All - today is the last day of MSD’s fiscal year, and if you have not already donated to the College Fund, please do so today.   http://www.wfu.edu/giving

To make your gift count in our goal for total # of donors, you can make a gift by credit card before midnight tonight, or you can write a check and send it to us at P O Box 7227, Winston-Salem, NC 27109.  Checks must be dated June 30 in envelopes postmarked June 30th. 

If you have already made your gift - THANK YOU!  If you have not, please make a gift today, and share this message with other alumni and friends. 

Your gifts will be used effectively to strengthen education here, and they will help us lead the alumni participation rate in U.S. News and other university rankings.

We are now in the Q&A session of “The Transition from High School to College” and some intrepid alumnus just got a belly laugh out of the whole parent contingent.  He asked how registration for classes is done now - and reminisced that back in the day, it was all alpha and heaven help you if your last name started with an S!

Lots of head nodding and recognition.  Very funny look back to the past.

Here I  am, surrounded by 280ish Wake Foresters - lots of parents from the 70s and 80s, and lots of kids.  It is a fun group - the kids look a little excited, but also a little nervous.  The parents look happy to be back on campus and some look quite eager for their kids to fall in love with the place. 

To give you a sense of the crowd, we are in Pugh Auditorium and nearly every seat has been taken.  So far, lots of smiles.  A good thing.

We are in a presentation right now about “Beginning the College Search Process - Choosing the Right College For You”.  Lest my typing be too loud, I am going to stop blogging here : )

There is an updated series of Frequently Asked Questions available on the WFU web page today regarding our SAT optional policy:  http://www.wfu.edu/admissions/sat-act/faq/ which I hope everyone will take the time to read. 

This new FAQ addresses some of the feedback expressed to Wake Forest after our initial announcement.  You - our alumni, parents, and friends - are the front lines in our unofficial army of ambassadors.  So the better you understand things that are happening at MSD, the better you can help others who might have questions or you can clear up misunderstandings.

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In other news, tomorrow will be a very busy day.  We have about 100 alumni families coming to campus for the Alumni Admissions Forum.  It’s always great to see parents here with their high school children - you get a lot of reminiscing, reconnecting with classmates that you hadn’t seen for years (and didn’t know had kids the same age as yours).

The W-S Journal had a great piece on our beloved Chris Paul today:

Chris Paul got the word last week that he had been selected to the U.S. Olympics basketball team.

Yesterday, the news became official.

Paul, the former West Forsyth and Wake Forest star who recently finished his third season with the New Orleans Hornets, was on the 12-man roster announced by USA Basketball.

He’ll leave Winston-Salem next week to start training camp in Las Vegas, and eventually it will be on to Beijing for the Olympics starting on Aug. 8.

“This is the best feeling I’ve ever had,” Paul said. “I’ve always said to play in the NBA is a blessing. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great, all good and well. But there’s so many guys that have that opportunity to play in the NBA. To play on the U.S. Olympic team and represent your country, I don’t think there’s any greater honor than that. There’s so many people who fight every day for our freedom out of this country. And I get to play basketball and say that’s my way to stand up for the USA. I’m happy. I’m proud.”

http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2008/jun/24/paul-will-help-represent-us/?sports

Hometown boy makes good.

I had the pleasure of meeting Chris a number of times.  His parents were members of our Parents’ Council, which I helped support, and Chris and his parents were some of the nicest, most polite, most grounded people I have ever met.  Chris probably does not remember me, but in all the times I ever talked to him at our events, he always called me “Ma’am”, always spoke to me, always smiled.  Forget how insanely talented he is, we should all be lucky to raise kids as polite as he is.  That is no accident either.  His parents are rock solid individuals.

CP3 and Hunter are the two Deacs I know so far who are in the Olympics.  If there are others I have left out - please tell me so I can add them to our “Root for” list here on the blog (and my apologies to those folks).

Two Wake Foresters have sent me a copy of this article about our alumnus Billy Ray Barnes, who was part of our NCAA world series winning baseball team in 1955.  This is definitely worth a read.  http://www.newsobserver.com/2759/story/1118258.html  Nice to see that WFU is still the only ACC team to have won the college world series since our victory in 1955.

