A Message from the Vice President for Campus Life

The following message is sent on behalf of Vice President for Campus Life Penny Rue:

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Dear Wake Forest Students,

As the semester draws to a close, and final exams and papers conclude an important period of learning, I hope that you will each take time to reflect on what has been most meaningful to you and to our community this fall.  As I reflect on the many wonderful moments throughout our journey this semester, I am also aware of how national social and political issues played out on our own campus over the last several months. For many members of our community, these issues have been deeply personal. For all of us, I hope these issues underscore the importance of deliberate and inclusive dialogue.

At the start of the semester, our campus recognized the significance of Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson, MO through a campus-wide vigil and speak-out, and the semester ended as the nation and our community struggled with twin grand jury decisions not to indict police officers responsible for the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner.  In between these moments of national conflict, plans for a “rap video” fraternity party were protested, as many in our community deemed this to be racially themed, and an external report that found a lack of bias in problematic police behavior spawned numerous complaints and criticisms.  Throughout this period we have seen some of the very best and very worst of Wake Forest.

Within the framework of the Deliberative Dialogue on campus community and the President’s Leadership conference, we saw Wake Foresters come together in the spirit of collaboration and inquiry to share perspectives and learn from one another.  Recent and forthcoming proposals generated by the Deliberative Dialogues, the President’s Leadership Conference, Deac Tank, Forward Together, and the ODI Campus Climate Collaborative hold great promise for progress in creating a more fair, equitable and inclusive campus community.

However, we have also seen a sad set of behaviors that feel less like Wake Forest to us all.  Our Muslim Chaplain, Imam Griggs, has been attacked online and the Office of the Chaplain was the target of a vile act.  Yik Yak has become a common vehicle to promulgate abhorrent sentiments and personal threats against students and the administration.  As a result, several students have chosen anonymous means to make their voices heard because they do not feel safe.  Those same students have been subjected to judgmental statements, including from me, for striving to improve our community and call forth the best from Wake Forest.  We should applaud their commitment and passion.

I want to reiterate my commitment to open dialogue and a welcoming community.  Please know that any reported act of bias shared through our bias reporting system, or directly with a Campus Life or Office of Diversity and Inclusion staff member, will be confidentially investigated and individuals who come forward will receive caring support from our Bias Response Team.  In the event that people are determined to be acting in ways threatening to individuals in our community, or to our community as a whole, they will be held accountable through both campus conduct and criminal justice systems, if necessary.  We urge members of our community to use this system so that we may properly track incidents and targets of bias and develop strategies to eliminate threats to our community.

President Hatch reminds us that Wake Forest is a place where the arts of conversation and mutual engagement are developed and enhanced.  We are, at our core, a face-to-face university. It is essential that we listen deeply and with empathy to truly understand the perspectives of those who differ from us.  The ability to learn with and from each other, despite the existence of preconceived biases, is an essential learning experience afforded in the Wake Forest community.  Let us not mirror the tendency in Washington, and other parts of our country, to talk only to those with whom we already agree.

As the semester ends, please join me in searching for opportunities to extend understanding and seek to create a more just and equitable Wake Forest.

Sincerely,

Penny Rue
Vice President for Campus Life