Dr. Wente’s Professional Why

Presidential Address; Nov. 20, 2025

Thank you, Lexi. Good afternoon, and I thank you for being here today. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to speak to you in my final Annual Address as Wake Forest’s 14th President. 

Leading Wake Forest University is not a job – it is a gift and it is a calling. I’ve often said that I didn’t know I wanted to be a scientist – let alone lead a university – when I first stepped into higher education. 

The best leaders I know – the people who to this day shape my understanding of what it means to be a good leader – are not motivated by position, but by purpose. 

They know their “why.” 

And their “why” shapes their path, guides their decisions, and steadies them in moments of challenge.

There are many ways to find your why. Mine began simply: I loved to learn. I loved solving puzzles, debating and studying all sides of an issue, finding solutions. 

And because I received some really good advice. 

As a first year college student, an advisor encouraged me to take more challenging courses. She saw in me what I felt, but didn’t know how to name – the foundation of my “why” – my love of learning. 

So I enrolled in calculus and found my way into a chemistry lab. And I discovered not only that I loved learning; I loved being in community with other learners – people driven to understand our world more deeply. 

First as a student, then as a faculty member, mentor, and administrator, I found that I had a passion for creating environments where others could thrive. Because even the most talented individuals cannot reach their full potential alone. 

This has long been my why: to build environments where learners can discover their passions and thrive – for the most good, for the most people. 

Looking back, it’s easy to see that my professional journey was leading me toward Wake Forest. 

Wake Forest – its mission, this community – called to me, as I know it has called so many of you. When I interviewed in 2020 – as I know even more deeply now: there is no other university like Wake Forest. 

There is no other university with: 

• Such determination for purposeful, principled excellence – guided by a motto centered on people, not status.
• No other university with so many exceptional teams of ambitious and compassionate individuals.
• No other university so in love with learning and so driven to do good that it can’t help but lead. 

It is this spirit that called me here. 

What We’ve Accomplished Together So Far

We began this nearly five year journey together in the midst of a global pandemic, a crisis that touched every one of us. And yet, this community had everything it needed to face those unprecedented challenges. And the unexpected socioeconomic and civic challenges that have followed. 

Sometimes, universities underestimate our ability to inspire change, healing, and renewal. But, today, in an age where truth, science and civic virtue are under strain, even in retreat, we need great universities. 

I am truly humbled by the scope and impact of the work we have accomplished together.

Since 2021, our shared work has delivered on the priorities we set: to focus on our people, to heed the call of our time, and the call of Pro Humanitate, to be a catalyst for good for our students, our communities, and society. 

Access and Affordability

In my inaugural address, I asked us to be catalysts for access and opportunity: and we are doing it. 

We have raised more than $160 million dollars for student financial aid through the For Humanity initiative. We created an Early Action Pathway for first generation students. 

And this fall, we announced the North Carolina Gateway to Wake Forest, guaranteeing that admitted students from North Carolina families earning $200,000 or less will attend tuition-free, beginning with the entering class in 2026. 

These are bold moves and ones that say to prospective students: Wake Forest can be your home.

Today there are more paths to Wake Forest, for more bright, talented students with hearts for humanity and a drive to do good. 

Access to higher education changed my life. And strengthening access and opportunity remains one of our most critical commitments – through the next seven months and beyond. 

Our Academic Strength and Leadership

We know that access and affordability are not the only drivers of students’ interest in Wake Forest. Exceptional students and faculty come here because they do not have to choose between small classes and cutting edge experiential learning opportunities, or between personal development and a robust professional network.

As teacher-scholars, our faculty know that at Wake Forest they are supported in both the transformative work of teaching and in advancing their pathbreaking research. 

Our staff know that Wake Forest is not only a place to forge a career – but an opportunity to be a full partner in supporting our shared mission. Together, we have been building a model, student centered research university, dedicated to the liberal arts and devoted to developing leaders of character and integrity. 

A university where everyone – from our first year students to scholars in our graduate and professional schools can make discoveries and create new knowledge for humanity. 

Our collective drive to serve the common good is directly linked to the strength of our scholarship and our academic leadership. Since 2021, we have recruited and retained exceptional deans across all six of our schools and the ZSR library. Each of these leaders share the Wake Forest passion for transformative, student-centered education that catalyzes good in the world. 

We have invested in endowments and partnerships that elevate our academic excellence and support a vibrant community of research, inquiry and innovation. In my first blog post as president, I asked you to embrace radical collaboration – and you did! 

Our interdisciplinary work is truly flourishing. The Sabin Center for Environment and Sustainability is leading globally significant research to conserve some of our world’s most important ecosystems through true intercultural, international cooperation. 