Too bad, so sad for the Carolina folks.

It brings up a good topic - one that gets debated heartily during BCS championship and NCAA Tournament time -  is there ever a reason to root for Carolina? or Duke? 

Some will argue that you want to support the conference no matter what - that a high tide rises all boats, and any exposure the ACC can get on a big win is of benefit to all.  Those on the other side of the fence might say they’d rather root for a starting 5 consisting of Stalin, Hitler, Hussein, bin Ladin and Idi Amin before they’d root for a Coach K team. 

Which side of the fence do you fall on?

I wonder what our late friend Doc Murphrey would say.  Actually, I think I know : )

One of our very own is going to the Olympics again!  Hunter Kemper (’98) was a very successful triathlete at MSD and has gone on to represent the US in the Olympics twice.  Hopefully the third time’s the charm!  (As an aside, not only is Hunter an incredibly gifted athlete, he also routinely smokes the competition in fantasy sports, to which I can personally attest).  Here is one newspaper’s blurb about Hunter:

Triathlon

Hunter Kemper, the 32-year-old athlete from Colorado Springs, Colo., earned the last of three berths on the U.S. team by finishing well ahead of his top rival for that spot, Andy Potts, at the Hy-Vee Triathlon in West Des Moines, Iowa, on Sunday.

“It’s tremendous,” Kemper said. “This is what we live for. I’m a very blessed boy.” http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/olympics/2008012041_oly23.html

The other news item came this past Friday.  There had been some concern among alumni about a change in how Greek organizations lounges would be recognized.  Dr. Hatch emailed Greek alumni on Friday to announce that in addition to the special plaques that had been designed for each lounge, they would also get a set of Greek letters too.   If you are Greek and did not receive that email, let me know (chapmaea@wfu.edu) so we can correct your email address in the records system and get the letter to you as intended.   

One of the great joys of working in the Alumni Office is that we have a ton of interesting things here - promotional items, bumper stickers, old Howlers, marketing material for our events - and what we have found is that when things in the office are busy and we are doing a lot of events, we tend to clutter the office quickly. 

And then you reach breaking point where something has to be done.  That was today.

We all chipped in and straightened our area out, got rid of outdated materials, etc.  The place is much more presentable now.

Next Friday we host our Alumni Admissions Forum, with 100 alumni families coming to campus with their high school children to learn more about the admissions process at selective colleges and universities.  If any of the folks find their way to our office now, at least we look really presentable!

As a reminder - if you are an alumnus or alumna and you are on campus, PLEASE stop by to see us!  We are in 230 Reynolda Hall (in the wing closest to Kitchin dorm).  We love visitors!

There is a bit of news coming out of campus today - but need to let it hit the official channels first.  Monday I will say more.

“The Quad is alive, with the sound of campers….”

There is no mistaking, it is summer camp season.  I walked onto the Quad this morning from the big parking lot by Huffman and you could hear screams of glee, shrieks, mayhem, from the Chapel.  It was the cheerleaders.  What they were so excited about I know not, but boy could they make some noise.

Out my window I can see at least 20 kids playing frisbee.  Lots of others walking around.  The sports field near the watertower and Worrell Professional Center was full of field hockey players this morning, part of Jen Averill’s camp.  I share a very special bond with Jen - our sons were born just days apart from each other; I think she still might have been in the hospital when I was admitted.  If I had a daughter, she’s the kind of coach I’d want to entrust her to.  I think the world of her.

Lucky for our campers, the weather here feels like June as opposed to the August-like meltdown we’d been having.  It’s sunny and no doubt warm, but low 80s and a breeze instead of the mid-90s, which is always a little scary for outdoor camps.

I passed a huge gaggle of young campers at lunch - kids in the 6-8 age range I’d guess - and was struck by a very familiar smell:  it smelled like my son’s daycare.  And then I realized, the smell is sunscreen.  Just like I slather it on my boy before he goes to school, these young fellows (or their moms) had slicked them up too.  Funny to have linked the smell of sunscreen with the idea of large groups of kids, but that association exists in my mind.

It’s great to see a Quad full of young kids.  As much as I enjoy the advantages of parking during the summers, when the students aren’t here, we do miss them.

