When I was in college, the Sig Eps had a tshirt that read:  “Loved or hated - but never ignored.”  That has been my experience in the past few months with some of the decisions and announcements from here - be it the logo, the SAT-optional policy.

Our Wake Forest family may love a major decision or hate it, but they never ignore it.

And you know what - I am grateful for those on both sides of these issues.  Why?  Because it shows that you are remaining a) involved and b) passionate about the future of Wake Forest.  We want and need you to be engaged.  I like hearing your voices.  What I have learned in my time here is that there are times and decisions that will cause reasonable people to disagree.  But the vast majority of our disagreements and discussion have been polite discourse, and I am proud of our Wake Foresters for that.

Thanks for keeping one foot (literally or figuratively) in the soil of Mother So Dear.   

I have close to 200 emails now from alumni, parents and friends weighing in on the SAT issue.  Interestingly enough, a lot of people are emailing our admissions office directly, and they are getting a strong quotient of kudos - proportionally more than I have seen.  Even so, I still have more applause than boos coming in.

I was on the Quad a few minutes ago and was stopped by a gentleman who was asking directions.  He and his collegue were college counselors and were visiting campus.  I asked how they liked Wake Forest and they said “We LOVE it.  We have been sending you students for years - this is a great place” yadda.  I asked if they had heard the SAT optional decision and what they thought of it.  They said they think it is a huge positive.  Interesting to hear an outsider’s perspective.

One of the recurring themes of the emails I have been getting is about whether we are going to let less qualified students in if we eliminate a mandatory SAT.  This has not proven true according to the analyses of the other schools who have done this - the difference between college GPA for SAT submitters vs. non-submitters has been very small.  There is research, particularly from Bates, that disputes this.  http://www.wfu.edu/wowf/2008/sat-act/

The point I wish to make is that there are a lot of kids who have excellent GPAs and high school records in AP and IB courses who may not be great test takers - and some of those kids would not apply here because they don’t fit the SAT score that we list as our average.  I was one of those kids - and from the emails I’ve read, a lot of you were too! - so I am proud that we are giving people the option of not sending those scores. 

Story developing…

I am literally flooded with emails from alumni and parents about the SAT announcement we made yesterday, so this will be short.

So far the opinion of those who have written in has been strong support of this policy.  I’d say we are around 70% who strongly favor the SAT optional, 20-25% vocal opponents, and a stray 5% with other questions related to (such as, are we also dropping LSATs or MCATs etc).

I have more to say on the SAT thing - but am very pressed for time.  Hopefully later or tomorrow. 

Today is a big day for WFU.  We announced - via the New York Times, USA Today, and many other outlets - that WFU is the first school in US News & World Report’s top 30 national universities to have an “SAT optional” policy.  Meaning that students can choose to send their SAT score to us - or choose not to - without advantage or penalty.

I think this is going to be a good thing for WFU.

I was one of those kids who did poorly on standardized tests but excelled in the classroom and took the hardest courses I could in high school.  I got wait listed at places that I should have gotten in (in my humble opinion) because of my SATs.  Yet I graduated Magna Cum Laude here with honors and a kickbutt GPA. 

There is growing research that the SAT does not accurately predict success in college - and I think my own SATs are proof of that.  There is more information and an FAQ online here: http://www.wfu.edu/wowf/2008/sat-act/

The other thing to consider here is that WFU is not lowering its admissions standards.  I work closely with the admissions office staff on the Alumni Admissions Forum and alumni children admissions, and I can tell you they have always stressed the importance of the following (in this order):  high school curriculum strength (are you taking AP and IB courses?), performance in your classes/GPA, admissions essays and what they reveal of your intellectual curiosity and character, and - last - SAT score.  I know our staff reads every single admissions application - some are read by 2 people and some by the whole admissions committee - so they are still going to be treating each admissions application with great care and the same critical eye.

I also personally believe that this move will help counter one of the fears some alumni have expressed - that Mother So Dear is becoming too homogenous.   If the SAT does favor those from the most affluent families through some sort of inherent bias, by eliminating the SAT as a requirement, we are going to encourage kids from more rural areas, kids who represent socioeconomic and ethnic diversity, to apply. 

Watch in the next several months and see how many other t0p schools follow our lead.  I think we just launched a great and revolutionary thing in higher education.

