Happy Family Weekend!
In this Issue:
- Wake Forest-CINCIA researchers brief Pope Leo XIV on Amazon mercury pollution
- Clarification on GPS Zoom about study abroad
- Carolina Classic Fair
- World Mental Health Day observance
Happy Family Weekend to all who are here with us! I wish everyone a wonderful weekend visiting your Deacs.
If you are looking for places to eat in town, here is the list of restaurants Wake families recommend.
Not every family can make it here for Family Weekend. That can be particularly hard for our first-year students, so please consider inviting students who might be solo this weekend to join your family for meals or fun outings, etc.
ICYMI yesterday, here is the Family Weekend schedule and the football gameday website with all the details.
Go Deacs! Let’s make it a great weekend!
Wake Forest-CINCIA researchers brief Pope Leo XIV on Amazon mercury pollution
This story came out yesterday and it is a remarkable one:
“Scientists from across the Amazon have delivered to Pope Leo XIV a briefing on mercury pollution in the region—documents that include the findings from decades of research at the Center for Amazonian Scientific Innovation (CINCIA), established in partnership with Wake Forest University’s Sabin Center for Environment and Sustainability.
Luis Fernandez delivers to Pope Leo a briefing on the mercury pollution research being conducted in Peru by scientists from Wake Forest, the Sabin Center and CINCIA. © Vatican Media
‘Today we were able to put more than a decade of Wake Forest and CINCIA-led scientific evidence on mercury contamination in the Amazon directly into the hands of the pope,’ said Luis Fernandez, Wake Forest research professor of biology, senior fellow with the Sabin Center, and co-founder of CINCIA. ‘That evidence shows that mercury associated with gold mining does not stay at the mine—it moves through ecosystems and ultimately reaches people, including some of the Amazon’s most vulnerable Indigenous communities.’
Fernandez and Claudia Vega, Sabin Center fellow, CINCIA mercury program coordinator and TED Fellow, traveled to the Vatican on Sept. 30 to brief Pope Leo on the mercury contamination crisis.”
In all my years at Wake, I cannot remember another time when our faculty have had a briefing with a pope, so this is huge news. Read the full story.
Clarification on GPS Zoom about study abroad
Yesterday I shared that a second Zoom session was made available by Global Programs and Studies for parents and families who want to learn more about study abroad. For families who registered for that session, please note that I accidentally shared the wrong start time: it is on November 3rd at 7:00 p.m. (not 7:30)
The Nov. 3 Zoom filled quickly, and some of you have emailed me to ask if there will be more sessions. The GPS team is right in the thick of working with students who want to go abroad next year, so they do not have other Zooms scheduled. BUT they will be posting the slides with a voiceover for those who could not join live; that should go up around the 10th of November.
We appreciate your understanding and patience. And if you have specific questions you wanted to ask GPS, I would encourage you to share those with your students, and have your students connect with GPS directly so they begin forming relationships with that office. GPS has a form students can use to book appointments with study abroad advisors. When your Deacs meet with abroad advisors, they can get answers to their questions and any you have as well.
Carolina Classic Fair
For folks who are here for Family Weekend, I certainly hope you’ll take advantage of all the programming we have to offer. For those who are looking for something extra to do, the Carolina Classic Fair is opening today:
“The Carolina Classic Fair opens Friday, Oct. 2, at the Winston Salem Fairgrounds with rides, exhibitions, food and more! Thursday, Oct. 8 is College Day, Military Day and Goodwill Day with $5 Admission for College students with their ID; Free admission for active and retired Military and their immediate families with ID; Free Admission with one bag (per person) of clean, gently used clothing to donate to Goodwill. Visit carolinaclassicfair.com for details.”
Students sometimes like going over to the fair to try the [to my mind] bewildering variety of fair foods (fried butter? fried oreos? fried everything!), ride the rides, or see the fireworks. So if fairs are your jam, this is an option.
World Mental Health Day observance
This was in yesterday’s WFU Should Know student e-newsletter. There are a couple of interesting opportunities for students (coffee discount!) so am sharing it here for our student readers 🙂
“World Mental Health Day is Saturday, Oct. 10. Because this year’s observance falls during Fall Break, Wake Forest will come together Tuesday, Oct. 6, to recognize the day early and show our shared commitment to mental health and wellbeing.
We invite students, faculty and staff to wear their We Are Wake “We” shirts and participate in activities that celebrate care, connection and community.
Show Your Support
Visit Campus Grounds on Tuesday, Oct. 6. Community members wearing their “We” shirt will receive a 10% discount.
Wear your “We” shirt on Tuesday, Oct. 6. Need one? Stop by the third-floor Benson Rotunda on Monday, Oct. 5, from 2–6 p.m. to pick one up.
Complete Care 101, a mental health education program designed to help our community recognize when someone may need support and know how to respond. Students can complete Care 101 here, and faculty and staff can access Care 101 through Workday Learning.”
Hug your kids, tell them you love them, spoil them a little (or a lot), and make great memories!