Support for Charleston

The Wake Forest University community joins the nation in mourning the victims and searching for answers in light of last week’s shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C.

“In the wake of this terrible tragedy, we search for hope, understanding and healing,” said Wake Forest President Nathan O. Hatch. “We continue to keep the people of Charleston in our thoughts and prayers and offer support to all those in our own community who have been affected by this horrible event.”

On Friday, June 19, a prayer service was held on campus in remembrance of the victims. Members of the Wake Forest community gathered from 2-3 p.m. in Davis Chapel to show solidarity and support.  The service was organized by the Office of the Chaplain and coordinated by Associate Chaplain K. Monet Rice-Jalloh with the help of the LGBTQ Center, the School of Divinity, and others across campus.

“The history of America and the Negro is wrought with incidence of violence in worship spaces,” said Rice-Jalloh. “Yet, we continue to gather and pray not because we are mindless pawns seeking anesthetic for our minds, but because we know that prayer is resistance and power and repair for our souls. The grief of those gathered for our prayer meeting was like an aroma of heaviness. But the audacity to pray beneath a dense theological cloud, lifts the words of scriptural faith in our midst, ‘hither to (to this place) has the Lord kept us.'”

Wake Forest offers counseling services for all students, faculty and staff. The Counseling Center may be reached at 758-5273, and the Office of the Chaplain at 758-5210. Faculty and staff may also contact the Employee Assistance Program at 716-5493.

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