What a Weekend!
In this Issue: Inauguration recap
Inauguration was this past Friday, and it was an incredible series of events, from the installation ceremony proper to the community gathering Friday evening to the big win on Saturday at the football game.
There was one snafu on Friday, and that was that my Daily Deac post with Ed Wilson reading Keats’ “To Autumn” did not include the link to the video in the email version (though weirdly it renders correctly if you visit the actual Daily Deac site.) So for our readers who might have wanted to hear Dr. Wilson’s beautiful voice, this is the video link.
Inauguration recap
A lot took place during Inauguration weekend and I am not sure I will be able to do adequate justice to it, but I will try.
You can watch the recording of the installation ceremony here. The academic processional and some lovely music is at the start of the video; remarks begin here. I had the honor of bringing greetings on behalf of the staff, which was incredibly meaningful to me personally as an alumna. And it gave me a weird sense of deja vu, as I got married 30 years ago this July just a few steps in front of the podium from which I spoke.
The whole program for the installation ceremony was very meaningful. President Rodriguez’s inauguration remarks were poignant. I encourage you to watch his full address or read his remarks.
President Rodriguez – an economist by training – talked about 1977, a time of great turmoil across many fronts: the Misery Index, according to economists. Despite the misery of the time, he shared that it was also a time of amazing art: Saturday Night Fever, Star Wars – and to my great delight, he invoked the absolute bangers Dancing Queen, Brick House, and Hotel California (confession: my heart swelled). 1977 was also a time of hope from science, the launch of the Voyager I and II space probes. That work, borne of human curiosity is an example of how the academy relentlessly searches for new knowledge to help advance humanity.
President Rodriguez also got personal in his remarks. He recited lines from an interview with the Argentinian poet Jorge Luis Borges in Spanish, and then translated it. The quote was about his identity and how he became who he was as a person, and it resonated with President Rodriguez. It goes:
Don Jorge, tell me, who are you?
Well, I’m not sure that I exist really
but I know that I am all the books I ever read,
and I’m every friend I ever made,
I’m all the women I ever loved,
I’m every city I ever visited,
And I am all my ancestors.
Words cannot fully express how moving that quote was as he said it. But as an alumna, a staff member, and two degree English major, that quote cemented for me that President Rodriguez is going to bring a very special animating spirit to his presidency. And I am excited about Wake Forest’s future under his leadership. It really was an extraordinary speech. I do hope you watch it.
Then the gala event Friday evening was on the Quad. The Quad was transformed into an incredibly festive atmosphere: a giant tent full of desserts, a light show on the face of Wait Chapel, live music, some of President Rodriguez’s favorite foods at stations throughout the Quad, including a salted caramel popcorn that was out of this world (and I am not even a sweet popcorn fan, but this stuff is pure magic).
Then at the pinnacle of the evening was a fireworks show, which closed the evening on a high note. You can see this Instagram video from the celebration that gives you a sense of what the night was like. Just incredible.
You can also read this news story about the Inauguration.
Then of course we had an absolute beatdown of Virginia at the game on Saturday. So the whole weekend was just one good thing after another.
Wake Foresters have a wonderful way of coming together to celebrate. And one of the the things I have always found so remarkable about Wake Forest is that it doesn’t matter if you graduated 50 years ago or in 2026, once two alumni realize they both went to Wake Forest, they talk as if they had been friends forever. Age difference doesn’t matter. Same with parents and families – once they realize their children both went to Wake, they bond.
Mother So Dear connects us all.