Our Neuroscience and Society initiative is bringing together the arts, sciences, humanities and ethics, to solve the most human questions of how we live, what we feel, and how we can more ethically engage one another. 

Our Center for Entrepreneurship – supported by our largest ever gift to an academic program – $30 million last year – is connecting students from all academic disciplines with the experiential learning needed to start successful business ventures that address real world needs – even before they graduate. 

And, we are so excited about the tremendous expansion of our efforts in Leadership and Character, where we are leading a national movement through our Educating Character Initiative, impacting institutions across the country. Our 2025 Institutional Impact Grants, supported by the Lilly Endowment, are providing 33 institutions of higher education with the support necessary to integrate character education into their distinctive institutional contexts. 

The success of the Educating Character Initiative demonstrates a powerful truth about Wake Forest: the ripple effects of our work here are expanding far beyond the borders of our campuses. 

And we are truly realizing enterprise-wide impact for our Wake Forest students; with dedicated program expansions in Medicine and Law supported by the Kern Foundation, in the Allegacy Center for Leadership and Character in the School of Business, and over 25 years of distinctive theological education in our School of Divinity. 

Wake Forest is not simply participating in national conversations; we are shaping them. 

We are leading. 

Charlotte Expansion

We have also expanded Wake Forest’s presence beyond Winston-Salem over the past four years, and especially in Charlotte. In December 2020, Atrium Health and Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, officially joined together. This partnership was strengthened further in 2022, when we celebrated the formation of Advocate Health and our Wake Forest University School of Medicine became the academic core of the third-largest, nonprofit, integrated health care system in the nation, and across six states. 

This summer we marked a true first when we opened a second campus of our School of Medicine- the first four year medical school in Charlotte. Building upon our more than 25 years of Business programs in Charlotte, these strategic moves increase our market presence, create new partnerships, and ultimately benefit our entire University with new opportunities for increased interdisciplinary collaboration. 

Because of these radical collaborations, and the many others taking place across our campuses, our Wake Forest culture of discovery and innovation for good is thriving. 

And our momentum is unmistakable. 

Undergraduate applications have grown 70 percent in the last five years. We just welcomed our largest and most selective class ever — 1,545 students – this fall. Families see the value of what Wake Forest offers: a rigorous education grounded in character, purpose, and community.

Our graduate and professional schools have also grown in impact. For example, this fall, we enrolled the largest class ever for our School of Law, the largest first year cohort in more than a decade for our School of Divinity, and our School of Professional Studies – which launched its first programs in Charlotte in January 2022, now offers 14 master’s degree programs and dozens of certificate and non-credit opportunities – with over 700 students. 

Athletics

As I was drafting this address, and asking myself: “what has changed in the last five years?” An obvious category was college athletics.

The Atlantic Coast Conference now spans coast to coast, student-athletes are rewarded for their name, image, and likeness, and countless other factors are actively reshaping the role and visibility of college athletics in the national media, commerce, and culture. 

In this complex new athletics landscape, I’m incredibly proud of how Wake Forest is moving forward with integrity, thoughtful financial management, and strong leadership. Wake Forest has not simply weathered the seismic shifts, we are leading, winning and remaining true to our commitment to a holistic student-athlete experience that develops leaders of character, on and off the field of play. 

And talk about winning! 

Since 2021, our Deacs have won two national championships – in women’s golf and in men’s tennis – and 7 ACC championships! 

So far this year – our football program – led by our first year coach Jake Dickert – secured bowl eligibility with a road win over Virginia and then returned to Allegacy stadium to defeat UNC last weekend! 

Women’s field hockey are ACC regular season co-champions! And Coach Jen Averill was named ACC Coach of the year! Both our men’s and women’s cross country programs will race in the NCAA championship meet in Columbia Missouri this weekend! 

And tonight – at 6pm in East Lansing – the Wake Forest Women’s Soccer Team takes on Michigan State in the second round of the NCAA tournament! 

Across every sport, our teams are performing with heart and discipline — proving that Wake Forest leads with principle and competes at the highest levels.

And I will never forget the oldest and winning-est team in Wake Forest’s history: our Wake Forest Debate Team. They achieved the coveted “Triple Crown” of college policy debate in 2023, winning the American Debate Association National Championship (ADA), the National Debate Tournament (NDT), and the Cross Examination Debate Association National Championship (CEDA) – all in the same year. In addition to ACC championships in 2021, 2023 and 2025. 

And just a few days ago, our debate program hosted our annual Franklin R. Shirley Classic – one of the largest and most prestigious collegiate debate tournaments in the nation. 

At this point, the only thing the team hasn’t debated is where to put all their trophies. 

People and Culture

Another thing that is not debatable: our people are the heart of Wake Forest. 

