WFU in the news: Sept. 25-Oct. 1, 2023

FEATURED NEWS

US should change course in West Africa to avert loss of life
By Will Walldorf | Chicago Tribune Opinion
After a brief hiatus following the coup there in late July, the United States has resumed military operations in Niger. Drones and manned aircraft are back at work. U.S. defense officials and training will resume at some point soon as well. None of this is good news. Thirty years ago, 18 U.S. soldiers died and were dragged through the streets of Mogadishu in what’s known as the Black Hawk Down incident, writes politics and international affairs professor Will Walldorf. – 10/01/2023

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

More rankings follies
By Holden Thorp | Science Magazine
Holden Thorp, editor of “Science,” praised Wake Forest’s response to its drop in U.S. News & World Report rankings. “When I read President Susan Wente’s email, it was very calm and said, “This is why this happened for those of you who are interested. Wake Forest is still doing the same things that we were doing before.” I thought that was sensible. Wake Forest had “a very level-headed statement.” – 9/30/2023

Following Affirmative Action ban, can early decision survive?
By Mark J. Drozdowski | BestColleges
Thus far, colleges offering early decision haven’t denounced the practice, although Brown’s internal investigations might conclude as much. Could the university adopt a more forgiving early action policy and, in doing so, persuade other early decision schools to follow suit? Perhaps these colleges should instead follow Wake Forest University’s lead and institute an early action program for first-generation students as a way to encourage low-income and underrepresented students to apply. – 9/26/2023

Shutdown won’t freeze work on climate law
E&E News
The climate law, known as the Inflation Reduction Act, has received multiyear funding from Congress, so it isn’t subject to the same spending limitations as other government programs that are funded on a per-year basis. “Those funds under those pieces of law are treated differently than normal appropriations,” said Stan Meiburg, executive director of the Andrew Sabin Family Center for Environment and Sustainability. “The authorization doesn’t expire at the end of the fiscal year.” – 9/26/2023

The Congress for Jewish Culture to celebrate diamond jubilee with website launch
By Chloe Rabinowitz | BroadwayWorld.com
The Congress for Jewish Culture’s new website will begin a colossal literary and technical undertaking to provide previously unavailable functionality for a new Library and Leksikon section of the site. “The Leksikon has been an indispensable guide to students and scholars of modern Yiddish culture. A digital version of this work – which remains the most comprehensive guide to the world of Yiddish literature and scholarship – would not only make this work available to future generations of researchers but would open new avenues of research and make possible new ventures in Digital Humanities for Yiddish,” said history professor Barry Trachtenberg. – 9/26/2023

UK researchers lead multidisciplinary project for next-generation organic semiconductors
By Jake Kratzenberg | The Lane Report
A multi-institutional collaboration led by University of Kentucky researchers was one of 37 teams to receive National Science Foundation funding as part of that organization’s Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future program. The four-year, $1.8 million award engages research collaborators at Wake Forest University and Princeton University and will coordinate with National Institutes of Standards and Technology researchers. – 9/28/2023

REGIONAL & TRADE

WFU receives $5M gift to advance its environmental, sustainability efforts
Triad Business Journal
The gift will support research, education and outreach. It will also create new opportunities for faculty and students to develop new methods, technology and results and take them from academic spaces into the public arena. Wake Forest’s Center for the Environment, Energy and Sustainability will also be renamed the Andrew Sabin Family Center for Environment and Sustainability. The University is seeking additional support for the center, with a goal of creating a $10 million endowment. – 9/26/2023

Work begins on Phase II of Innovation Quarter in Winston-Salem a year late but with 1M extra SF
Triad Business Journal
Construction has begun on the second phase of Winston-Salem’s Innovation Quarter a year later than initially planned, but the project will also be substantially larger than first planned. When it was announced in 2021, Phase II called for ten buildings, 2.7 million gross square feet of space and 450 residential units. But IQ today announced the second phase will include an additional one million square feet of clinical, lab and office space. – 9/28/2023