My dad did not like
the “Vincent with Open Mouth”
painting in Green Room

Back during my freshman orientation weekend, my father sat in wonder at the giant painting hanging in the Green Room of Reynolda Hall.  It was a close up of a boy’s face, mouth hanging open. 

“Do you know what this painting is called?” he asked me incredulously?  “Vincent with Open Mouth!”  This clearly was not high art to my dad.  But every time we were on campus, he’d check to see if it was still there.  And it always was.

Until today.

What most people don’t know about Wake Forest is that the chairs have barely left the Quad following Commencement before we begin doing major projects over the summer.  The summer makes sense - a lot of the people are gone, fewer interruptions, yadda yadda.  This summer, the Green Room is getting a face lift.   And as a result, Vincent with Open Mouth, as well as the other art and a lot of the furniture, are finding new homes elsewhere.

Another ‘insider’ tidbit - any time we have a renovation, if there is surplus furniture available, people come out of the woodwork to grab it.  Our own office managed to get a couple of up-for-grabs items, including a very nice sideboard that is now in a colleague’s office. 

I have heard some talk about what is to be done with the Green Room:  better lighting, perhaps a sound system built in.  Also doors - since often we hold programs in there and currently there is no way to shut out noise or traffic from the rest of Reynolda.  I eagerly await the finished product later this summer!

Is the only trace of Commencement available on the Quad.  Because of all the foot traffic, there are some worn, brownish spaces, but everything else is as neat and tidy as it ever was.

It was interesting for me to see a Commencement at another school.  My nephew graduated from Villanova in PA and it really was a lovely ceremony.  They had individual school graduations on Saturday (where you saw the student walk on stage and shake hands with the dean of their school) and on Sunday they had the large Commencement where they officially conferred degrees (each group stood up by school to be recognized, but no one walked - just too big).

As lovely as the Villanova commencement was, I still much preferred ours : )  It is wonderful to see every undergraduate student walk the stage, and the setting for ours is simply superior.  I doubt highly there is a prettier Quad in the nation than ours.

I kept track of our Commencement through my friends here and have looked at the photo galleries on Window on Wake Forest (www.wfu.edu/wowf)  If you have not done so, please check it out.  I have heard exceptionally good things about our Baccalaureate speaker.  Her speech is not online, but I hope it will be.  She was getting rave reviews.

One change to Commencement this year was to have screens on the back half of the Quad (on the Reynolda Hall side).  This was to allow families seated in the back half to see their children as they walked the stage.  It is something we have long wanted to do, and this year we were able.  Though I was not here, I heard good things about the screens. 

Glad to be back on campus again.  Will have some interesting things to blog about in the coming days - how’s that for a teaser?  Check back!

Having only been at Wake Forest for three Commencement ceremonies, I’m not as much of an authority as others - but this is one of the best ones most folks can remember. It was, as always, a beautiful North Carolina day; a gentle breeze, not a cloud in the sky, and warm sun streaming through the trees. And there was even a kitten…

I was stationed at the right of Wait Chapel where the buses dropped off students and families. Around 8:15 a.m., a big pink bow bobbed up the steps, attached to a beautiful little girl. She and her sister walked over to me, proudly toting a small blue pop-up carrier. I peeked inside, halway expecting to see a stuffed animal, but instead saw a tiny tiger-striped kitten perched on a fuzzy cat bed. Although we have a policy of not allowing pets, there wasn’t a person there who could’ve said no to these little girls; she probably could’ve put a wolverine in the carrier and I would’ve caved. As it turned out, their family was staying at a nearby hotel last night and this kitten was abandoned in the parking lot. They decided to give it a good home, and went to the pet store to get food and other supplies. Since they had  to check out of their hotel this morning, there was nothing to do but bring the kitten along! I hope perhaps they’ll name it “Deacon.”

 Once all the graduates and their families were settled in, I walked back to Reynolda Hall to watch the ceremony. Many students walked across the stage today into the open arms of two families - their own and Wake Forest’s. I was particularly delighted to see James “Scooter” Scott, who has meant so much to all of us, Carolyn Harbaugh, who has lent to us her time and delightful smile for our All Access tour, and a handful of Chi Omegas who I’ve had the pleasure of advising since I met them as freshmen. We were pleased to welcome Terri Engle and her son Zach both into the Wake Forest family today. She earned an MDiv and he graduated with a degree in biochemistry. I’d met her at the Bowl game last year and she’d shared their story with me; they’re a remarkable team. You can read more about them here: http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2008/may/18/make-that-a-double/http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2008/may/18/make-that-a-double/

When it was over, Karver Bolton and I directed students to the Green and Magnolia Rooms to pick up diplomas and then it was off to Putters for a much-needed plate of buffalo chicken fingers. The wait was long, but the food was great - many families chose to celebrate there, and it was heartwarming to see them spending time together before life settles back to normal.

