Chairs, Chairs, and More Chairs

In this Issue:

• Time lapse of Commencement prep (so many chairs!)
• A moment our seniors should savor
• Is your Deac considering Law School?
• Big award for the Dean of our ZSR Library
• Congratulations to our Women’s Golf Team

It’s a beautiful day at Wake today, y’all. It’s sunny and a high of 73 degrees and this is exactly the weather I would plan for you for Commencement. Here is the 5 day forecast according to my Weather Channel app:

Given that – at least at this moment – there looks like a chance of rain on Monday, I want to remind everyone that Commencement will be held on Hearn Plaza rain or shine. In the event of hazardous weather, the commencement ceremony would be held at Joel Coliseum. Please pay close attention to the weather forecast and pack accordingly. And let’s all send some wishes into the universe that if it has to rain on Monday, it’s in the afternoon 🙂

Time lapse of Commencement prep (so many chairs!)

For those curious about how we get ready for Commencement, my amazing colleague has another time lapse video of the work that took place yesterday, May 10th. I refer to this as The Laying of the Chairs. This is probably the video where you will see the most noticeable work, getting all 13,000ish chairs set up on the Quad.

He’s also set up a playlist for all the videos, which you can find here. And you can watch the progress live on the Quad Cam, though the vast majority of the visible work has already been done.

A moment our seniors should savor

I know many of our seniors in the Class of 2023 are not on campus right now, but are at the beach or taking a few days off. Whenever they return to campus, whether it is today, tomorrow, or Saturday, there will be a moment when they walk onto the Quad and see the Commencement stage and all the chairs set up, and it will really hit them “holy mackerel, stuff just got real. I’m about to graduate.“

It was really a magical moment for me and my friends to hit the Quad around sunset and marvel at how beautiful the Quad looked. We walked among the chairs, took our shoes off and walked in the amazing lush grass, took pictures, and just drank in the scene.

I hope your Deacs will do that – and will reflect on everything that has happened during their time at Wake, the joys as well as the struggles. Everything they did – each class, each problem they solved, each relationship they built, all led to this moment, and they should be very, very proud of all they have accomplished.

I hope families might do this too. Come to the Quad at an emptyish time (early morning, twilight) and think about everything YOU accomplished too. You helped prep your amazing young people to get to this place – through your guidance and your love, your support and your encouragement. Commencement is a victory for families as well as students. If my late P’92 father were here, he’d use one of his favorite phrases and say “you get an Attaboy [or an Attagirl]” for a job well done.

Is your Deac considering Law School?

There are probably many Deacs who are thinking about Law School, and we got some good news today that might make them want to put (or keep!) Wake on their list of potential schools. The US News 2023-2024 Law School Rankings were released this morning, and here are a few takeaways:

• Our #22 ranking is the best-ever ranking for the law school, beating the previous record of #31. 
• We are tied with Florida Law, UNC Law, BYU Law, and Ohio State Law.
• Wake Forest Law also achieved high ranks for a number of specialty programs: #5 in Legal Writing, #20 in Health Care Law, and #36 in Criminal Law.
• The Class of 2021’s employment outcomes (10 months after graduation): 98.3% [#5 in the US].
• Avg. First-Time Bar Pass Rate: 94.3% [#21 in the US] 

So those are some things to keep in mind for any of y’all who have Deacs looking at law school.

Big award for the Dean of our ZSR Library

Our Dean of the ZSR Library, Tim Pyatt, has received the prestigious Association of Southeastern Research Libraries Outstanding Leadership Award. This is only the second time since 1956 that an Outstanding Leadership Award recipient has been named.

The ZSR is an absolutely essential part of our campus, and their talented library staff does amazing things for our students and faculty – everything from research assistance, to teaching about information literacy, to getting the sources our students and faculty need for research, to throwing community-building events like Wake the Library, and so much more.

All that excellence doesn’t happen by accident, but through the longtime commitment of our librarians and library leadership. So congratulations, Dean Pyatt, and thank you (and your team) for all you do!

Congratulations to our Women’s Golf Team

Here’s a snippet from a very happy story on godeacs.com:

“The No. 1 ranked Wake Forest women’s golf team clinched a spot in the NCAA Championship field for the fifth consecutive year.

Wake Forest was one of just three teams to have an under-par round on the final day, with a one-under 287. First-place finisher Arizona went seven under and fourth-place finisher TCU went two under par….The top five teams and the top individual on a non-advancing team from each regional site now advance to the NCAA Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, from May 19-24.”

Read the full story here – and Go Deacs!