Creating an environment where people can thrive means making a concrete investment in their daily lives, their wellness, and their sense of belonging. This commitment led us to open the University’s first childcare center, a crucial step in supporting our faculty and staff families. We have enhanced wellness and belonging initiatives across campus, striving to create environments where all can feel seen and be supported. 

We launched the We Are Wake initiative, a comprehensive call to care for the mental health of all students. We have advanced fair compensation practices, such as increasing our minimum wage. And, over the past four years we have conducted the university’s first student campus climate survey on sexual misconduct; and the first comprehensive belonging and inclusion survey for all faculty, staff, and students. Collecting data, listening, and then making recommendations on campus climate is incredibly important, because we cannot take action if we do not understand what the needs are. I am grateful to all who work so hard to foster a supportive and thriving campus community, and am heartened by how our focus on humanity extends beyond our campuses.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and the devastation in Western North Carolina last year, hundreds across campus – and many more in our extended Wake Forest alumni network – stepped in and stepped up. 

Immediately, we got right to work raising funds, collecting supplies, and partnering with regional organizations. And now this fall – during a challenging time for so many in North Carolina and beyond – Wake Forest is collaborating to address pressing issues in our greater communities: food insecurity and K-12 education. 

Right now – our Staff Advisory Council, the Wake Forest Law Pro Bono Project, Student Government and others are partnering with Second Harvest Food Bank to collect much needed pantry staples. And on Saturday, Wake Forest will host nearly 3,000 public school educators and staff for Educator Celebration Day at the football game versus Delaware to show our Winston-Salem/Forsyth County teachers and staff that we see them, we support them, and we appreciate their work on behalf of our community’s children. 

I encourage you to engage in these opportunities to demonstrate that pro humanitate is a verb, an action to care for others. 

Spaces and Places 

These efforts collectively reflect one of my strongly held beliefs: universities have a fundamental responsibility to lift up the communities we call home. 

Universities are often leading economic engines in their cities; and that is true for Wake Forest. We are a hub, a catalyst, a living room and learning space for our whole community. 

As part of this, we launched The Grounds project to transform a long-underutilized asset into a place for community connection and economic growth. 

Continued transformation is taking shape across The Grounds. Silas Creek is now visible — and beautiful — for the first time in decades. Construction of a greenway path through the Grounds is underway, and it will eventually connect to a revitalized path across University Parkway into campus. 

So very soon, students and community members will be able to walk to – and safely cross – University Parkway to cheer on the Deacs, have dinner with friends, visit a coffee shop, or enjoy a stroll by Silas Creek – it’s more than a Parkway – to get a dose of nature. 

We will break ground on the new office building in December, which will house 400 Wake Forest staff members, with construction ramping up in January. 

Plans for the retail village are also moving forward — with our outstanding partners Carter Front Street, and the prospects are exciting. And private developers are also now investing in the surrounding properties; thus, the energy we’re creating is spilling outward – a true halo impact for the University and the city.

In order to care for our people, we must also be good stewards of our campus places and spaces. 

Over the past four years, we have renewed spaces on the Reynolda campus, from Greene Hall to Carswell to Scales and Z Smith Reynolds Library. Work is underway on Alumni Hall which will open as a new academic building this summer; home to Computer Science, Education, Philosophy and the Entrepreneurship program – radical collaboration for sure!

And planning has commenced to build a new student center with dining adjacent to the Wellbeing center, on the site of what is now Manchester Pruitt. This project and other efforts will allow us to convert Benson into a modern academic building for the College.

We are also advancing the planning for the eventual replacement of Collins Hall; and though students (and alumni) often wear a badge of honor proud of having lived there, this is long overdue and we are excited about the future. We have continued to invest in Wake Downtown to further support our advancements in teaching and learning, and to deepen our connection to the City of Winston-Salem.

Being good stewards of our places and spaces is not only about the changes we make to ensure our very best future. It also means honestly telling the Wake Forest story.

During Homecoming and Reunion Weekend, I participated in the dedication of Hopkins Hall, named for alums Beth Norbrey and Lawrence D. Hopkins. It was a momentous occasion. 

Names matter. 

Those names come to be understood within the context of what we do, what we say, how we interact with others, what we leave in our wake, in our legacy. 

I am heartened by where we are today as a university from where we started in 2021 and we designated a wayfinding name for the now Divinity and Religious Studies Building, formerly Wingate Hall. Moving forward from that work, we developed a sustainable, inclusive and transparent process for honorific naming of campus buildings and features. 

From the four new road names – Eure, McPherson, Phillips and Crisp to now Hopkins Hall – we have actualized expanding our narrative, telling more parts of the Wake Forest story. 

