Update on Campus Memorialization Project

A message from Provost Michele Gillespie and Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion José Villalba

As we near the end of the fall semester, we invite you to review Wake Forest’s ongoing work on the Campus Memorialization Project. As we shared back in September, our institution is committed to building a memorial to the enslaved individuals who were sold to help establish Wake Forest College’s first endowment, as well as those individuals who labored on the original campus. An account of our historical ties to the institution of slavery can be found at the Slavery, Race, and Memory Project website. 

In October and November of 2024, Baskervill (the design firm Wake has contracted to assist with planning, designing, and building the memorial) offered a series of presentations to community members and governance groups, focused on a collection of  conceptual themes and potential campus zones for this memorial. This presentation can be found on the campus memorialization website, along with the report Baskervill used to ground these conceptual themes. Baskervill, in collaboration with members of the Campus Memorialization Steering Committee, led an effort to collect reactions to the conceptual themes and potential zones from 172 students, staff, faculty, administrators and alumni. Ultimately, the guidance and leadership exhibited by Steering Committee members has contributed to a thorough, intentional process for establishing a memorial on our campus that represents the sacrifices made by forgotten founders of our institution.

As we enter the next phase of this initiative – one that will lead to initial designs and specific locations being shared with the campus community in the next few months – members of our community should anticipate updates to this work.

Parallel to the forward movement on the design of the memorial, curricular and co-curricular planning is also underway by the Steering Committee, and in collaboration with the Slavery, Race and Memory Project, honoring the requests of countless Wake Foresters recommending that we deliberately incorporate the memorial and our full history in a manner that more accurately represents Wake Forest.

In closing, we extend our gratitude to all the members of our Wake Forest University community who participated in the Campus Memorialization Project this semester. And we repeat our deep and genuine appreciation for every member of the Steering Committee.