Private memorial service for Dr. Maya Angelou to be held in Wait Chapel

About Maya Angelou and Wake Forest University

• Dr. Angelou’s first visit to campus was in 1973 for a speaking engagement in DeTamble Auditorium.
• Wake Forest awarded Dr. Angelou an honorary degree in 1977.
• Dr. Angelou served as Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University since 1982.
• She taught a variety of humanities courses, including “World Poetry in Dramatic Performance,” “Race, Politics and Literature,” “African Culture and Impact on U.S.,” “Race in the Southern Experience” and “Shakespeare and the Human Condition.”
• The last class she taught at Wake Forest was in the summer of 2011.
• Dr. Angelou was planning to teach a course this fall called “Race, Culture and Gender in the U.S. South and Beyond.”
• Her last public speaking engagement at Wake Forest University was on Nov. 6, 2013, when she delivered opening remarks in Brendle Recital Hall for a celebration of the campus-wide “Dignity and Respect Campaign.” Video of her remarks can be viewed here.