The Best Weather
In this Issue:
- 5th anniversary celebration for the Wellbeing Center (3/28)
- Wake ‘N Shake is this weekend, and a powerful story
- Ramadan Fast-a-Thon (3/29)
The best weather is finally here – sunny and high of 79 today and even better tomorrow, reaching 85. You can see in this screenshot from our Quad Cam that our students are taking advantage of the great weather, pulling blankets out onto the Quad grass and dotting the landscape with small groups of friends. Today I am going to share a few events coming up in the next week.
5th anniversary celebration for the Wellbeing Center (3/28)
I don’t think there are any students on campus who remember what the former Reynolds Gym (now the Wellbeing Center) looked like pre-renovations. It was a sad, sad building, y’all. It still felt (and smelled) like a 1950s gym. It used to be that the beautiful arches on the front were filled with brick, not windows. The gyms within felt old and tired. And then we did a beautiful renovation. A couple of pics below for perspective (the 2nd pic is of an old Wake ‘N Shake in the old gym).
To celebrate the transformation, there is an all-campus invite for next Tuesday:
“Campus Recreation invites you to stop by the Wellbeing Center on Tuesday, March 28th to celebrate 5 years since the building reopened after renovation! Join us for a class, a bite to eat (6-9 a.m. 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., & 3-6 p.m.), grab a giveaway, or snap a photo with special guests in the afternoon.”
I hope your Deacs will take some time and visit the Wellbeing Center next Tuesday. My colleagues are planning lots of good stuff.
Wake ‘N Shake is this weekend, and a powerful story
Since I put a picture of an old Wake ‘N Shake above, wanted to remind everyone that our 12 hour dance marathon is this Saturday. There is a terrific story about some of the dancers, student leaders, and cancer survivors – it’s well with a read. Here is a snippet of an incredibly powerful story:
“A highlight of Wake ‘N Shake is the student champion speech. This year, sophomore Ben Miller, an applied statistics major from Chicago, will share his cancer battle.
In January of 2022, the 18 year-old was busy with his classes and enjoying his freshman year at Wake Forest. He thought he had a bad chest cold or even pneumonia – so he made a trip to the student health clinic.
An x-ray showed a large tumor in his chest. More scans and procedures followed. Miller was diagnosed with stage 2 Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of blood cancer.
Miller’s last day of chemotherapy was seven months later on August 17, just two days after his birthday. He had another scan and came back to Wake Forest to take a light load of classes as he continued to recover. That’s when he got the call from doctors that his cancer was in remission. He’s been in remission for 6 months.”
You can read the full story here. And we wish Ben continued good health and a long and happy life!
Ramadan Fast-a-Thon (3/29)
Ramadan began yesterday for our Muslim community, and there is an upcoming event open to all that may be of interest to some of our Deacs:
“The WFU ‘Fast-a-Thon’ is an event held on campus during the Muslim Holy month of Ramadan in which non-Muslim students, faculty, and staff engage in fasting for that day alongside their Muslim peers and colleagues. The end of the fast is marked by a communal breaking-of-the-fast meal, called Iftaar. At this meal a reflective discussion about the experience is shared to encourage folks to exercise empathy for Muslims that are fasting while attending class or working. In Winston-Salem, the fast begins at 6:02 a.m. and will end at 7:40 p.m. Details.”
I am going to participate – and I am a little nervous that I won’t be able to do it, because I drink a LOT of coffee and Diet Pepsi throughout the workday. Stay tuned.
I hope your Deacs are all taking advantage of this beautiful weather! Spring is such a special time at Mother So Dear!