Campus Memorialization Steering Committee
Recent updates
May 9, 2024: Update on the Campus Memorialization Project
Sept. 7, 2023: Fall 2023 Engagement Opportunities
Project background
In April 2021, the Wake Forest University Board of Trustees – acting on findings from the Advisory Committee on Naming— voted unanimously on a resolution to create a campus memorial.
The memorial will remember and honor the humanity of the enslaved men, women and children who worked for or were sold to benefit the University. It will also put in context the record of Samuel Wait, Wake Forest College’s founder and first president, as a person who had enslaved persons serving his household, and who oversaw the liquidation of the Blount Estate on May 7, 1860, as chair of the Board of Trustees.
The Board of Trustees resolved that “the final context, appearance, and location of the memorial be recommended by the president, along with participation and consideration by the Administration and Finance Committees as the project progresses.”
Announcement
April 27, 2023: “Next steps with WFU Campus Memorial Project: Design firm selected, steering committee named”
“As an educational institution, we must not be afraid to talk about our past, indeed to educate about it, in order to ensure we learn from it as a community. I believe colleges and universities founded before the Civil War have an obligation to contend with our whole histories; the inspiring and the hopeful parts, right alongside the painful aspects.”
— President Susan R. Wente
Committee
The Campus Memorialization Steering Committee was appointed by President Wente in April 2023 to provide direction and expertise to the memorial project effort. The University has selected the architectural and design firm, Baskervill, to guide a community-engaged design process with direction from the steering committee.
The Committee will also serve as an ad hoc administrative committee on honorifics to identify and recommend a permanent name for the Divinity and Religious Studies building.
Members
Michele Gillespie
Provost and Presidential Endowed Professor of Southern History (Co-Chair)
José Villalba
Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer (Co-Chair)
Derek Hicks
Associate Professor, School of Divinity
Keenon Mann
Association of Wake Forest Black Alumni (AWFUBA) President
Tanya Zanish Belcher
Director of Special Collections and Archives, ZSR Library
Lisa Blee
Associate Professor of History
Simeon Ilesamni
Professor of Religious Studies, Study of Religions
Terry Brock
Manager of Archaeology and Research, Wake Forest Historical Museum
Morna O’Neill
Professor and Chair of Art
Chris Kiwus
Vice President for Facilities, Real Estate, and Planning
Sam Perrota
Chief of Staff, Provost
Note: New student representatives will be named in August 2024
President’s Liaison
Ashleigh Brock
Chief of Staff, President
Special Advisor to the Committee:
Corey D. B. Walker
Wake Forest Professor of Humanities, Dean of the School of Divinity and Director of the African American Studies Program
Ex Officio (staff to CMSC)
TaShaun L. Elliott
Director of Finance and Business Operations, ODI
Former Steering Committee Members
Janeel Black (‘24)
Undergraduate Student Representative
Savannah Littlejohn (‘23 and MSBA Candidate ‘24)
Graduate Student Representative
Contact
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