Kim McGrath

The WFU Awards and Recognitions briefs celebrate milestones of faculty, staff and students at Wake Forest.

The Medallion of Merit is presented to individuals who have rendered distinguished service to the University, including past presidents, trustees, benefactors, alumni, and retired faculty and administrators. This year Winston-Salem's Dr. Larry Hopkins and Asheville attorney Lou Bissette were honored.

As the oldest of four siblings, Lainey Drake takes credit for leading the astronaut games they played as children – swinging into space on their tire swing and dashing around galactic obstacles in the universe. This summer, thanks to the Brooke Owens Fellowship, Drake will help pioneer commercial space travel as an engineering intern at Virgin Galactic.

The course “Classics Beyond Whiteness” was originally limited to 15 students. Twenty-six registered. “I couldn’t turn students away,” said classics professor T.H.M. Gellar-Goad. The fall class was one of several planned courses, events and programming focusing on “Classics Beyond Whiteness” - a multidisciplinary collaboration that examines a misleading and damaging tendency to focus on white scholars and perspectives in claissical studies while excluding black voices.

Wake Forest University Professor of Music David Levy, author of “Beethoven: The Ninth Symphony,” has been engaged in Beethoven scholarship throughout his 44-year academic career. He is available to comment during the year-long celebration of Beethoven's 250th birthday.