Update for parents and families 9/12 at 1 pm
Dear parents and families —
As promised, here is the most recent email that has been sent to students.
While the current forecast indicates our city and campus will see mostly rain and some increased winds from Hurricane Florence over the weekend, conditions could change Friday afternoon and evening. As we all know, hurricanes can be finicky.
To add some color to the message below, our university leadership is taking into account more than just the weather reports. As we looked at the decision regarding Friday operations, we concluded that the most prudent thing to do is to cancel classes on Friday.
This in no way indicates an elevated risk for your students who are here on campus (or off campus) — more a decision based on how to best support all members of our campus community, including faculty and staff who drive in from areas that may be more impacted or have family needs.
We continue to believe that students will be safer on campus than to risk traveling during the storm. As mentioned in our 11:30 am email, we have good plans in place for food service and all major university operations. There will be consistent communication to our students about available services and storm updates as the weekend unfolds.
As you can imagine, we are making decisions as the best information becomes available. Please be assured that we are making this decision out of an abundance of caution and care for everyone in our campus community.
The next planned email update will be Thursday at noon.
Thank you again for your understanding as we move through this together.
Betsy Chapman (’92, MA ’94)
Executive Director of Family Communications and Volunteer Management
Wake Forest University continues to monitor Hurricane Florence’s potential impact and prioritize the safety of the campus community.
The latest forecasts regarding Hurricane Florence, shared in an 11:30 a.m.briefing from the National Weather Service, show the storm slowing and tracking farther south than predicted earlier this week.
Wake Forest University will remain open for regular hours and operations for Thursday, Sept. 13.
Classes will be canceled and offices will be closed from Friday, Sept. 14 through Sunday, Sept. 16.
University emergency managers continue to prepare for the storm in consultation with facilities, food services, health services and residence life and housing staff. Residence halls will remain open, food service will be available and Student Health Service will remain available. Additional information about campus services over the weekend, such as the Wake Forest Wellbeing Center, ZSR Library and shuttle transportation, will be issued by Thursday at noon.
Residence Life and Housing plans to send information to off-campus students today regarding how the University can best support them if they experience hurricane-related issues.
Those with questions about the status of scheduled non-class events and activities should contact coordinating programs and offices.
Wake Forest students in online courses or degree programs, as well as students enrolled in programs that meet in Wake Forest facilities outside of Winston-Salem, should contact their program administrators for any updates regarding class meeting schedules and statuses.
Wake Forest recommends that students, faculty and staff stay informed about weather forecasts for the Triad and surrounding areas.
Conditions statewide will vary, so please use your best judgment regarding your own safety.
All Hurricane Florence-related updates will be posted on the Wake Alert website (wakealert.wfu.edu). Please continue to monitor the Wake Alert website, follow @WakeAlert on Twitter and Facebook (facebook.com/WakeAlert), and add the Wake Forest Weather/Emergency line (336-758-5935) to phone contacts.
Wake Forest Communications and External Relations