), and the new Weekly Message for First-Year Families is about sorority recruitment, for those who are interested. (We hope to have an equivalent piece on fraternity recruitment in a few weeks, stay tuned). Students also received a message from Residence Life and Housing about spring housing; read it here.
November is Native American Heritage Month. You can see a list of activities here. Here is a snippet from the website: “Native people use the belief that all people and all things are inextricably connected as a way to hold systems of inequality and injustice to account – being a good relative means seeking an end to the exploitation and oppression of all people and the land that sustains us.” Hope your Deacs will join in on some of the activities of NAHM.
Election day is tomorrow, and the Office of Civic and Community Engagement has helped students so much this semester with understanding the voting process and what to do. For students who have not voted, are already registered to vote in NC, and are not in quarantine or isolation, OCCE tells us:
The polls will open in Forsyth County beginning at 6:30 a.m. EDT, and close at 7:30 p.m. EDT. Expect long lines throughout Election Day, and remember: if you are in line by 7:30 PM, you legally have the right to vote. If anyone tells you otherwise, do not leave your spot in line and call the North Carolina Election Protection Hotline at 888-687-8683.
Complimentary transportation to Harvest Bible/Salem Chapel and Bethabara Moravian Church will be provided from the Benson Circle tomorrow, November 3, from 9:00 a.m. EDT to 8:30 p.m. EDT. Both mandatory mask-wearing and social distancing guidelines will be in effect, limiting capacity on each shuttle.
A reminder that you must be a registered voter in North Carolina to vote on Election Day. If you are unsure of your voter registration status, you can check here. In addition, you must vote at your designated precinct. You can find your polling place here. If you are registered on campus, your residential address is: “WFU-Name of Residence Hall, Winston-Salem, NC 27109, Forsyth County.
North Campus residences (Deacon Place Apartments, Dogwood Hall, Magnolia Hall, Martin Hall, North Campus Apartments, Polo Hall, Residential Community, Student Apartments) vote at Bethabara Moravian Church [Precinct 905].
South Campus residences (Angelou Hall, Babcock Hall, Bostwick Hall, Collins Hall, Davis Hall, Efird Hall, Huffman Hall, Johnson Hall, Kitchin Hall, Luter Hall, Palmer Hall, Piccolo Hall, Poteat Hall, South Hall, Taylor Hall) vote at Harvest Bible/Salem Chapel [Precinct 903]
If you have not mailed your absentee/mail-in ballot by now, there is no guarantee that your ballot will be counted, unless delivered in person. See below for options.
If you are a North Carolina registered voter who requested a mail-in ballot, but now want to vote in person, you can. As long as you did not vote with your absentee ballot, you can still vote in person in the state of North Carolina. Simply discard your absentee ballot, you do not need to bring it with you to your designated polling place.
You can hand-deliver your mail-in ballot to your county board of elections office by 5 p.m. EDT on Election Day. The Forsyth County BOE is located here.
In the state of North Carolina, you do not need to show a photo ID to vote in the 2020 election.
Important: in North Carolina, it’s illegal to snap a picture of your completed ballot. We know you’re excited, for some of you it may be your first time voting in a presidential election, just snap a picture with your “I Voted” sticker instead of your ballot.
In other election news, I found out late last week that one of our ’24s, Una Wilson, was quoted in a Washington Post article about the election. She talks about the importance of the youth vote.
As we close today, a few reminders about the spirit of Show Humanitate and election day, in graphic form.
