WFU in the news: July 29-Aug. 4, 2024

FEATURED NEWS

International Black Theatre Festival audiences respond to JuCoby Johnson’s new play ‘Heritage’
By David Ford | WFDD-FM (Winston-Salem, NC)
As people pass through the Ring Theatre lobby [at Wake Forest] on the way to their seats, there’s a strong feeling of excitement and anticipation in the air for “Heritage,” a dynamic new play by New York-based playwright JuCoby Johnson. The room is filled to capacity with extra chairs brought in last-minute for overflow seating.”Heritage” by New York-based playwright JuCoby Johnson had its world premiere this week at the International Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem. Produced by the N.C. Black Repertory, which produces the International Black Theatre Festival biennially in Winston-Salem, “Heritage” was sponsored by the Henry Luce Foundation and is part of the Wake the Arts, and Wake Forest School of Divinity‘s Finding Holy Ground series. – 8/02/2024

The Finding Holy Ground collaboration and plays were also covered by Classical Voice of North Carolina and Spectrum News.

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan freed in largest US-Russia prisoner exchange since Cold War
By Li Zhou | Vox
Two prominent Americans held by Russia — Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former Marine Paul Whelan — will return to the US as part of a massive, multi-country prisoner swap. That this — one of the most complicated prisoner swaps in history — happened at all is significant, though it’s unlikely to signal a serious improvement in the relationship between the US and Russia, as the latter’s invasion of Ukraine continues. “Relations are still at a nadir and will remain so absent any fundamental change in Russia’s war on Ukraine,” said Adam Lenton, a Wake Forest international politics professor who studies Russian politics. – 8/01/2024

As VP Harris brings joy to the presidential campaign, the GOP’s taunt ‘laughing Kamala’ highlights a long history of disrespecting Black women
Fast Company
In this piece originally featured in The Conversation, Duchess Harris writes about a book co-edited with Wake Forest political science professor Julia Jordan-Zachery. The book, “Black Girl Magic Beyond the Hashtag,” describes how Black girls and women maintain their humanity in the face of hostility by fostering community, countering invisibility, and creating spaces for freedom. – 8/04/2024

Why do paper bags have a zig-zag cut at the top?
By Janet Nguyen | Marketplace
“If paper bags are finished with a straight cut, there is a tendency during the cutting process for some bags to tear ahead of the cut line as the blade moves through the paper. These tears can result in an uneven and potentially unsightly finish to the edge of the bag, which may render them unusable,” marketing professor Roger Beahm. – 8/02/2024

Pride in the Pews announces new faith leaders fellowship to address the HIV epidemic in the South
By Rizki Fauzi | Religion News Service
Pride in the Pews, in collaboration with the Faith COMPASS Center at Wake Forest University School of Divinity, is thrilled to introduce the 2024-2025 Faith and HIV Advocacy Fellowship (FHF). This innovative leadership program is dedicated to empowering Black faith leaders to foster meaningful dialogue and action at the intersections of HIV and AIDS, the Black Church, and LGBTQ+ identity. – 8/01/2024

REGIONAL & TRADE

Appeals court reverses decision to dismiss a lawsuit over the killing of a teenager by Greensboro officer
By David Ford | WFDD-FM (Winston-Salem, NC)
Criminal law professor Ron Wright said the ruling sends all claims against the officer back to the district court to start it all up again. “This is a way of saying, ‘Hey, district court judge, you’re supposed to decide the legal questions, and the jury is supposed to decide the factual questions,’” he said. “‘And we believe here, judge, that you strayed over the line a bit and you resolved a factual question that really was close enough — it could have gone either way. You can interpret this video to support several different ways of understanding the use of force.” – 7/31/2024

LOCAL

Drop in church attendance seen in Piedmont Triad
WGHP-TV (High Point, NC)
Data show that more people have withdrawn from a religious affiliation. Nine percent of people said they had no religious affiliation compared to 21% of those polled from 2021 to 2023. “These are challenging and complex times for communities of faith across the nation,” Dean of Wake Forest University School of Divinity Corey D. B. Walker said. Walker has been watching religious trends for his entire career. – 8/01/2024

A media link is not available for this story.

Cooper exits from Democratic VP consideration, citing ‘it’s not the right time’
By Richard Craver | Greensboro News & Record
“Presumably signals had been sent from the Harris camp that their search had narrowed and gone in a different direction, thereby allowing Cooper to withdraw from consideration on his own terms,” said politics professor John Dinan. “After all, only one person can be chosen for the vice president nominee, and there are at least a handful of strong candidates who come from swing states and who would provide some ideological balance to the ticket in the way that Cooper would have done.” –  7/30/2024

Teens from Title I schools dive into STEM with WFU program
By Keri Brown | WGHP-TV (High Point, NC)
Sixteen-year-old Madelyne Tucker arrives early to set up her display for the WF LEAP symposium in the lobby of Wake Downtown. Wake Forest LEAP offers students a unique opportunity to gain hands-on lab research experience while earning a paid internship. The goal is to increase the number of traditionally underrepresented youth and minorities in the STEM education pipeline. – 8/01/2024

Spectrum News also covered this story.

WAKE FOREST NEWS

Wake Forest’s educating character initiative to grant an additional $10M to support character education across the U.S.
By Cheryl V. Walker | Wake Forest News
Wake Forest University’s Program for Leadership and Character will grant an additional $10 million to further help colleges and universities nationwide develop their own character education programs and initiatives. The funding comes from a new $12.4 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. which will also support coaching, resources, and workshops for faculty across the country. In 2023, Lilly Endowment Inc. – 7/30/2024

WFU and NC Black Rep collaboration ‘Finding Holy Ground’ to spark community conversation
By Kim McGrath | Wake Forest News
The project, “Finding Holy Ground: Performing Visions of Race and Justice in America,” was announced in January 2022 with a $250,000 grant received by Wake Forest from the Henry Luce Foundation. The following September, playwrights JuCoby Johnson and Eljon Wardally were selected to each receive a $10,000 commission, developmental workshop support and fully staged productions of their plays. – 7/29/2024