Wake Forest to rename South Hall in honor of two extraordinary University citizens

Updated: Thursday, Feb. 20 (8:22 p.m.)

Dear members of the Wake Forest community,

I am pleased to announce that Wake Forest will rename South Residence Hall for two Wake Forest University alumni and professors, each a trailblazer and exemplar Demon Deacon in their own right: Beth Hopkins (‘73) and the late Dr. Larry Hopkins (’72, MD ’77). 

Beth Hopkins has been a champion for justice, equity, education and athletics across her extensive career after graduating cum laude from Wake Forest in 1973 as one of the University’s first two Black women residential students. She served as a federal prosecutor and as a civil rights attorney, where she worked at the law firm of one of her heroes, civil rights icon and Brown v. Board of Education attorney Oliver Hill. She served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Virginia and Louisiana and as an Assistant Attorney General in Virginia.  

She returned to Wake Forest and has held a variety of leadership and teaching roles – most recently as a University Trustee and, prior to her retirement, as the inaugural director of the Smith Anderson Center for Community Outreach at the School of Law. Beth has done extensive work for the United States Tennis Association (UTSA) and received the Billie Jean King Champion of Equality award in 2023.

She is well-known throughout the Wake Forest community as an exceptional teacher, mentor, and advocate. In 2023, Beth received the Wake Forest Distinguished Alumni award.

Dr. Larry Hopkins, a Wake Forest Athletics Hall of Fame running back, became a physician and assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Wake Forest School of Medicine. He was a leader in improving access and outcomes for women’s and neonatal health in Winston-Salem. His impact as a community leader, mentor, and long-time University Trustee, led to him being bestowed with the University’s top honor, the Medallion of Merit. 

Naming a building on campus – particularly a residence hall – is a rare opportunity and one of the highest honors a University can bestow. I am especially grateful to the South Hall Ad Hoc Administrative Committee on Honorifics members for their careful deliberation and recommendation to me and to the Board of Trustees for their endorsement of this change.

Beth and Larry Hopkins changed Wake Forest and Winston-Salem for the better. We are forever grateful to them both and look forward to seeing Hopkins Hall honor their legacy.

You can read more about the lives and impact of Beth and Larry Hopkins on Wake Forest News.

Sincerely,

Susan R. Wente, Ph.D.

President