Today is a reflection on 1988 Orientation at Wake Forest
Today’s post is a throwback to our alumni families in the Daily Deacdom, specifically the Class of 1992 folks. I managed to find my old Orientation brochure from 1988. We got a little booklet that was not much bigger than the palm of your hand, so it could fit in a jacket pocket (you can see my fingertips in the some of the pics for scale).
Orientation has changed a lot since 1988 – not the least of which is the class size is now so much bigger that we can’t do New Student Convocation in Wait Chapel and fit both our new students and their families. But we still prioritize academic advising meetings, and the Honor Code, and getting students to meet each other in small and big events alike.
One of the great losses of Orientation is that we no longer have the amazing talents of our former Chaplain, the late and much missed Ed Christman. He did a program called What’s In a Name that was simply astonishing: he had memorized a sizeable number of new students’ names and would weave an incredible tale of Wake Forest things to come using people’s names. I am not doing it justice, but if you were there, you remember.
I also found this Recommendations page very interesting. Much of what was recommended to me 35 years ago is the same kinds of advice I offer students and families today. And there is a great deal of comfort in the continuity of our culture and priorities. (Click to enlarge.)
So enjoy this old school Orientation brochure as a blast from the past. (I skipped the phone directory part and the August-May blank calendar part and just took photos of the highlights). Click on the images to enlarge.