I can’t help but recall my own graduation, (not from Wake Forest, I must sheepishly confess), which was pretty unremarkable. I mostly remember expecting an Earth-shattering Commencement address, only to be disappointed by a woman who, and I am not making this up, recited the lyrics to “I Hope You Dance.”

I also remember feeling overwhelmed about what the next few months would bring - job searches, moving out on my own, making new friends and finding my way in the “real world.” As the line of students passed me today on their way to pick up diplomas, I couldn’t help but notice how calm and focused they looked. Certainly they all face the same concerns I had - but they do it with a confidence I’d not yet found at that age. They go forth with the faith and support of committed professors, caring staff and engaged alumni, all of whom have genuinely invested in them; that’s the spark of Wake Forest.

I wish these students the best as they make their way into this next phase of their lives. I hope they find a mentor wherever they go, as I know mine was a saving grace. I hope they know just how beer they’ll buy for FICA every month, the importance of good health insurance and investing early and often in their 401K, the difference great coworkers can make and the satisfaction that comes from doing your best, even when half the effort would have been enough to get by. Most of all, I hope they will always remember this day, this place and these people. And I hope they’ll come back often.

I am going to be missing Commencement for the first time in the 9 years I have worked here.   My nephew is graduating from college the same weekend as WFU’s graduation, so - alas! - I will be there instead of here.

My colleague Emily Smith, whose handiwork you have seen on our web site, in the Meineke blog, and in numerous print and email pieces you receive from WFU, will be guest blogger for the next several days.  I hope you enjoy her reflections and perspectives.

Congratulations to all our seniors and their families.  We are going to miss you terribly but have a huge sense of pride as we see you off to your next destination in life!

Today when I walked on campus there were about 20 columns of chairs - these are on pallets, with the chairs stacked at least 6″ high, way over my short head.   Our friends from Facilities are breaking the pallets down and are beginning to lay out the chairs on the Quad today.  This is down to a science.  The areas of the ground are measured out, the chairs placed just so. 

It reminds me a little of the vineyards in Dijon (where I went on the WFU exchange program).  You can walk through the rows upon rows of chairs and they are all in perfect order, symmetrical, beautiful.  I am a huge fan of the Georgian architecture here, so any time we can get balance and symmetry it makes me feel good.

The sky is ominously cloudy.  I just dared take a peek at the 10 day forecast.  Because I am superstitious by nature, I won’t say what it is.  I don’t want to jinx anything.  But if you are reading this, please find a reverent moment to ask for good weather. 

Commencement is only 5 days away and we’ve now moved into the stage where we are putting finishing touches on a million small things.  For example: new coats of paint are being put on railings on the Quad, the lampposts on the Quad, and even the speed bumps.  We pay attention to the small things and big.  I like it.

For some strange reason, the chapel bells are ringing now, at 10:51 on a Wednesday.  I guess this is practice time for the carilloneur for Commencement.  Funny to hear the bells tolling now.

Out my window I can see what appears to be some sort of high school tour.  It’s about 30 kids and maybe 4 adults, which seems to be a dangerously low adult-to-high-schooler ratio.  Then again, my spouse and I have a 3 year old and we much prefer having a ‘zone defense’ on a toddleras opposed to a ‘man to man’ defense : )

Our office is busy stuffing welcome packets for the Class of 2008 today.  They get a small goody bag with information about the Alumni Office, the WF Clubs program, how they can keep their email address, how they can connect with other Wake Foresters in whatever city they are moving to.  1,000 goodie bags in our office area - good times!

PS - I just found this great link online with WFU Commencement trivia.  Enjoy!

http://www.wfu.edu/wowf/2008/20080514.trivia.html

Ok, it’s not a real skeleton, but rather the skeleton of the giant Commencement tent that is going up.  The metal frame for the top of the tent has already been assembled and is sitting on the north end of the Quad.  If I get self indulgent for a minute, it seems a bit like some sort of archeological discovery - like you’ve stumbled across the unearthed remains of a large, geometrically shaped dinosaur, maybe of the Tentasaurus Rex species : )  The outer shell of the tent won’t likely go up until next week, when they also put the “legs” on it so it can stand.  So much of this depends on weather forecast - will there be rain? will there be wind? - so you can not erect the thing too soon.