In listening to the reflections at the Hopkins Hall dedication event, I was struck once more by the fullness of Beth and Larry’s stories, by the purpose, principle, and deep and abiding love for humanity and for one another that has guided their lives, at Wake Forest and beyond. 

Larry and Beth’s experiences at Wake Forest came with significant challenges, being among the first Black students to attend Wake Forest. And I know that some of those same challenges stubbornly persist today in our culture and our society; and impact students, faculty and staff in our community. 

I hope the stories we inscribe on our campus, the lessons and legacies of individuals like Beth and Larry, Herman Eure, Dolly McPherson, Marge Crisp, and Elizabeth Phillips– offer hope and encouragement to each of us and to future generations of Demon Deacons; 

And show us that change for the better is possible. 

I also note that Hopkins Hall is part of “The Forest.”

Launched in 2024, the Forest is our distinctive first year residence experience designed to challenge and support the development of the whole student simultaneously. The Forest establishes – from day one – our abiding belief that our entire campus is a classroom, and that learning and living are inseparable. 

Strategic and Financial Planning

In nearly five years – this Wake Forest community has accomplished so much. And we did it together. 

The Strategic Framework Process, initiated early in my presidency, was distinctly:

• Collaborative: Drawing on the wisdom and passion of more than 1,000 students, faculty, staff, and alumni.
• Comprehensive: Looking across every school and division, asking what must be done to lead.
• And Transparent: Ensuring that our shared vision was built on clear communication and mutual trust.

And the result was twofold. One: “Framing Our Future” – a living document that has given us a way of making decisions for priority investments. The shared vision outlined in this document grounds this community in what matters most. 

And Two: A comprehensive financial plan for investments to support the core aims of the Strategic Framework was approved by the Board of Trustees in June. 

Through these aligned efforts, as the Strategic Framework called for, we are continually dedicated to building our community of learning, of inquiry, and of partnerships, fully grounded in our mission: to embody Pro Humanitate at home and in the world. 

Our commitment to Pro Humanitate, and to friendliness and honor, remains constant and true, as we have grown and evolved together over the past 4 ½ years. 

We are in a strong place with tremendous momentum to ensure all we care about, all we love most about Wake Forest, is strengthened for the students, faculty and staff of today and tomorrow.

My focus – from now until the end of June when I pass the baton – is on continuing to execute our shared plans and ensuring that Wake Forest continues to thrive. 

I am humbled by all we’ve accomplished in my time at Wake Forest. And, there is still more for us to do together! 

We have an important story to tell at Wake Forest, one that reflects the exceptional work happening here, the focus on care for our people at our center, and the purpose that drives us. 

A story about our why, why we wake up every day, ready to advance humanity. 

Which is why we have launched an exciting national marketing campaign, built on the themes of momentum, possibility and purpose; turning our name into a call to action— inviting people to “Wake Up to Possibility;” the possibility of a better world made real by the research, thought leadership, and success of Wake Foresters.

Closing

And as I reflect on this moment, I feel deep gratitude and tremendous optimism. I am honored to serve as your 14th president – and profoundly grateful for the support, collaboration, candor and commitment from this community. 

No leader accomplishes anything alone. Everything I have shared today happened because of you. And I have so many people to thank for the roles they’ve played in this part of the Wake Forest story. I regret that I cannot name each by name, but please give me grace in this moment. 

Thank you to the Wake Forest Cabinet – for your passion, vision, and partnership; 

To the Board of Trustees – for your dedication to the best interests of this university; 

And to our faculty, staff, students, alumni, families, and generous donors – for your unending love of Wake Forest and unshakeable belief in the potential and impact of our beloved University. 

And I want to thank my husband, Chris Hardy, for never doubting my path, for your many sacrifices and unwavering support and love, and for being the very best teammate – in this chapter and all the chapters of our lives together. 

With my gratitude is also optimism. My optimism comes from knowing we have met challenge after challenge – and grown stronger – always learning. We are showing that a university community guided by integrity and vision can thrive, even in times of change.

Universities have always been one of society’s most powerful and durable instruments – or catalysts – for good, forming citizens, advancing ideas, stewarding discovery to push humanity forward across generations. 

My optimism comes from my deep belief in higher education, in universities, in Wake Forest.

I believe in Wake Forest. I believe in this place; I believe in our mission. I believe in our people. And I am so proud of where we are right now. We have accomplished so much together. 

But I also know what matters most is what we do next. I believe – as I know you do – that Wake Forest will be continually called to learn, to help, and to lead. 

My ask of each of you: carry forward the tremendous momentum we have built together— in access, in academic distinction, and in community care, in our spaces and places and partnerships, and use it to boldly pursue being catalysts for good.

 For the most good, for the most people—in the Winston-Salem community, across the state of North Carolina, throughout the region, nationally and globally, all in service of humanity.

Thank you.