Welcome Back, Deacs!

Dear Wake Forest community, 

Welcome back! I hope that you were able to travel safely back to Mother So Dear, and that each of you is ready to take on a new year, a new semester, a new chapter in your Wake Forest story. 

Our Reynolda campus is certainly beautiful during the quiet breaks, especially during snowfalls like we had over the weekend. But, it is the buzz of conversation, friendship, discovery, and inspiration that awakens this place into the dynamic center of intellectual and personal growth that we know it to be. Take a moment today and listen. You will hear it, and I will too: stories about visits home, or last semester’s study abroad; comparison of new course schedules and plans for projects among new classmates; and teammates contemplating a new season together.  

As we begin this new semester, I invite you to appreciate the chorus of unique voices, experiences, and interests that form our community. Universities exist to bring all of us together in service to a common purpose: learning and discovery. Indeed, Wake Forest is a learning environment where each of us can cultivate our perspectives by testing and refining them in dialogue and engagement with others; our ability to do so is central to our mission. 

I learned very early in my career that academic freedom and freedom of expression are fundamental tenets of higher education and public life. And this semester, our community will continue to explore how we articulate these bedrock tenets in our next phase of work developing the University’s academic freedom and freedom of expression statement. I hope you will participate in the opportunities offered to ensure your unique voice can be heard. 

We have the opportunity at Wake Forest to pay attention both to the individual and to the distinct blending of voices in our community – to hear how each good question asked, each personal story shared furthers our understanding of and love for the humanity our motto charges us to serve. That is my challenge to all of us this semester – to add your voice and to listen. 

Sincerely, 
Susan R. Wente