Stories this week at WFU

MEDIA INVITED TO FALL CONVOCATION WITH NEW CHAPLAIN – The Rev. Timothy L. Auman, who was appointed chaplain in July, will be the featured speaker at the university’s Fall Convocation at 11 a.m. Oct. 9 in Wait Chapel. Auman’s address, “The Conversion of Language,” is intended to complement the university’s ongoing celebration of the 2003-2004 theme “Fostering Dialogue: Civil Discourse in an Academic Community.” In addition to Auman’s keynote address, the Wake Forest Gospel Choir will perform and Maeve Goff, president of Student Government at Wake Forest, will speak briefly about the theme and efforts to foster dialogue at the university. Wake Forest President Thomas K. Hearn Jr. will present several awards and student boards will be recognized during the event. Media may park in Lots P or A, on either side of the chapel. Cameras may set up inside the chapel along the stairwells. Media needing audio of the event should arrive no later than 10:45 a.m. To arrange coverage, contact Jacob McConnico at mcconnjn@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.

HOMECOMING HIGHLIGHTS REUNION GROUPS, ALUMNI – Wake Forest alumni and friends will gather on campus this weekend for the university’s homecoming. Weekend events include reunion gatherings of alumni, a service of remembrance in Wait Chapel and a homecoming festival on the Quad. Activities begin Friday at 3 p.m. with a “return to the classroom” for many alumni who have signed up for Professor and Chair of Religion Charles Kimball’s class based on his book, “When Religion Becomes Evil.” Saturday morning at 9 a.m. the university will hold a memorial service for faculty and alumni who have died during the last year. From 9:30 to noon on Saturday the “Festival on the Quad” will bring out more than 600 people for games, food, music and pep-rally activities for the afternoon football game. To arrange coverage, contact the News Service.

HOMECOMING TIME TO HONOR ALUMNI – Many Wake Forest alumni will return to their alma mater this weekend to reminisce with their classmates of 10, 20 and 30 years ago. However, a special few will share memories of Wake Forest from 50, 60 and even 70 years ago. The university’s Half Century Club honors alumni who return for homecoming that graduated at least 50 years ago. At least one member of the class of 1933, Wake Forest Life Trustee Egbert Davis celebrating his 70th reunion, will attend the Half Century Club meeting Friday morning at 9:30 a.m. In addition, several graduates of the class of 1943, including Provost Emeritus Edwin Wilson, will celebrate their 60th reunion with a brunch on Saturday morning. To arrange coverage of the alumni events or an interview with members of the Half Century Club, contact the News Service.

BRASS QUINTET TO LEAD WORKSHOPS FOR LOCAL MUSICIANS – The American Brass Quintet, the ensemble Newsweek magazine calls the “high priests of brass,” will lead workshops for local brass musicians, including members of local Moravian brass bands, on Oct. 11 beginning at 10 a.m. in Brendle Recital Hall. Media are invited to attend. The group will perform Oct. 10 as part of the university’s Secrest Artists Series. To arrange coverage, contact Cheryl Walker at walkercv@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.

SUKKOT: JEWISH CELEBRATION OF THE HARVEST – Wake Forest’s Jewish student organization will build a “sukkah” for the traditional Jewish harvest celebration called “Sukkot.” A sukkah is a small, temporary hut decorated with fruits, flowers and leafy branches. The students will build the 10-by-10 structure beginning at 2 p.m. on Oct. 12 in a grassy area beside Wait Chapel. A celebratory service will begin at 4 p.m. The original purpose of the Jewish Sukkot festival was to show appreciation for the harvest. Meals were eaten in the sukkah. Some say the shelters were built to commemorate the temporary shelters lived in by the Israelites when they fled from Egypt. Other scholars say that the huts provided temporary housing while people brought in the harvest in ancient days. A spiritual shelter, it makes people think about what is temporary and what is permanent. The holiday comes exactly two weeks after the first day of Rosh Hashanah and four days after Yom Kippur. To arrange coverage, contact Cheryl Walker at walkercv@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.

WAKE FOREST STUDENTS HELP HAITIAN SEMINARY – Some students in Wake Forest’s Babcock Graduate School of Management are using their business knowledge to help the rector of Haiti Nazarene Theological Seminary in Haiti, who is struggling to deal with the costs associated with running the school. The students are working with Stan Davis, assistant professor of accounting at the Babcock School, to develop strategic plans that include accounting systems and management strategies. Davis and the students have met with the rector to discuss the problems he faces. For more information, contact Dusty Donaldson at dusty.donaldson@mba.wfu.edu or 336-758-4454.

EXPOSING THE PRIVATE LIVES OF PUBLIC FIGURES: IS IT RIGHT? – In a society where media frenzies on private indiscretions of public figures abound, one professor questions the ethics behind this common practice. John Haldane, professor of philosophy and director of the Centre for Ethics, Philosophy and Public Affairs at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, will discuss the morality of media exposés on the private lives of politicians and other public figures during a Wake Forest lecture Oct. 14 at 4 p.m. in Pugh Auditorium at the Benson University Center. His lecture, “Going Public: The Morality and Politics of Disclosure,” will explore the question of when, if ever, it is right to draw wider attention to personal problems and make those issues the subject of commentary. To arrange coverage of this event or an interview, contact Pam Barrett at 336-748-4144 or barretpm@wfu.edu.

Categories: Arts & Culture, Events, Media Advisory, Speakers