A message from President Hatch
President Hatch emailed this message to students, faculty and staff on January 15:
Happy New Year! Welcome to the beginning of 2020 and a new semester.
As we begin this year, I offer all of us a single challenge: Be present. Even as you juggle the many demands on your time, permit yourself to be engaged. Honor those around you by offering them your full attention. Allow the fear of missing out to be replaced by the pleasure of your present situation. Wherever you are, whatever you find yourself doing, be all there.
Last semester, our presence together produced some good results. We celebrated members of our community through the collaborative arts in “From the Ground Up.” We saw environmental science approved as a major course of study. We celebrated the victories of our athletic teams. And we launched our Wake West program, where students will learn, study and live in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Some of the work we started as a community last semester will once again require our full attention. As you know, the President’s Commission on Race, Equity and Community was charged with assessing the current realities of our community and the present condition of our institutional policies and practices to develop specific and actionable recommendations that will cultivate a more diverse, equitable and welcoming learning community. While the Commission made great progress in the last few months, the important work continues this semester. The best place to stay apprised of the current work and next steps is the Commission’s website.
Additionally, the Slavery, Race and Memory Project continues to guide the research, preservation and communication of an accurate depiction of the University’s relationship to slavery and its implications across our history. To keep updated on the progress of this group, including the many plans for this year, visit the Project’s website.
I am grateful to the many members of these groups who have made this critical work a priority. The progress is encouraging, and I look forward to hearing their recommendations to make Wake Forest a place where all feel a keen sense of belonging.
As this community focuses on topics surrounding race and inequity, we will also welcome various voices to our conversation. Among the many guests invited to campus are professor and author Ibram X. Kendi on January 20; NBA All-Star Kyle Korver on January 29; and author and public intellectual Cornel West on March 20. I hope you plan to join us in the ongoing conversation.
The commitment to focusing on the present is part of being a hospitable community. It conveys that the people and projects in front of us, asking for our time and attention, are important. May this semester be one where we find each other — wherever it may be — fully present.
Sincerely,
President Nathan O. Hatch
Categories: Inside WFU, University Announcement
'From the Ground Up' showcased facilities staff and their contributions to campus
Housekeeping staff, arborists, turf crew members, locksmiths and carpenters were among the nearly 70 participants performing on Hearn Plaza in the original dance piece “From the Ground Up.” Performances were held on Oct. 3, 4 and 5.
Click here to download the program.
More than two-and-a-half years in the making, “From the Ground Up” was a collaboration between Wake Forest and Forklift Danceworks, a dance company based in Austin, Texas, whose mission is to use creative dance to build community. Cindy Gendrich, theatre professor and director of the University’s Interdisciplinary Performance and Liberal Arts Center (IPLACe); Christina Soriano, dance professor and associate provost for the arts and interdisciplinary programs at Wake Forest; and John Shenette, vice president, facilities and campus services, were the forces that helped move the project forward.
For more information and a video about the production, visit here.
Categories: Inside WFU, Staff News
'From the Ground Up' to be performed Oct. 3, 4 and 5
Rehearsal Oct. 2 of “From the Ground Up”
“From the Ground Up,” an event celebrating Wake Forest’s Facilities and Campus Services team, will take place three consecutive nights, starting tonight (Oct. 3).
More than 60 team members–including custodial, maintenance and utilities, landscaping, construction, and waste reduction–will be the stars of “From the Ground Up.” Using original choreography and music, the performance on Hearn Plaza will highlight the grace and skill in the work that keeps Wake Forest’s campus running.
Free and open to the entire campus community and the public, the show will begin at 7 p.m. nightly. Limited bleacher seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.
During the performance, all on campus are encouraged to stay off Hearn Plaza sidewalks, lawn and any other areas where performers and equipment of all sorts–ranging from mowers to backhoes to golf carts–are participating in the show.
Categories: Events, Inside WFU
