WFU in the news Jan. 31 - Feb. 6

FEATURED NEWS

‘Abbott Elementary’ has teachers laughing — and relating
By Leah Asmelash | CNN
Television has had a complicated relationship with teachers, and there are very few shows that show teachers in a positive light. “Abbott,” might be one of the few, said communication professor Mary Dalton who studies the representation of educators in popular culture. “This is the first female teacher character in a comedy who has been portrayed in a positive light, and who is realistic, like a well-rounded person, in a very long time.” – 2/02/2022

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

Leading with Heart: Dr. Shea Kidd Brown
By Liann Herder | Diverse: Issues In Higher Education
From a weary teenager on a university campus to becoming vice president of campus life at Wake Forest, Shea Kidd Brown has been positively impacting the lives of students, faculty, and staff for almost two decades. – 2/02/2022

Thousands of tree species remain unknown to science
By Stephanie Pappas | Scientific American
Though trees are hard to miss, they are also hard to quantify. They are not even always easy to identify. “Their crowns are hundreds of feet up; they’re in between other things; they look like similar [species],” said Miles Silman, a conservation biologist at Wake Forest who was not involved in the new study. “It’s a rare breed of person that sits out in the wild for months on end and looks at every single tree.” – 1/31/2022

Women lying about their age is getting old
By Precious Adesina | Refinery29 Australia
Research by sociology professor Catherine Harnois, shows women are significantly more likely to face gender- or age-based discrimination than men of all ages. With that in mind, it’s no wonder women bend the truth. – 2/02/2022

Arbery killers’ failed pleas may complicate hate crime trial
Associated Press
Law professor Kami Chavis said the decision to press the federal hate crimes case even after the McMichaels and Bryan were convicted of murder sent a message that “in our country, you cannot kill or injure someone because of their status or their race.’ – 2/05/2022

Nicaragua strips universities’ legal status in new attack on dissent
By Ismael Lopez | The Washington Post
The Government Ministry announced it was canceling operating permits for seven foreign academic programs in Nicaragua, including those associated with Florida International University, Michigan State and Wake Forest University. The immediate impact of that action was not clear, as many of those programs appeared to have stopped functioning years ago. Wake Forest’s property in Nicaragua was sold in 2016. – 2/04/2022

Fire at fertilizer plant may cause explosion, area evacuated
Associated Press
The City of Winston-Salem is asking people within one mile of a raging blaze at a fertilizer plant to evacuate due to the possibility of a large explosion. Wake Forest University, most of which lies just outside the evacuation zone, canceled classes and urged students in dormitories to stay indoors with windows closed. – 2/01/2022

This story appeared in national and international news outlets.

REGIONAL & TRADE

Fertilizer plant fire in Winston-Salem disrupts Wake Forest University
By Lillian Johnson | Triad Business Journal
A fire at a fertilizer plant in northwest Winston-Salem disrupted a section of the city Tuesday, including manufacturing facilities, businesses and Wake Forest University. Officials ordered a voluntary evacuation within a mile radius of the fire, with fears of an explosion ongoing, and warn it will likely be in effect till Wednesday night. – 2/01/2022

Additional news coverage appeared in local/regional/national media outlets.

African Americans In The Civil War
By Paul Escott | HistoryNet
Parul Escott is the Reynolds Professor of History at Wake Forest. This article is adapted from his most recent book, “What Shall We Do With the Negro?”: Lincoln, White Racism, and Civil War. – 2/01/2022

LOCAL

The Reynolda House: The history and the future
By Eric Chilton | WFMY-TV (Greensboro, NC)
The Reynolds built Reynolda House as their country estate where they would raise their kids,” said executive director Allison Perkins, “Their land stretched out over 1000 acres into what today holds Wake Forest University and even Graylyn Estate. – 2/03/2022

What does low unemployment mean for Triad’s economy?
By Richard Craver | Winston-Salem Journal
“The dominant trend has been that the president’s party loses seats in mid-term elections, and there are very few exceptions to this trend,” said politics professor John Dinan, who is a national expert on state legislatures. – 2/05/2022