It’s June, and that means that Wake Forest is nearing the homestretch in terms of the College Fund for this fiscal year, which ends June 30th. 

And we need your support. 

I have said this to some of my college friends over and over, but your gift *really* does help.  Any size gift, whatever amount you choose to give, is important.

If you gave a dime a day to Mother So Dear, it would equal $36.50 over the course of one year.  That’s just pocket change on a daily basis. 

If I chose to forgo one venti cinnamon dolce skinny latte a week for MSD, that would add up to $213.20 for MSD.

If I decided to skip lunch out one day a week, that would be about $468 a year for MSD.

You get my drift.

I guess what I am saying is that for many of the friends from WFU that I talk to, one of their barriers to giving is that they don’t think about giving until they are solicited, and then it seems like a big deal to cough up $100 or $200 or $500 or whatever the figure is.

But if you use online banking, you can set it up to send a check to WFU every paycheck - even if it’s just a small amount.  Comes out of your bank account before you ever miss it.  Similarly, you can do bank draft through WFU.

For me, it’s just easier to send a little at a time.  It adds up.  It helps real students.  Everyone wins. 

If you haven’t been making a gift - or if you want to make another one! - go to www.wfu.edu/giving or you can send me a message or email me and I can help you.  chapmaea@wfu.edu

Thanks for all you do for MSD!

Today as I walked onto the Quad from the parking lot, I saw several small groups of people - one set on the Chapel steps, one on the steps up to Reynolda Hall from the Quad (which, by the way, a friend of mine calls the “Diva Stairs” because it looks like you could be at the top of the steps outside the Mag Room addressing a large crowd of people or singing, a la Evita).   But I digress.

It looks to be some sort of summer conference group, and they all looked contemplative and reflective.  One of our guests in the Lifelong Learning program “Winning the White House” actually suggested that we consider doing some sort of contemplative retreat weekend, where we bring people to campus to stop being so hectic and rushing around and really take time to think, and learn, and reflect, and appreciate.   It sounds to me like a worthy idea.

Field hockey camp is also going on - saw tons of teenage girls with their hockey sticks yesterday.  I think perhaps there is also some sort of cheerleading/dance team type camp here too, because earlier this morning I could hear waves of girlish squeals and shrieks on campus.  And short of Brad Pitt making an appearance on the Quad - something I admittedly would shriek for - the times we most often hear a chorus of female shrieking is on Bid Day or if the cheerleaders are here. 

I was on a break from our class on Winning the White House when I saw the terrible news that NBC’s Tim Russert had passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. It was shocking and so sad, of course. For very selfish reasons, I felt especially bad because Tim Russert was someone who we very much wanted to speak on campus and with our many political contacts in DC, we had reason to hope we could secure him as a speaker. Alas, now it will never be. What a loss to political journalism, as well as his family and friends - some of whom are Wake Foresters in DC. RIP.

It also reminded me of the sudden and unexpected passing of Skip - which I had heard about halfway around the world on vacation. Good men, taken too soon.

Our Winning the White House class ended on Saturday and hats off to both Katy Harriger, our excellent professor, and our lively and engaged classmates. One of them had the suggestion at breakfast on Saturday to do an anonymous vote on ‘if the election were held today, who would you vote for?’ 29 people voted, and it was an overwhelming win for Barack Obama: he got 19 votes, McCain 9, so it was a 66-31% split (we did have someone who voted for a write in, which is why the percentages don’t add up to 100%).

This was a surprising result for the class - and just looking at the demographics of the class as well as some of the comments people had made, it did not seem to be a generally Democratic group. What we should have asked too was ‘which political party are you a member of?” just to see if we in fact had a room full of Democrats (so the Obama win would not have been surprising) or if we had an equal mix of Republicans, Democrats, and independents. It made for a lively discussion, no doubt about it.

If you have not been following the Alumni Office’s lifelong learning class offerings, our staff member Patricia Boone is in charge of the program and is planning several classes through the 08-09 academic year: one on landmark trials of the 20th century, one on emotional intelligence, one on Happiness (see the WF Magazine article on it). More info will be available in the coming months, or you can email Pat for more information at boonepm@wfu.edu

Our class is having an interesting discussion on presidential politics and the astonishing amount of money spent on them.  Dr. Harriger referred us to opensecrets.org, which is a website that tracks campaign spending and fundraising.

