Tuesday thoughts

LATE UPDATE: An email went out to students late today about COVID 19 updates; read it here.

I was out on PTO this past Friday, so I had pre-posted the blog for Friday and yesterday. Wishing a belated Happy Passover to all who were celebrating over the weekend (my apologies for the lateness). I also had gotten notice on Friday from the Divinity School about an Easter service:

Wait Chapel invites you to join us in a virtual Easter service on April 4, 2021, at 8 a.m. The service will offer a time of reflection and celebration, incorporating music from the University Chamber Choir, NC Baroque Orchestra, University Gospel Choir, and Golden Globe and Oscar nominee Joshuah Brain Campbell. Visit divinity.wfu.edu/Easter to learn more and view the service. Streaming is also available on the School of Divinity’s Facebook page and YouTube.

We received word yesterday that Dr. Hatch has been awarded the highest honor for state service granted by the Office of the Governor for achievement and service, the Order of the Long Leaf Pine. In presenting the award, Governor Cooper recognized Hatch for his leadership:

“Dr. Hatch, when you think about what your career at Wake Forest University – what it has meant to the University, to the Winston-Salem area, to the state as a whole, to this country and to the world – you have a lot to be proud of.”

You can read the full story here.

A couple of emails went out yesterday that are worth a mention. The first was Letters So Dear and it went to our ’24s. Read it here, or see past letters in the archives.

The second message was from the Office of Residence Life and Housing, and it was sent to undergraduate students about the move-out process. You can read the full message here, and I will give you the BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front):

All students will be required to schedule a move-out appointment for May 1-16.

Students will need to pack, clean, and box their items prior to their move-out appointment time, as the actual move-out appointment is only 2 hours.

Students will be limited to TWO helpers to assist with their move-out.

Some of you have also asked about recommendations for summer storage and shipping options. Wake has a relationship with Storage Scholars, which is a student entrepreneurship venture that started at Wake several years ago. They have options for both shipping and storing over the summer (and delivering boxes to your room when you return in the fall). Beyond that, it is really difficult for us to recommend a particular company for storage over others. Most Wake staff are not typically in the business of storing their own belongings (since we live here), so we do not have first hand knowledge of these companies. In addition, what one of us might value in a company is different than something *you* might value, so for Wake to endorse Company A over B might not mesh with your individual needs and could direct you to a place that isn’t your best fit.

My best recommendation is to do a little internet searching of local storage places and look for things that are most important to you (do you want climate control? lots of cameras? close access to campus? etc.) and do the old fashioned ‘compare and contrast’ to make your determination. Better yet – I recommend delegating this task to your student to do. This is a perfect opportunity for your student to learn to do some research online, make a recommendation to you about a vendor, defend their reasoning, etc. When they leave Wake and get a job, many of them will likely have to make recommendations about a particular process or decision to be made, or they will be homeowners and need to vet companies for roofs or air conditioners or water heaters, etc. The more practice they get now at searching for service providers, the better their skills will be then. I will say as an aside that each summer at Wake, my girlfriends and I rented a storage unit together, so that might be a way to help spread the cost out among a few people.

A couple of you have also asked me about the housing process for next year for our current first-years and older students. As soon as I have information about it, I will share it. Thanks for your patience in the interim.

Also want to remind that there is a $500 deposit due for fall tuition for returning students coming back this fall (i.e., Class of 2022, 2023, and 2024). Students and authorized payers should have gotten a notice in early March about the deposit and how to pay, or you can follow the instructions here.

In upcoming event news, the Center for Research, Engagement and Collaboration in African American Life’s Black Entrepreneurs, Innovators & Business Leaders Series will host a public conversation with Dawn Davis, the first Black female Editor in Chief of Bon Appétit. Ms. Davis is the author of If You Can Stand the Heat: Tales From Chefs and Restaurateurs, which included profiles of chefs such as Edna Lewis and Anthony Bourdain. Join the Center for RECAAL for a riveting conversation with this powerful business leader about her history-making career plans to advance African American voices in the culinary world. This virtual event will be held on April 27, 2021 at 6 pm Eastern and is free and open to the public. Registration is required.

Also, I am told that admissions decisions were released on Friday evening, so want to wish a warm welcome to all our new P’25s (parents and families of the incoming Class of 2025)! We are hard at work on the New Students website, and it will be ready on May 1st. (Don’t look at it now, because it is still showing last year’s information; we’ll roll out the current info May 1st). This is an old picture (hence the ‘no masks’ look) but I always think of this one around admissions decisions time, because it is such a celebratory moment for high school seniors as they get their good news.

— by Betsy Chapman, Ph.D. (’92, MA ’94)