Love seeing the campus so full!

In this Issue:

• Campus safety resources message
• Encourage your Deac to download the Wake Safe (for its great features) and you should download too (to get campus safety alerts)
• Fraud scheme targeting families
• Orientation concludes for P’27 and transfer families
• Nuggets of wisdom from last night’s Orientation program Flourish in the Forest
• Hot day tomorrow for returning student move-in
• Closing thoughts

This morning, the weather was warm (but not as hot as it has been in some years!) but that didn’t stop our new students and new families from enjoying a program on the Quad this morning. I love seeing so many Wake folks on the Quad at once! You look beautiful, ’27s and P’27s and transfer students and families! (Click to enlarge – can you find your Deac?)

Campus safety resources message

At the start of each academic year, Wake Forest University’s Chief of Police Regina Lawson sends a message to students, faculty, and staff. This message reminds our community about University resources related to safety and security. Read it here.

Encourage your Deac to download the Wake Safe (for its great features) and you should download too (to get campus safety alerts)

Please encourage your Deac to download the Wake Safe app on their mobile devices. With Wake Safe, your student can use their cell phone as a personal security device that allows direct access to police, 911 emergency services, emergency location sharing, social escape, and a peer-to-peer Friend Walk tool.

I particularly like the Social Escape tool. It allows your student to get out of a tough social situation by calling them and giving them an excuse to leave. Please do ask your Deac to download Wake Safe and start familiarizing themselves with its features.

Parents and families, you also should download Wake Safe to be able to receive campus security notifications. We tell you how to do that here.

Fraud scheme targeting families and students

Wake Forest University Police has received information regarding a fraud scheme in which individuals claiming to be law enforcement officers or others involved with the criminal justice system are targeting WFU families. The caller tells a parent or family member that their student has been arrested and bail bond money must be sent using Venmo.

If you receive a call, text or email from someone who requests that you send money to resolve an issue, the story can be compelling. Do not send money. Law enforcement agencies will never ask you for money over the phone. Read more.

In addition, some students have recently reported receiving phishing emails offering internship opportunities for employment. Additionally, these phishing emails have reached a select portion of Wake Forest affiliated education programs, and even appear to come from a wfu.edu email address. 

Scammers know the campus community could be particularly vulnerable as we begin the new academic year. We must stay extra vigilant in protecting ourselves and our personal information. Read more.

Orientation concludes for P’27 and transfer families

Our formal Orientation activities for new families concludes today. Rest assured, though, that we will continue to share important campus info via the Daily Deac so you can stay informed. I already have our slide deck from the What to Know Before You Go presentation; you can access those slides here.

Nuggets of wisdom from last night’s Orientation program Flourish in the Forest

Last night, we held our Flourish in the Forest Orientation program, and our esteemed panelists had some great wisdom to share that may be of use to all families, not just new ones. Here’s my best paraphrased recollection of what they said was their parting shot piece of advice they’d want to leave families with this year:

• One of the greatest gifts you can give your students is the freedom and encouragement to explore their interests and their passions, even if those aren’t what you expected, or it seems to take them longer to find their path than others.
• When your student has an interest/opinion/passion that might be very different from yours, make your first words be “tell me more!”
• Tell your students that there will always be a room for them in your home, wherever you are.
• It is normal to be scared at times (and sometimes fear is a very necessary instinct) but don’t let being scared turn into being afraid, which can be debilitating and keep you from taking action.
• Lean into and celebrate the work that you’ve done to get your student to this point, and watch with joy as they use the lessons you’ve taught them and unfold like a flower into a young adult.
• Develop a routine to connect with your student, such as agreeing to text or FaceTime at a specific day/time each week. By having that routine, it will be easier to discern if something seems off with your student, because you will have a baseline to judge by each week.
• Remind your student that no one has it all together. Your student may think (due to social media or the “Wake Face” that students use to signal ‘I’m good!’) that everyone else has quickly made friends, isn’t homesick, etc. But all students will experience those things at some point. Your students will build resilience working through those emotions.

Hot day tomorrow for returning student move-in

The forecast unfortunately calls for a high of 97 degrees tomorrow for those ’24s-’26s who will be moving back to campus; Saturday isn’t much better at a high of 94. If your upperclass Deacs are returning tomorrow or Saturday, please urge them to stay hydrated, and consider helping out their friends/roommates/suitemates/hallmates moving in. The old maxim Many hands make light work is true.

Closing thoughts

Over the years, I have come to believe that whether this is your student’s first year or their last year, there is always a certain amount of anxiety that your students experience. For the newest students, that might look like “will I fit in?” “am I ready for this level of academics?” For the newest families, that anxiety might look like “have I done enough?” “are they prepared?” (Or maybe that’s just me!)

For our sophomores, they may be worried about picking a major or figuring out if/where they want to study abroad. For juniors, it might be anxiety about going abroad and being so far away from home, or having to get serious about building their resume. For seniors, the “what’s after graduation?” question looms large. And upperclass families have their own set of concerns related to their student’s stage of life.

I am an anxious worrying mom myself, and one of my colleagues unknowingly dropped this wonderful gift in my inbox right at a moment I needed it. I am sharing it here in the hopes that if you or your student is holding on to some worries or anxieties about the new year, this may help. Perhaps if our focus is on looking for the good, we will find more and more good everywhere we look. Isn’t it pretty to think so?