As of the moment that opensecrets.org published their #s, in this presidential race Barack Obama has raised $264 million and John McCain nearly $96 million.  There are estimates that total cost will be around $800 million before the race is over.

We are talking about public funding and how the nature of political fundraising has changed.  In years past, many people made contributions to public election money via the income tax form’s optional check box.  When Dr. Harriger asked the class who checked the tax box to contribute, only maybe 5 people raised their hands.  When she asked us who has given to a specific candidate, it was nearly everyone.

When some of the class seemed surprised/displeased that we are spending $800 million on an election, Dr. Harriger told us that she has seen a figure about how much Americans spend on potato chips each year - and it exceeds $800 mil. 

What’s more important: chips or an election?  Interesting food for thought…

I am so excited today!  Our Lifelong Learning class on “Winning the White House” has started. I am in class - which is being taught by the wonderful Katy Harriger of the political science department - with about 28 alumni and friends ranging in age from an ‘03 grad to folks in their 70s, and everything in between.

Over the next 2 days we are going to be learning and discussing politics and figuring out who votes and why and how.  We have a really diverse class and I am so eager to learn with these folks. 

Will blog as I can : )

For any of you who are reading off campus and want a little glimpse into campus, Google Maps has now done something that I find amazing - it basically lets you look at a map, click on it, and you get a picture of what you see.

Here is a link to campus - taken in front of Bostwick and Johnson dorms looking toward Reynolda Hall:  http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&ie=UTF8&om=1&layer=c&ll=36.132817,-80.275855&spn=0.001025,0.00235&z=19&cbll=36.132304,-80.27607&panoid=hxuBpuMINtNpd0mhUokZUw&cbp=1,323.8263665594856,,0,6.736334405144688

Enjoy your drive-by trip down memory lane!

Not sure if most of you have found this already through WOWF (Window on Wake Forest - the headlines section on top right of main wfu.edu home page), but there is a link to our Visual Identity website.  http://www.wfu.edu/identity/

The Visual Identity committee (of which I am a member, in the interest of full disclosure) is the group that worked with a design firm to agree on standardization of our visual elements, including the new logo, photography, the kinds of words we use to describe Mother So Dear, etc.  There were I think 23 or 25 of us, representing all areas of the campus (academics, athletics, administration, merchandising, undergrad and professional schools, student representation, legal, you name it).  Anyway, for those who are truly interested in the enormity of the project, you can look at the visual identity manual online and see some of our group’s thoughts about graphic standards, etc.

One of the big misconceptions from the alumni I have heard from is re: the use of ‘complementary colors’.   There are 8 complementary colors in the official visual identity palette, including a couple shades of blue and green - as well as red, purple, gray.  (Sidebar: yes, we were VERY careful not to be too Duke or Carolina with the blues). 

To debunk a myth: no, we are not making red an offical part of our logo, our uniforms, whatever.  These extra colors can be used in magazines or brochures or other print material to add a little bit of kick to what otherwise would largely be just black and gold.

There were some who saw the new admissions search piece - which shows the new logo with a bar of red running along top or bottom.  And the WF sports boards were up in arms about us having red as part of the logo.  Here is what really happened:  that admissions piece got designed before our standards were completed.  It had the new logo on it, but we had not finished all the other standards that dictate where you can and can’t place color next to the logo.

So rest assured that in future publications, there will be a ‘no fly zone’ around the logo - where no other colors would penetrate.   Old gold and black will always be our school colors!

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And on an unrelated note…yesterday I was in a meeting and looked at my Treo and saw that I had 60 new messages - which is certainly not the norm for me.  Most of them said “failed message” or something strange.  And when I looked at them, I realized that some spammer had been sending out emails (about ‘exquisite replica watches’ and - much to my absolute horror - adult material) using my email address as the ‘reply to’.

After nearly having apoplexy thinking that somehow my entire email address book would be getting watch and adult spam from me, our IS Help Desk assured me that any spammer or phisher out there can find email addresses and use them to send their spam.  It was nothing against me personally, someone just found my email (since it is out there pretty frequently).

