Speeches Archive

It is wonderful to be with you today on this most exciting occasion – and I want to extend a special welcome to your friends, your families, and all of our guests to Wake Forest University.

Delivered in Wait Chapel on Feb. 19, 2026. Remarks as prepared. Good afternoon! Welcome to the 2026 Founders Day Ceremony. Every year in February, we acknowledge our beginnings as a manual labor institute in the town of Wake Forest, North Carolina, in February of 1834 […]

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 […]

Class of 2029 – welcome to university life! Welcome to Wake Forest! As a Wake Forest student you will learn, you will grow, you will be challenged and I have every confidence that you will be successful and thrive.  There are exactly TWO times in […]

It is wonderful to be with you today on this most exciting occasion – and I want to extend a special welcome to your friends, your families, and all of our guests to Wake Forest University.

Good afternoon, and welcome to our annual Wake Forest Founders Day ceremony.  Each year, we come together as a community to celebrate the founding of Wake Forest College, in February of 1834. This year, 2025, marks 191 years of Wake Forest!  Many universities celebrate the […]

Presidential Address; Nov. 14, 2024 Good afternoon! Thank you, Saylor and Wyatt, for your opening comments and introduction. And thank you to the Demon Divas for that beautiful rendition of the alma mater!  I also want to thank those who contributed to our donation drive […]

Good afternoon! And thank you, Chaplain Donald.  Like all of you, our University Chaplain is new to Wake Forest, too! Let’s welcome Chaplain Donald!  And, I want to welcome all of you to this building, Wait Chapel — a place where so many special traditions […]

It is wonderful to be with you today on this most exciting occasion – and I want to extend a special welcome to your friends, your families, and all of our guests to Wake Forest University.

Delivered in Wait Chapel on Feb. 15, 2024. Remarks as prepared. Good afternoon, and welcome to Wake Forest’s annual Founders Day ceremony.  There are so few dates on our calendar that bring this many cross-sections of our university community together — students, faculty, staff, alumni, friends […]