University Events and Why Your Students Should Go

In this Issue:

• Today I am going to talk about two University events that just took place – Founders Day and ConsentCon – and why your students should consider going to these events, even if they don’t think they are meant for them

If you take a look at our Events Calendar (which combines the student-driven/focused events from The Link and the Corq app) and the events submitted by academic or other departments on campus, there is a lot of stuff going on all the time. For students, they can get overwhelmed by choices, or overwhelmed by homework, or they just aren’t sure they want to spend an hour going to hear this or that lecture or concert or presentation. But I want to argue they should go to these University events – and why they should.

Yesterday was Founders Day, which is an event we hold each February to honor our founding, and the people who have made Wake Forest into what it is, both the names we know and the ones whose stories were not told. At Founders Day, there were several sets of remarks, including from President Wente and Provost Gillespie.

President Wente spoke, in part, about traditions: “Traditions help us mark the passage of time, celebrate milestones, remember people and places we love, and carry forward the practices and rituals that contribute to our unique identities both as individuals and institutions. And the way traditions tend to evolve and change over time is also an important indicator of our shared culture and identity as a community.”

Senior Kaitlyn Fox was the winner of our Senior Orations, a 188 year old tradition of select Wake Forest seniors making a speech before graduation. Her terrific oration was told through the lens (pardon the pun) of Kaitlyn’s passion for photography and her work as editor of The Howler, our yearbook, and how we choose to tell the stories of Wake Forest through this publication. (And speaking of photos, you can see Founders Day photos here.)

Provost Gillespie’s remarks tied in nicely in that she talked about how things evolve and change over time via the story of Theseus’ ship. I had forgotten my Greek mythology and history, but Provost Gillespie shared that Theseus had a ship, and over time he replaced every single part of the ship – all the wood, all the parts. And the question is: at the end of all these replacements, was it a brand new ship? or was it still the ship he started with at the beginning?

Our own culture changes and evolves with every class of students we bring to campus, every new staff or faculty member. We make the Wake Forest ship over and over, she explained, piece by piece and person by person.

Today at ConsentCon, a terrific conference that was created to help explore the meaning and operationalization of consent on college campuses, we heard from several amazing speakers. I was only able to be there for the first part of the day, but we first heard from Wanda Swan, an advocate, prevention strategist (and so much more!) about creating cultures on campus that support and amplify survivors of interpersonal violence. To make culture shifts, she noted that culture recreates itself in every conversation, in every decision, in every action we make. We make our culture constantly. Just like Theseus’ ship.

The talents of our students and faculty were also on display at ConsentCon. Austin Torain, a junior psychology major with a minor in neuroscience and counseling, shared a poem he wrote about consent for this conference. Austin graciously consented to me sharing the poem here:

An “I Love You”

An “I love you” is not a “yes”

It is not ongoing consent because I have used those three words in the past

It does not give you free access to my body whenever you want it

Because consent is not something that you can assume from those three words

In fact, consent is not something you can ever assume 

A relationship of 3 years should be no different than one of 3 months

“Are you okay with this?”

“How far do you want to go?”

“Are you in the mood?”

This conversation should never stop

Because a relationship is not ongoing consent

Just because I said I wanted to be your partner, that does not mean you can have my body 

My body is mine even if my heart has a special place for you 

Because an “I love you” is not a “yes”

It does not transcend time or boundaries

It does not mean that you no longer have to ask how I am feeling

Because consent is not something you can assume from those three words

Consent is something you give, and the only way I can give it to you is if it is something that you ask for 

We also had students from a First Year Seminar on sexual ethics interviewing two [non WF] faculty members who wrote a book called Sexual Citizens, which is a nationally-renowned book that uses students’ stories and experiences to present a new way to understand sexual assault. These three students did a beautiful job steering this conversation.

Why am I telling you about all these things about events?

I would argue that students ought to take every advantage to participate in these sorts of traditions, rituals, performances, and conferences. Why?

Because your students live and work on our campus. They are part of the ship, or the culture that is constantly being made and remade.

When students have the chance to hear the president, provost, or other campus leaders speak, they should go. They might get some insight as to their priorities, hear what is on their minds, what they are proud of, where they are spending their energy, maybe even what keeps them up at night. These topics, and these people, help shape student experiences. Which is of utmost importance to students, right?

But the staff, faculty, and administrators on our campus are also just awesome people to know! So I urge students to go to these events, or these receptions, lectures, whatever. Introduce yourself during the mix and mingling post event. Make a connection. Add your voice to the conversation. You never know where that connection with a faculty member or an administrator might bear fruit later.

And particularly if there are other students participating in an event, students should show up for them. The handful of students I saw at these two events were incredible! We have a huge range of talents among our student body. You might discover that the person in your psych class is also a wonderful poet, or the person at the table next you in the Pit just happens to be the yearbook editor. But you won’t know if you don’t go.

Campus culture is not a spectator sport – it’s a contact sport. You have to show up and participate. And while students can’t go to All The Things, encourage yours to go to Some of the Things, as many as they can. Hear what is being discussed. Be inspired. Get involved. Make Connections.

Build the ship 🙂