Heaven forbid any of you get any spam - let me just state for the record that neither I nor Wake Forest sent it. 

Just in the past week I have heard from a few dear friends who have been reading the blog and wanted to ask questions about something I have said.  It’s wonderful to find connections that you didn’t realize you have with people.  So please, keep writing and commenting.  I love to hear from you!

My own best friends from WFU are doing an email chain about funny things we did in college.  I will confess that when I first got here (as a somewhat naive girl from PA), there were certain southern expressions that I had never heard of.  “Pig pickin’” for example.  I had no idea what this meant - or that there was even something called a “pig pickin cake” that one eats at a pig pickin’

So sometime during my freshmen year, we are all driving somewhere and we see a bulletin board that just says “Ham Horton” - and so in all of my infinite wisdom, I say “Oh, is a Ham Horton the same thing as a pig pickin’?”

At which point my southern friends almost laughed themselves right off the road.  And then told me that Ham Horton was a political candidate and not a social event. 

I’d love to hear some of your funny stories from your time at WFU - either cultural differences, roommate differences, whatever they may be.  If you give me permission, I will share them in the blog : )

I am not sure what kind of Miracle Gro our intrepid groundskeeping staff is putting on the hydrangeas around Efird and Taylor dorms, but these are the biggest, fullest, most lush plants I believe I have ever seen.  They are in that light-blue/slightly purplish variety and are absolutely divine looking.  And enormous. 

I think the heat has kept the campus relatively quiet this week.  I don’t see a ton of summer school students walking around and it is way too hot for most students to try and play frisbee or ball on the Quad.  Most of the traffic I see from my window is sports camp kids. 

When I was leaving work yesterday, I saw a father picking up his daughter from a camp (from the looks of the uniform, probably soccer).  She could not have been more than 8 or 9 years old and she was telling her father quite earnestly about someone who no longer plays for Wake, but has graduated. 

I have to say I was impressed to see a kid her age following our sports teams so closely.  It is an excellent example of WFU parents raising their children right and “inDEACtrinating” them while they are young : )

It’s another steamy day in The Dash.  Mid 90s and lots of sun. 

Someone got married in Wait Chapel over the weekend, as there is still a sign from the wedding posted near the stairs up to the Quad.  Brings back good memories of my own wedding in the Chapel on a surprisingly-cool day in July.  The Italian Olympic team was on campus to train before the Atlanta 1996 games - so we got to see an Olympic flag over Huffman and some very fine looking young men.  I worried for a minute that some of my bridesmaids would defect in favor of their company, as we had an Italophile among my bridal party.  But alas, she stayed.

If you got married on campus, write a comment about it for the blog.  I’d love to hear your story!

I grew up in a suburb of Philadelphia and our local Accu-Weather anchorman used to refer to the hot summer days as HHH - hazy, hot and humid.   We are definitely in the HHH days here.  It’s been in the 90s this week, which means everyone is moving a little slower, with that certain glow that comes from the sweat you break walking from your car to your building.

It’s Summer Sports Camp time at WFU.  This is a wonderful series of programs that brings local (and not so local) kids back to campus to attend camps with our outstanding coaches.  Next week is overnight basketball camp, and I must confess that part of me wants to sit out at the pick-up/dropoff spot in hopes that I can catch a glimpse of my all time favorite Demon Deacon, Randolph Childress.  I had the distinct pleasure of spending some time with him and his family back in 2005, when he graciously agreed to come to campus to be involved in a shoot for an inauguration video for Dr. Hatch.

You are never going to meet a nicer person than Randolph.  Unless you meet his wife, the lovely Jenai.  Or their two boys, who were incredibly polite and well mannered for little boys.  Meeting Randolph was an absolute highlight of my time at WFU.  The day that I finally met him (which I had been lobbying to do for the previous 6 years) I said that I quit, because there was nothing left to hope for in my job : )  Anyway, the Childresses are a delightful family and perhaps now I should just shift my great hope to the goal that one day he comes back to WFU to work here. 

So in the coming weeks of basketball camp, if anyone sees the great #22 on campus, your job is to alert the Alumni Office right away!

