WFU to celebrate conferring of degrees for Class of 2020

Media are invited to tune in to go.wfu.edu/wfugrad20 to view the ceremony, which is expected to last approximately 20 minutes. The virtual event will include special surprises to celebrate graduates. Media can pull from YouTube or Facebook video feeds for broadcast needs. Links will be available by Friday, May 15, on this Virtual Conferring of Degrees website. Follow #WFU20 on social media. 

Graduates have been encouraged to wear Gold and Black attire and prepare Arnold Palmers (half tea/half lemonade) to toast. Virtual backdrops and social media frames have been provided for the celebration.

Seniors are available ahead of the event. Please contact media@wfu.edu to request an interview.

• Winston-Salem’s Monet Beatty, a biology major and member of Wake Forest’s dance ensemble, will be working as a Wake Forest fellow in the School of Business and pursuing a masters degree in sustainability. Beatty’s family runs the Institute of Divine Arts and Monet has been dancing since she was a child. “Dance and biology are both problem-solving disciplines. Both shape the way we look at the world.”
• Politics and International Studies grad Lizzie Pittinger has accepted a position in Washington, D.C. with Volkswagen in their government relations office. In her Afro Cuban drumming class this spring, she learned of the power commonalities have to bring people together despite differences. “This lesson will be useful to remember as I begin a career in politics.”
• Sam Chason has been awarded a Deac Pass to join the Winston-Starts business incubator. He plans to continue growing Storage Scholars, the business he launched at Wake Forest with support from the University’s Center for Entrepreneurship. 
• Mellie Mesfin, a business and enterprise management major, with a concentration in business law, will be working with Deloitte’s Government and Public Services consulting division after graduation. She served as WFU’s student government president this academic year and is a leader in social justice and community service.

In-person Commencement for the Class of 2020 is scheduled to take place on Saturday, October 31 at 1 p.m. Should public health concerns continue to prevent gathering in large groups this fall, the alternate commencement date will be Saturday, May 22, 2021.