WFU in the news: June 5-11, 2023

FEATURED NEWS

6 books that explain the history and meaning of Juneteenth
By Corey D. B. Walker | The Conversation
After decades of being celebrated at mostly the local level, Juneteenth – the long-standing holiday that commemorates the arrival of news of emancipation and freedom to enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, in 1865 – became a federal holiday in 2021. In honor of this year’s Juneteenth, humanities professor Corey D. B. Walker shares a list of readings that can help people better understand the history and meaning of the observance. – 6/09/2023

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

Bigger budgets and a higher profile for college career centers
By Johanna Alonso | Inside Higher Ed
The Office of Personal and Career Development “is an educational unit to the students, a service unit to the employers and a revenue-generating unit,” said Andy Chan, vice president of personal and career development. Chan was one of the first career-development officials to serve on a university president’s cabinet. Wake Forest has become a leader in career services, launching a series of summer open houses to teach other institutions how to mimic key elements of its program. – 6/07/2023

New study takes a high-level look at Nazca boobies’ breeding
Phys.org
Nazca boobies can live to 28 years of age, but in their late teens, their ability to raise chicks declines substantially. Why their breeding drops in old age has plagued biology professor David Anderson for years. But a new study, published in Ecology and Evolution, may help answer the question, by looking at their ability to forage, or search for and capture food. – 6/09/2023

What the debt ceiling deal means for agencies
Kevin Bogardus | E&E News
Stan Meiburg, who served as EPA acting deputy administrator during the Obama administration, said the agency has the most money in its history, adding in the funding of over $100 billion from the climate and infrastructure laws combined. “I think the EPA is still very much in a hiring mode,” said Meiburg, now the executive director of the Center for Energy, Environment and Sustainability at Wake Forest. “People keep retiring. You have to keep replacing people who have left.” – 6/09/2023

Pat Robertson transformed American religion and politics for the worse
By Michael Paul Williams | Richmond Times-Dispatch
“Pat Robertson is part of that post-World War II wave of evangelical conservative Christians who sought not only to expand their religious ranks, but who saw it as part of their religious calling to change the very culture and fabric of American society,” said Corey D.B. Walker, interim dean of the School of Divinity. “He did it by harnessing the nascent power of television and other forms of visual media to not only advance evangelical conservative Christianity…but also a new style of conservative politics that did not believe that there should be a separation of church and state.” – 6/10/2023

Loosening youth employment regulations empowers teens
By Kerry McDonald | The Independent Review
According to economics professor Robert Whaples: “Most economic historians conclude that this [FLSA] legislation was not the primary reason for the reduction and virtual elimination of child labor between 1880 and 1940. Instead, they point out that industrialization and economic growth brought rising incomes, which allowed parents the luxury of keeping their children out of the workforce.” – 6/06/2023

The myth of the responsible gun owner: An American nightmare
By Alan Berlow | Washington Monthly
According to sociologist David Yamane, who studies firearms training and authors American gun culture, “Not only do we not know how many firearms instructors there are, but we also don’t know who they are, what they teach, or what qualifies them to teach,” especially in the area of training for concealed carriers. – 6/05/2023

The Top 10 Most Beautiful College Campuses in U.S.
MSN
Wake Forest University makes this list highlighting a selection of college campuses renowned for their captivating beauty. – 6/06/2023

LOCAL

Sens. Thom Tillis and Ted Budd say former President Donald Trump deserves a presumption of innocence amid legal issues
By John Hinton | Winston-Salem Journal
“A key question is whether at a certain point this week’s indictments and other charges that Trump is defending against will begin to lead some Republican officials and Republican primary voters to reconsider their support for him and look more closely at some of the other candidates in the Republican presidential nominating field who are not facing so many legal challenges,” said politics professor John Dinan. – 6/10/2023

NC General Assembly poised to clear sports wagering bill
By Richard Craver | Winston-Salem Journal
It’s unusual for one chamber to accept major changes to its initial legislation. “This usually happens when the margin of support for a bill is somewhat narrow in one chamber,” said politics professor John Dinan. “Supporters of the bill have an interest in not making additional changes that might disrupt an occasionally fragile coalition of legislators favoring a particular package that has already passed one chamber.” – 6/06/2023

Wake Forest ends law school dean search with Indiana peer
By Richard Craver | Winston-Salem Journal
Wake Forest University School of Law has selected Andrew Klein as its new dean, a peer from the Indiana University System. Klein will start as dean on July 1, replacing Neil Newton who served as interim dean after former dean Jane Aiken stepped down in July. Klein comes to Wake Forest after serving as interim chancellor of Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and as an executive vice president of Indiana University. – 5/25/2023

This story was also covered by law.com, The Indiana Lawyer, the Triad Business Journal, the Indianapolis Business Journal and The Association of American Law Schools.