My dad passed away in December of 2006.  He was a very organized person and had all his business affairs kept neatly in files in his big rolltop desk.  There was a file for lots of things - will, insurance, one on each of his kids, etc.  On a visit home recently, my mom gave me the file dad kept on me.

I dug through it lastnight and there was a separate “Wake Forest” file in there.  In it were all sorts of things that I had not seen in years - tuition bills and dad’s notes on what he paid when (as an aside, tuition was dirt cheap in the late 80s!), announcement cards for when I made dean’s list and a press release that could be sent to the hometown paper, a commencement program, various notes I’d written him, a letter to parents about a security issue and how Student Life was addressing it.  Four years of my life.  End of semester grades.  Parents’ newsletter.  Note from me about wanting to go abroad. 

It was nice to take a brief archeological dig through the past.  My dad never went to college, but he *loved* Wake Forest.  This place represented all that he thought a school should be - excellent academics, intimate setting, kind and caring people.  I honestly think that my coming here was one of his proudest accomplishments.

A belated thanks to Mom and Dad for all they did to help me get here.

This morning, the power on campus went off about 8:15.  I got a call driving in to work that the power in Reynolda was out and that everything was super dark on the 3rd floor.  I got in, and sure enough, it was plenty dark - and the AC was obviously not on.  Today is in the high 80s.  *sigh*

Of course, nothing works - no lights, no AC, no fan to keep cool.  Our laptops work, but you have to run off battery.  Nothing will print, since they need power, etc.

So at about 9:15, our team decided to do an offsite meeting at Cloverdale Kitchen over breakfast.  We got back to the office - still no power - and I began hearing rumors that a squirrel got fried in a substation downtown and that’s what caused the power outage.   That rumor is still unsubstantiated, I might add.

Power came back on a little before 11, so all was not lost.  But it was a very strange way to begin the day.  And it was a reminder of how tied we are to electronics, especially email.  I kept waiting to get an email from Kevin Cox, our director of the news service, who is the official spokesperson for things like this.  But had to settle for voicemail, alas.

I had to go to the library today and it is all full of construction.  They are converting one of the all night study rooms (I forget if it is the one on the left or the right immediately upon entering the building) to a full-service Starbucks, and I believe on the other side they are adding restrooms.  I have to confess it will be delightful to be able to take a quick walk to ZSR to get the latte of my choice (venti skinny cinnamon dolce latte, if you care to know my favorite!)  This should be operational sometime in September I am told. 

Campus is filled with visitors, but this time it is not prospective students.  In the summers, we lease our space to conferences and other summer camp type activities - some are run through WFU, like the sports camps for kids or our Lifelong Learning classes - and some are from external companies or other schools.  In years past, we’ve been the home for an accountancy retreat, some conferences on religious music and hymns, cheer and dance teams (imagine hundreds of ‘tweens’ all squealing with delight at the same time!), a Lego camp, and so on and so on.  It’s great to see people who are not ordinarily exposed to Mother So Dear on campus.  Hopefully they will send some good students (or faculty, or support) our way.

I snuck a peek at the Green Room today.  It has large plastic sheeting covering the doors to the lobby of Reynolda - but I went to the Mag Patio and peeked into the windows.  Right now there is scaffolding inside.  I had been told one of the things they were fixing is the lighting - which if you’ve ever attended an event or reception in the Green Room, you know is a problem.  If it’s dark or overcast, there are only a few very dim lights way overhead.  Heaven forbid it’s evening and you are trying to make remarks from a podium - you can’t see it.

Right now all the art is off the walls and it is very white.  My hope is that they will do a warmer shade on the walls to give the room some life.  One big question - are we destined to have green carpet (since it is, after all, the Green Room?).  Part of me likes the legacy of the room’s name and part of me wants desperately to have something more in the line of black and gold.

That’s one of the struggles the Alumni Office often has with public space on campus.  When we bring alumni and friends to campus, they wonder why the decor is in colors that are not our school colors.  The Benson Center renovated its largest public rooms on the 4th floor a couple of years ago and they were kind enough to ask our opinion - and we begged for Wake Forest colors - and got them!