WFU Chaplain Timothy L. Auman to speak at fall convocation

Auman’s address is titled, “The Conversion of Language,” and it is intended to complement the university’s ongoing celebration of the 2003-2004 theme “Fostering Dialogue: Civil Discourse in an Academic Community.” The theme is dedicated to the exploration of how free people with passionate interests and beliefs can communicate openly without turning dialogue into discord.

The speech, Auman said, addresses the three main types of language that people use during their lives. Those types include the language of intimacy and relationship, the language of information or education, and the language of motivation or advertising and politics. He said he will discuss the need for individuals to return to the language of intimacy and relationship in order to have positive dialogue.

Auman joined Wake Forest’s Campus Ministry staff in 1998 as the United Methodist campus minister and was named the 2001 national campus minister of the year by the United Methodist Higher Education Foundation. Formerly a minister at United Methodist churches in High Point and Charlotte, Auman succeeded the Rev. Ed Christman, who retired this summer after 34 years as Wake Forest chaplain.

Auman received a bachelor of arts degree in religion from Wofford College in 1980 and a master of divinity degree from Duke University Divinity School in 1983. He grew up in North Carolina, primarily in High Point, where his father, Dr. Edwin Auman, practiced medicine before retirement. His father is a graduate of the Wake Forest School of Medicine.

From 1983 to 1987, Auman was associate pastor at Dilworth United Methodist Church in Charlotte. He served as a United Methodist campus minister at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte from 1987 to 1993. Auman was senior minister at Oakview United Methodist Church in High Point from 1993 to 1998.

In addition to Auman’s keynote address, the Wake Forest Gospel Choir will perform at the Fall Convocation, and Maeve Goff, president of Student Government at Wake Forest, will speak briefly about the theme and efforts to foster dialogue at the university. The Ethics and Honor Council and the Board of Investigators and Advisors, both student boards, will be recognized during the convocation.

At the convocation, Wake Forest President Thomas K. Hearn Jr. will honor two alumni with the Marcellus E. Waddill Excellence in Teaching Awards. The $20,000 awards are given annually to one primary school teacher and one secondary school teacher who graduated from Wake Forest.

The university will also present the Jon Reinhardt Award for Distinguished Teaching and the Donald O. Schoonmaker Faculty Award for Community Service to two faculty members.