$5 million gift will support environment and sustainability efforts at Wake Forest University
By Neal Charnoff | WFDD-FM (Winston-Salem, NC)
Wake Forest University has received a $5 million dollar gift to strengthen its work on environmental and sustainability issues. The investment comes from the Andrew Sabin Family Foundation. The goal is to support environmental research, education, and outreach through collaborations both on campus and with global partners. – 9/26/2023

LOCAL

Alton Pollard III will return to the faculty at Wake Forest University School of Divinity
By John Hinton | Winston-Salem Journal
Alton B. Pollard III will rejoin the faculty of the Wake Forest University School of Divinity and work as a professor of African American studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, the university said. Pollard will begin his duties on July 1, 2024. – 9/29/2023

Winston-Salem gets $35 million from state budget for new parking deck, other improvements near Coliseum, Wake Forest venues
By Wes Young, Wesley Young | Winston-Salem Journal
Paul McCartney’s live concert in Winston-Salem in 2022 taught the city a thing or two about the need for more parking in the area near the fairgrounds, Joel Coliseum and the stadium where Wake Forest University teams play football, Mayor Allen Joines said Friday. Joines and N.C. Rep. Donny Lambeth jointly announced this week that an appropriation of $35 million in the recently-approved state budget will pay for improvements in the area. Wake Forest President Susan R. Wente said the university is “proud to be a partner in these important commitments to the collective well-being of our community, and to be one of the many reasons people come to visit and fall in love with Winston-Salem.” – 10/01/2023

‘World-changing impact’: $5M grant to broaden WFU’s climate, environmental reach
By John Deem | Winston-Salem Journal
Andrew Sabin, CEO of New York-based Sabin Metal Corp., is the parent of two Wake Forest graduates and grandparent of a current student. The family’s foundation supports environmental programs internationally. The Sabin Center will focus on issues including the impact of rising global temperatures, biodiversity loss, environmental contamination, drought and water scarcity, resource depletion and deforestation. – 9/25/2023

How important is NC ahead of the 2024 presidential election?
By Kara Peters | WXII-TV (Winston Salem, NC)
“Presidential candidates are starting to set their eyes on which states will give them a boost in the long run. Face to Face Speaker Forum guest Michael Beschloss, a presidential historian for NBC News, said,”I think it’s hard to argue that there’s no way to the White House if you don’t win North Carolina.” Politics professor John Dinan commented on North Carolina’s newly drawn district maps. “Well, here we are again; we’re redrawing maps in the middle of the decade. The maps will be redrawn for the state House, the state Senate and 14 congressional districts.” – 9/28/2023

Attorneys are asking judge to dismiss convictions in connection with the death of Chris Paul’s grandfather
By John Hinton | Winston-Salem Journal
Attorneys for two Winston-Salem men who served lengthy prisons sentences for the 2002 murder of NBA star Chris Paul’s grandfather are asking a judge to dismiss their clients’ convictions. “The five young men who were wrongly charged and convicted are victims in a long line of injustice in certain cases in Winston-Salem,” said law professor Mark Rabil, director of Wake Forest’s Innocence and Justice Clinic. – 9/30/2023

WAKE FOREST NEWS

Wake Forest celebrates undergraduate research, creative work
By Keri Brown | Wake Forest News
Inside the lower gym at the Sutton Center, posters lined several rows as students prepared to talk about their research projects. URECA student research day is held in the fall each year during Family Weekend. This year, 140 undergraduate students and more than 120 faculty mentors participated in the event. – 9/26/2023

$5M gift from the Andrew Sabin Family Foundation advances environment and sustainability efforts
By Cheryl V. Walker | Wake Forest News
With a leadership gift from the Andrew Sabin Family Foundation, Wake Forest University will substantially expand its work to answer the world’s most pressing environmental and sustainability questions. Wake Forest’s Center for the Environment, Energy and Sustainability (CEES) will become the Andrew Sabin Family Center for Environment and Sustainability. The $5 million gift will support research, education and outreach through collaboration within the University and with partners around the globe. – 9/25/2023