Another big event is coming up for us this Thursday - All Access Greensboro will be held at 6:30 p.m. at The Empire Room.  We are going to have the Provost, Jill Tiefenthaler, there, as well as Coach Gaudio of the basketball team and our current student Trustee, Carolyn Harbaugh. 

If you have not signed up yet and are reading this blog - please, sign up today!  www.wfu.edu/allaccess   This is your chance to get an insider’s view of what is going on at Wake Forest and your chance to ask questions of our top leaders.  Join us and make your voice a part of our conversation!

It’s fun to have a behind the scenes view of big events on campus like Commencement.  On Friday, I took lunch to three Commencement office staff members, who were offsite creating the ticket packets for the graduates.  Imagine a mountain of various tickets - parking passes, Baccalaureate tix, Commencement tix, brunch and lunch tix, etc. - all spread out on a floor and one by one we create a packet for each graduate. 

The phones are ringing off the hook for Commencement.  Mostly parents with questions - what should I wear? how early should I arrive? where are the best seats?  All good questions, all with a lot of merit.  Unfortunately there is no way to have a standard answer.  Some parents dress to the nines (suit and tie) - but others wear something cooler since they will presumably be sitting in the heat for 3 hours.  “Early” is in the eye of the beholder - my own parents arrived at 6 am when the Quad opened; other parents stroll in after 8.  There is no ‘right’ answer.

Today is very windy and its a good thing the Commencement tent has not gone up yet.  It would not be a good thing to have it blow over (which it had done once in the past, I am told).

And for all who read this, please say a prayer that we have good weather and no threat of rain.  No one wants to move the ceremony to the Joel.

I received a great comment from a blog reader yesterday that I wanted to respond to.  The comment was about the logo, and suggested that WFU needs to get moving and update the web site, since some believe it is looking old and is in need of a facelift and to make navigation easier.

I could not agree more.  And the good news is, my colleagues feel the same way!

We actually are involved with a project to overhaul the web site.  It is considerably complicated, as there are literally thousands of interlinked pages on the WFU site.  We are working with an expert web company to work on redesign and navigation - which will include elements of our visual identity - new logo, new standards, etc.

Realistically, this is going to be a work in progress for some time.  I suspect what will happen is that we begin to work on the “main” pages - the home page and the first level down, and gradually begin to get the new web site together.  However, this is still in discussion with our web masters and mistresses, and as the summer unfolds we will know more.

It will take some time to overhaul everything, but IMHO better to do it right the first time than do a spit and bubble gum and have to fix it again.  So bear with us - it *is* coming.

——–

In other news, there was terrible bad weather here lastnight.  I have heard of a lot of storm damage, like downed trees, power outages, etc. - possibly from tornadoes - in Clemmons, which is a suburb of W-S - as well as other surrounding areas.  Rest assured that the campus looks fine and we seem to be all in one piece.   Our thoughts to anyone in the vicinity who has been affected.

The staff here is busy preparing for commencement.  10,000 chairs will be delivered in just a few days to the Quad, along with a tent and speakers.  I always like seeing the empty chairs the day or two before commencement - it reminds me of the fun that is to come.

Commencement is by far the best day of the year on campus.  It is a day of near-universal happiness.  Never can you find so many happy and proud parents, nor as many beaming students, all at once.  It’s a time to reflect on what I hope was 4 (or 5!) years well spent, lifelong friendships formed, and a time of fun and learning.

Students are playing frisbee on the Quad right now.  It’s a great day - high 70s, light breeze, lots of sun.  I would argue there is no prettier campus in the nation than Wake Forest in May.  Everything seems beautiful and perfect.

It’s hard to say who won the attendance game.  For the Hillary Clinton event a couple of weeks ago, we had 400 spaces saved for the College Democrats group - and probably 320-330ish came to claim their seats.  Somehow John McCain’s campaign staff gave us a much, much larger allotment of seats - 900! - but maybe only 500-600 of them came. 

