Happy Friday
In this Issue:
- Wake ‘N Shake is tomorrow
- Charlotte articles of note
- Important message about a phishing scam our students may see
One of the things we are seeing a lot of on campus right now are admissions tours. I was driving on to campus yesterday for my class and it looked like no less than 4 tour groups moving along the sidewalks. I have always loved peoplewatching with tour groups. You can see these small, sweet moments between parents and their high schoolers – excitement, wistfulness, the fun of having a road trip that is just one parent and their child. Anyway, there are a lot of visitors right now, and my wish is always that they get into their top choice school (better yet if that is Wake).
Read on!
Wake ‘N Shake is tomorrow
Each spring, Wake Forest students stay on their feet for 12 hours for the Wake ‘N Shake Dance Marathon, benefitting the Brian Piccolo Cancer Research Fund. It is the largest student-run philanthropy at Wake Forest. Here’s how Wake ‘N Shake was described by students on The Link, the student event platform:
“We dance for the millions of individuals affected by cancer every year – not only the patients themselves, but their family and friends. All of the money raised by Wake ‘N Shake goes to the Brian Piccolo Cancer Research Fund. Brian Piccolo was a football player at Wake Forest. During his senior season in 1964, he led the nation in rushing and scoring. He then joined the Chicago Bears as a running back in 1965. Just a few years later, in the middle of the Bears’ 1969 season, Brian removed himself from a game after having difficulty breathing. After several tests, Brian was diagnosed with embryonal cell carcinoma. He passed away on June 16, 1970….
We started dancing for Brian, and we have continued dancing for all of the members of our community that have been impacted by cancer since then. Every year, the highlight of our closing ceremony is a speech by a current Wake Forest student who has been personally impacted by cancer. These emotional speeches always remind us how much of an impact cancer has already had on our own community.”
Wake ‘N Shake is an amazing day. I hope your students will be taking part in some way. You can see more at their website.
Charlotte articles of note
As I hope you know by now, Wake has a growing presence in Charlotte as part of their designated innovation district, The Pearl. There are two new articles that might be of interest. This first article might be especially interesting to our P’28s and P’29s – or their students – because it talks about the new program in Charlotte that will allow students to take classes and do an internship in the same semester, like Wake Washington does.
Here are links to the articles and a snippet so you get a sense of what each covers:
Wake Forest brings classroom and career together in Charlotte:
“Last month, Wake Forest announced the creation of a new undergraduate academic offering to debut in the spring of 2027….The undergrad program will deliver a residential, academic and experiential semester in which sophomores and juniors will intern by day at partnering businesses and take classes taught by Charlotte-based Wake Forest faculty at night. They’ll live in apartments leased by the University and located near public transportation and within an easy walk of The Pearl.
The inaugural cohort will dive into the connections between liberal arts and business, exploring new horizons of data visualization and issues of leadership and character along the way. In the future, administrators hope to add tracks such as health and human services and the engineering and marketing of medical devices.”
Wake Forest launches ‘Talks at the Tap’ as Charlotte engagement expands:
“So an archeologist walks into a bar …
In Wake Forest University’s vision, there’s no joke here, but there is a fun, informative evening with a welcoming, informal vibe.
Talks at the Tap, as it will be known, is the University’s initiative to engage with the Charlotte community. The monthly gatherings will rotate between breweries and topics, each featuring a Wake Forest professor sharing insights from their area of expertise — from pop culture and current trends to big ideas shaping our world. Call it levity mixed with lager.
‘It’s not a lecture,’ said Lauren Burns, chief marketing and student services officer for the University’s Charlotte-based School of Professional Studies. ‘It’s an engaging talk for 45 minutes, followed by 15 minutes of questions and answers. And then? Well, you’re at a bar. Stick around for one-on-one time with the speaker, mingle with fellow guests, and maybe even order another round. It’s networking and conversation made easy.’”
So if you live in Charlotte, or will be there for work or play, consider joining Talks at the Tap. The article indicates that they will be held on the final Thursday of every month, with each month featuring a new topic (and in a new location) but with the same basic format.
Important message about a phishing scam our students may see
Students, faculty, and staff received a message this morning about an emerging phishing scam:
“Information Systems has identified a new phishing scam targeting Wake Forest email accounts, that poses risk to both your device and data.
Fraudulent event invitations are being sent from real — but compromised — WFU or external email addresses. These invitations may look like they’re coming from a University colleague or someone you know. However, the email contains a link to a third-party website where users will be asked to carry out an action and if completed, a file is downloaded.”
I got one of these myself yesterday – it looked like an event invitation from a faculty member I know, and I was very tempted to click it, then thought better ofi it. All that to say students should be very cautious of unexpected invitations like this, or the other one we get a lot, which is fake job offers from what looks like a Wake professor (but does not come from their wfu.edu email).
Have a great weekend! We’ll see you again on Monday 🙂