WFU in the news: Dec. 6-12

FEATURED NEWS

Shea Kidd Brown named Vice President for Campus Life
By Cheryl V. Walker | news.wfu.edu

Wake Forest has appointed Shea Kidd Brown as vice president for campus life. Kidd Brown is known for her commitment to student care, belonging and success. “Shea Kidd Brown cares passionately about the wellbeing and development of students and will provide strategic, visionary leadership,” said Wake Forest University President Susan R. Wente. “This is an incredibly important and influential role on a residential and highly relational campus like ours, and she is exceptionally well-qualified to both meet the needs of students and expand opportunities for engagement.” – 12/09/2021

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

Plastic recycling: ‘Advanced’ method may not live up to its hype
By Xander Peters | Christian Science Monitor
“This a way for the petrochemical industry to sort of signal that they’re responding and being responsive to some of these concerns that the public is raising” about the plastics crisis, said Sarah Morath, an associate professor of environmental law and food law and the author of the forthcoming book, “Our Plastic Problem and How to Solve It.” – 12/08/2021

‘More cautious’ China shifts Africa approach from debt to vaccine diplomacy
By Vincent Ni, Helen Davidson | The Guardian
“In a way, Xi’s reduced financial pledge is not surprising because we’ve already seen signs in the last couple of years,” said politics and international affairs professor Lina Benabdallah. “China has entered a phase of greater caution with regard to Africa. – 12/07/2021

REGIONAL & TRADE

How jobs at Bank of America have been hit by market shift
By Caroline Hudson | Charlotte Business Journal
Finance professor Ajay Patel is quoted in this article on how Charlotte-based BofA is adjusting its employee headcount for a post-pandemic era, largely driven by changes in client preferences and the need for efficiency. – 12/10/2021

The rise of IOU shopping in Charlotte
By Katie Peralta Soloff | Axios Charlotte
Americans’ use of “buy now, pay later” options surged 438% between 2019 and 2021. Marketing professor Roger Beahm shares three main conditions that have come together to drive this new customer behavior and growth in a new consumer finance product category. – 12/11/2021

LOCAL

New state law makes it harder for families to access police body-cam footage
By Sayaka Matsuoka | Triad City Beat
“This is unnecessarily restrictive and it creates an additional hurdle that impedes the spirit of transparency that these body-worn camera laws were enacted to address,” said Kami Chavis, a law professor and director of Wake Forest’s criminal justice program. – 12/11/2021

Sam Gladding, Wake Forest professor who counseled relatives of 9/11 victims, dies at 76
By John Hinton | Winston-Salem Journal
Wake Forest counseling professor Sam Gladding died Monday in Winston-Salem. He was 76. “People would ask him, ‘When are you going to retire?’” Claire Gladding said. “He would say, ‘Why would I retire? I have the best job in the world.’” Gladding “loved his students,” his wife Claire said. “He loved teaching and he loved Wake Forest. He couldn’t have been happier.” – 12/07/2021

WAKE FOREST NEWS

The entrepreneur next door
By Kim McGrath | news.wfu.edu
Say the word “entrepreneur” and most think of Steve Jobs or Elon Musk, Oprah Winfrey or Jeff Bezos and tales of genius dreamers who single-handedly take an idea and turn it into a billion-dollar business. Professor Rebecca Gill, whose work integrates communication with the study of entrepreneurship, wants her students to hear a different story. – 12/09/2021

Wake Forest’s high student voter turnout gets awarded
By Laurie Willis | news.wfu.edu
For years, leaders in Wake Forest’s Office of Civic & Community Engagement (OCCE) have worked to engage students in the election process. Their efforts are paying off in a big way. In 2020, 78.2% of eligible Wake Forest students voted in the Presidential Election, surpassing the national average of 66% by more than 12 percentage points. The 78% mark far eclipsed Wake Forest’s totals in the 2016 Presidential Election, when only 48.3% of eligible students cast ballots. – 12/08/2021