We Can’t Wait to See You (Rain or Shine)
In this Issue:
- Deacon Family Festival moving indoors (1-6 p.m. on Friday 9/26)
- Office of Fraternity & Sorority Engagement parents and families pop in (12-2 p.m. on Friday 9/26)
- Know Before You Go – all details from Athletics about Saturday’s football game
- Showcasing academic excellence: Minds in Motion photostory and URECA Day
Family Weekend is almost here – and we can’t wait to have our parents and families on campus, rain or shine. The weather forecast suggests that you should be prepared for rainy conditions, especially on Saturday:
But a little rain is not going to spoil our fun! Family Weekend will still happen – with some tweaks, see below. We are thrilled to have our Deac families back on campus no matter the weather: as the old song goes, I’m with you always, I’m with you rain or shine. And for those who want to hear the song, I offer you the original Tommy Dorsey orchestra version, the Frank Sinatra version, or the Ray Charles version. All great in their own way – take your pick!
Deacon Family Festival moving indoors (1-6 p.m. on Friday 9/26)
The Family Weekend committee tells me that due to the potential for rain, we are moving the Deacon Family Festival indoors to Benson 401. This will take place on Friday 9/26 from 1-6 p.m. You should see the location change updated in the Guidebook app soon.
Office of Fraternity & Sorority Engagement parents and families pop in (12-2 p.m. on Friday 9/26)
The Office of Fraternity & Sorority Engagement tells me they will be hosting a casual pop in for parents and families tomorrow (Friday 9/26) from 12-2 p.m. in the Benson University Center room 218.
They will have treats, snacks, and giveaways and an opportunity to chat with Fraternity & Sorority Engagement staff. So do pop in if you are interested and available!
Know Before You Go – all details from Athletics about Saturday’s football game
Athletics has shared its Know Before You Go article with comprehensive information about Saturday’s game (12 noon kickoff vs. GA Tech). If you are planning on attending the football game, this is a must read.
Showcasing academic excellence: Minds in Motion photostory and URECA Day
One of the distinctives of Wake Forest is how we have lots of opportunities for students to get involved with research projects with faculty. This is not at all the norm in higher ed: at some research intensive universities, faculty members primarily interact with Masters or Ph.D. level students, not undergraduates.
There is a new photostory, Minds in Motion, that showcases how some of our undergraduate students are joining with faculty for mentored research projects on real world issues: studying erosion dynamics to help protect ecosystems from landslides, how to better detect illegal gold mining in the Peruvian Amazon, protecting brains from oxygen deprivation, and more.
One of the projects featured in Minds in Motion is about developing a mathematical model to help companies manage the explosive growth of AI and cloud services that can help save costs. There is a terrific video that explains this project better than I ever could, and it is well worth your time to watch.
These are just a few examples of the academic excellence that happens on our campus every day: students and faculty working together to understand our world, looking at problems that could be solved in ways to benefit us all, developing expertise in a particular area, and creating new knowledge and solutions together.
You can see for yourself at URECA (Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Center) Day, which brings together more than 100 students representing 30 academic disciplines to present posters and oral presentations on their mentored or independent scholarship. This will be tomorrow: Friday, Sept. 26, from 3-5 p.m. in the Sutton Center. It’s pretty exciting, y’all.
I hope to see you at Family Weekend! Safe travels to everyone!