Going viral after 40 years

In the days when residence halls were called “dormitories,” and there were rules about being “caught” visiting men in their rooms, there were social societies for women.

One group, the Strings, was renowned in the late ’60s and early ’70s for their voices — winning Greek Week singing competitions and drawing record crowds at their performances.

The group, which has scattered all over the country and beyond since graduation, will reunite at Homecoming on Saturday, Oct. 15, for the first time in 40 years. They will perform in the Green Room in Reynolda Hall at 11 a.m and record a YouTube video at 11:30 a.m. outside the Magnolia Room.

“Though we enjoy singing together, we rarely get a chance to do it,” says Alison Wiley (’71) from Arlington, Va. “But once or twice a decade, any time there’s a handful of us in the same room, we notice that we can, amazingly, still come up with the parts and words to at least one or two of our ‘hits.'”

Women were first admitted to Wake Forest in 1941. Societies were local groups formed to encourage young women to make friends and form close connections before the advent of national sororities at Wake Forest.

Categories: Alumni, Events, For Alumni, Top Stories