Stories this week at WFU

ROTC GRADS AMONG TOP 20 PERCENT NATIONALLY
Fifteen students will graduate from Wake Forest’s ROTC program on Sunday. They are part of the reason why the university’s ROTC program is ranked among the top 20 percent academically and militarily nationwide. The graduates will be commissioned at 1 p.m. May 16 in the Moot Courtroom of Worrell Professional Center. Jeffrey Prosch, Under Secretary of the Army for Installations and Environment, will commission the graduates. Among the graduates will be his son Bo, a political science major. Fellow graduate Nona Spain will also be joined by her military father, who is a major general in the Army. Media are invited to the commissioning ceremony.
Contact: Sarah S. Mansell, manselss@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.

JOYCELYN ELDERS HIGHLIGHTS HOODING CEREMONIES
Joycelyn Elders, former U.S. surgeon general and the first African-American to hold the position, will address the Wake Forest School of Medicine’s 106 graduates at 4:15 p.m. May 16 in Wait Chapel. Media are invited to attend.
Contact: Sarah S. Mansell, manselss@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.

TECH-SAVVY SENIOR HELPED DESIGN TECH QUARTERS
Omar Qari, a computer science major from New Jersey, helped design Wake Forest’s Technology Quarters, a new housing option for first-year students interested in learning about computers. The students in Tech Quarters help the university test new technology being considered for campus use. Qari has worked with the Information Systems department to test Pocket PCs and other technology for possible campus use. As a Resident Technology Advisor (RTA) at Wake Forest, he provided computer support to fellow students in residence halls. He spent last summer in Morocco where he studied Arabic. This summer, after graduation, he will begin work with CitiGroup in New York.
Contact: Cheryl Walker, walkercv@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.

STUDENTS GRADUATE AS HUSBAND AND WIFE
The weekend of commencement will be a busy time for Wake Forest seniors Joseph Hipps and his fiancée Meagan Hooper. Three days before graduation the two plan to get married at Graylyn International Conference Center. Hipps, a music major from East Flat Rock, and Hooper, a theatre major from Charlotte, will live in Italy after graduation. They then plan to move to New York City to pursue their careers in the arts.
Contact: Sarah Mansell, manselss@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237

INJURY PROMPTS PRO BASEBALL PLAYER TO EARN DEGREE
When Mike Buddie, a 33-year-old professional baseball pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers, injured his elbow last August, he didn’t spend time sulking. He spent a few months in recovery and then enrolled at Wake Forest to finish the undergraduate degree he started in 1989. Buddie was a starting pitcher for the Wake Forest baseball team before he was drafted in 1992 by the New York Yankees. Buddie, the father of two children, returned in January 2004 and will receive his bachelor’s degree in communication during the May 17 commencement ceremony. His wife, Tracy, is a 1995 graduate of Wake Forest.
Contact: Sarah Mansell, manselss@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.

POLITICAL SCIENCE MAJOR EAGER FOR POWELL’S SPEECH
Mike Bradow, a senior from Plano, Texas, may be listening to Secretary of State Colin Powell’s address more closely than some other students; he hopes one day to work for the state department. “Having worked in one of our overseas embassies and applied to the Foreign Service, I hope that Colin Powell will be my future boss,” says Bradow, a political science major. He was named male Senior of the Year by the student newspaper, Old Gold & Black. His political activism and volunteer spirit have taken him to the Republic of Georgia, Ghana, South America and India.
Contact: Sarah Mansell, manselss@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.

MASTERING THE MBA; LARGEST CLASS EVER
Four graduates from the Babcock Graduate School of Management have already earned some of the nation’s top honors for business plans. Amy Maguire and Desiree McClimon took honors at the annual Venture Challenge 2004 in San Diego with their business plan for the Sandbox Learning Co. Bill Watson and Tim Sheehan received the Outstanding Business Plan award at the Northwest Venture Championship at Boise State University on March 17-19 for their Fuel Services Corp. plan. They will be available for interviews prior to the Babcock School’s hooding ceremony at 7 pm. May 16 in Wait Chapel. They are part of the 306 graduates that comprise the Babcock School’s largest graduating class ever.
Contact: Dusty Donaldson, dusty.donaldson@wfu.mba.edu or 336-758-5238.

WFU SAYS GOODBYE TO FIELD HOCKEY ALL-AMERICANS
Commencement day will be bittersweet for Wake Forest field hockey coach Jennifer Averill, who will see three of her All-Americans graduate in one day. Seniors Kelly Doton and Katie Ridd were first team All-American and senior Lucy Shaw was a third team selection in 2003. The trio was instrumental in helping Wake Forest win back-to-back national championships in 2002 and 2003, the first Wake Forest women’s team to bring home a national title. Doton is also a two-time National Player of the Year.
Contact: Jacob McConnico, mcconnjn@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.