I think there were three major factors hurting attendance on the College Republicans side:  1) finals are still going on, 2) most students today do not want to get up before 9 am if at all possible, and 3) lastnight was Cinco de Mayo and it was a time to party : )

In all seriousness, I was as impressed with the organization and dedication of our College Republicans as I was with the students in the College Democrats.  Their student leaders put in a lot of time for the event and did everything from directing traffic to checking guest names off the list, to stamping hands for admittance.  We managed to get a few top College Republicans in for a private meet and greet with Senator McCain, and I was so glad for them to get that opportunity.  Once again, Wake Forest offered an amazing opportunity for some hardworking students.

The Chapel was not full when I left the McCain event (sadly I have a meeting and could not attend the whole thing) - which was something of a surprise.   I snuck a peek at Senator McCain’s VIP guest list and one of the gentlemen on the list was a fellow guest at the Hanoi Hilton with him.  I wish I had had the chance to meet him and say thank you for his brave service.  No matter whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, I have to believe most people respect the extreme duress those poor folks went through.

Presidential candidate John McCain arrives on campus tomorrow, and I have a 6:30 a.m. report time to Wait Chapel to help greet guests and provide logistical support.  Thankfully there will be diet soda and sausage biscuits in the morning to help me wake up.

Because of the McCain visit, Facilities has taken down the temporary ropes that have been keeping people off the Quad grass (ropes that mean nothing to a 3 1/2 year old, I found out this weekend while walking with my son on campus).  Facilities has mowed the grass in the kind  of back and forth striped pattern you see at big league baseball stadiums and it looks wonderful.  Between the Clinton and McCain visits and soon to be commencement, we are putting our best foot forward.

Looking out my window, I see two students holding hands.  They obviously are a couple - and it makes me wonder if they are seniors who are lingering on campus before Beach Week (or post-exams, or whatever the term was in your time).  I wonder if they are like so many other senior couples who are wondering what will happen after graduation - will they stay together? get married? find out that a long-distance relationship doesn’t work?   As commencement draws near, there are so many questions about what the future will bring.

For now, they look happy.  May they stay that way.

Tomorrow is the last day of exams, and it is very, very quiet on campus.  Many of the students have already left - those who are here still are obviously in full throws of exam fever.  I have seen an oddly high proportion of unshaven men and people who look like they didn’t shower before rushing off to their finals.

As quiet as it is now, Tuesday will be another day of madness with the visit of presidential candidate John McCain.  He is scheduled to speak at 10 a.m. Tuesday in Wait Chapel.  I will be here at dark-thirty in the morning, since I will be one of the staff to help work crowd control and serve as a resource to the McCain staff, just as we did for Hillary Clinton. 

I feel very fortunate to have heard from 2 of the 3 major presidential candidates on our campus.  In what will no doubt be a very interesting and competitive election, I am glad Wake Forest is on the map for these campaign stops.   We are a force to be reckoned with these days!

As for the new  logo…it has been very interesting for me to see the response to it.  I have heard from people who love it, those who hate it, and a lot of ground in the middle.  I am told that when the old “bar logo” was introduced in the mid-80s, there was a great uproar about it and so many people complained that we had changed and abandoned our past.  We are getting some of those same comments now, which is ironic to me since so many people did not like the bar logo. 

Today was training for new volunteers to the pool of faculty advisors who get a group of freshmen and act as their advisors, helping them choose their classes.  I decided to sign up (even though I am not faculty, they do let some folks on staff serve in this role) and I am so excited.

Several things have changed since I graduated in the early 90s.  We are now on an hours system, not a credits system.  It takes 120 hours to graduate - which is approximately 15 a semester.  A couple of years ago, the faculty and administration changed the divisional requirements; they lowered the number of divisionals (you remember - that is the “you must take 2 classes in biology, chemistry, physics, math; 3 classes in history, political science, philosophy, etc.)  Students now have fewer divisionals, which allows them to explore electives sooner and helps with study abroad.

Speaking of, we are in the mid to upper 60s in terms of percentage of students who have some form of study abroad experience while at Wake Forest.  I am really happy to hear that.  My semester in the Dijon program was a transformational one and I really wish every student could have a similar opportunity.

I will have a group of 11 students to advise come August, and I think it will be a terrific experience.  One of the great joys of Wake Forest is that we are small enough that we can give our students such personal attention - and I am glad to have a more direct role with students than I have had in the past.