Stories this week at WFU
FRESHMEN MOVE IN — Beginning at 8 a.m. Aug. 18, Wake Forest University freshmen will start moving into their residence halls. Orientation for the approximately 1,120 new college students begins with move-in and lasts through Aug. 23. Students will move in all day, but most arrive in the morning. Most freshmen will move into residence halls on the south side of campus near the Magnolia Courtyard. Faculty, staff and upperclassmen will be on hand to help freshmen and their families unload vehicles and carry personal belongings into residence halls. Vendors will be set up on the courtyard offering storage and organization items and other dorm room essentials.
Contact: Maggie Barrett, barretmb@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.
FUN FRESHMAN CLASS FACTS —
- Seventeen percent are minorities, the largest number ever according to Director of Admissions Martha Allman.
- The new class represents 43 states and 11 foreign countries.
- Twenty-six percent are from North Carolina.
- Other top states represented are New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and Florida.
- Nine percent are children of Wake Forest alumni.
Thirty-eight percent of the students graduated within the top 5 percent of their high school classes.
Contact: Maggie Barrett, barretmb@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.
REMEMBER WHEN A COMMODORE 64 COMPUTER WAS HIGH TECH? — Wake Forest’s incoming freshman class may not, but their parents should. Freshmen and their families will get the chance to see and compare past and present technology used on campus at the Information Systems (IS) Building on freshman move-in day, Aug. 18. While freshmen pick up their new IBM R52 ThinkPad computers and color printers from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. in the IS building, their families will be treated to a reception featuring a display of new equipment and equipment dating back to the 1970s. In addition, a mock residence hall room will be decorated to show how today’s students live versus the campus life their parents may have experienced. The reception will be held in the Information Systems Food Court.
Contact: Wake Forest News Service at 336-758-5237
WAKE FOREST HELPS PARENTS DEAL WITH EMPTY NEST — The transition to college often can be harder for the parents than the student, says Johnne Armentrout, assistant director of Wake Forest’s counseling center. Helping parents understand the changes their freshmen will experience while encouraging them to focus on their own lives can help, says Armentrout. She and her husband lead Wake Forest’s “Family Relationships in Transition,” a program for parents of freshmen. This year’s program will be held Aug. 18 from 7 – 9:30 p.m. Wake Forest’s counseling center has offered a program for parents as part of freshman orientation for the past 23 years. The program will focus on how the changes that occur as students develop and mature may affect their family relationships and provide practical tips on how to help families cope with the empty nest. “The challenge for some parents is not to become overly involved,” says Armentrout. “I would like to convince parents that the more they can let students tackle problems on their own, the better.”
Contact: Cheryl Walker, walkercv@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.
WFU’S NEW PRESIDENT TO ADDRESS NEW STUDENTS — New students will hear a message from Wake Forest’s 13th President Nathan O. Hatch during New Student Convocation Aug. 19. The event will be held in Wait Chapel from 11:30 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. Hatch took office July 1, succeeding retired President Thomas K. Hearn Jr. A free picnic lunch for new students and their families on Hearn Plaza (main Quad) will follow the convocation. The Wake Forest Marching Band will provide music during the picnic.
Contact: Wake Forest News Service at 336-758-5237
COLLEGE CLASSES START AUG. 24 — Classes for the fall semester begin Aug. 24 for undergraduate students and students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Divinity School and Calloway School of Business and Accountancy. Other Reynolda Campus students – those in the School of Law and the Babcock Graduate School of Management – return to classes Aug. 22. While freshmen will be arriving Aug. 18, most other undergraduates will not begin moving back onto campus until the morning of Aug. 20. Undergraduates get a close look at various organizations Aug. 31, when a Student Activities Fair will be held from 2 – 5 p.m. on the Magnolia Courtyard. Representatives from student clubs and organizations will be present.
Contact: Wake Forest News Service at 336-758-5237
HOT SUMMER READING: MIDDLE EASTERN BESTSELLER — Books that give a personal perspective of life in the Middle East are high on best-seller lists and on college summer reading lists. One such book, Azar Nafisi’s “Reading Lolita in Tehran,” was selected by Wake Forest as the orientation assignment for incoming freshmen. Wake Forest is one of at least six colleges and universities that selected a book from this popular new genre as its fall 2005 freshman reading assignment. Charles A. Kimball, professor of religion at Wake Forest and Islam expert, says this trend likely plays into the increased interest in Islam and a recognition of the need for an understanding of Islam that reaches beyond the stereotypes still espoused by many people. “Using best-selling books like these not primarily focused on Islam is a less threatening way to help put a human face on Muslims and hopefully, raise the level of informed discussion on our campuses and within the wider society,” Kimball said. As part of Wake Forest’s orientation-related events, Kimball will present a public talk at the university titled “Politics, Society and Religion under Islam, Christianity and Judaism.”
Contact: Maggie Barrett, barretmb@wfu.edu or 336-758-5237.
