23. Bill Wells (’74)
Director of Financial Aid and scholar, traveler, photographer
“The Wake Forest community is a place where people genuinely care about each other. We greet each other with warm smiles, and we want to get to know those we have not yet met. Deeply rooted in our North Carolina soil, we share a down-to-earth friendliness, and we dislike pretension. Understanding the importance of forgiveness, we do not hold grudges. Above all, we are courteous and kind. If someone asks for our assistance, we go the extra mile to assure that help is provided. We all love Wake Forest, and that means loving each other. What a joy to be part of this wonderful community!”
24. Lamont “Lemonydue” White
Assistant Manager in The Fresh Food Company and a friendly face and listening ear in the Pit for more than four years
“It’s a home away from home. Sometimes the students will just start talking to you and you start up a conversation. It’s the small things that make a difference.”
25. Daniella Feijoo (’19) of Wauconda, Illinois
Double major in Spanish and politics and international affairs
Trumpet player in The Spirit of the Old Gold and Black marching band
Youth mentor through Wake Forest’s education department and El Buen Pastor Latino Community Services
About volunteering and mentoring in Winston-Salem, she says, “It’s really important to showcase this Pro Humanitate spirit. And it can’t be a once a year, once-a-semester type of attitude. It has to be a daily effort that students put in and realize that yes, you are doing volunteer work to make yourself feel like you are making an impact in somebody’s life, but also that you are going out into the community as a member of the Wake Forest College. Basically, making sure every single day you have the spirit of giving and Pro Humanitate.”
26. Lloyd Howard
Campus barber for more than four decades
Has cut the hair of Presidents James Ralph Scales, Thomas K. Hearn Jr. and Nathan O. Hatch
“I try to … make (students) feel better about doing the correct thing while they are here. I think that’s probably the most important thing to keep the community strong. You keep everybody united and that can be difficult at times, but I think we are a good, strong community. That’s what’s kept me here for 41 years, the bond of the community.”
27. Mark Welker
William L. Poteat Professor of Chemistry, chemistry department chair and environmentally conscious beekeeper
“I think one of the things that has always impressed me about the faculty at Wake is the sense of camaraderie that exists. A lot of times Wake is the underdog on the athletic field, and in all honesty the same is true among national universities when our faculty compete for research grants, fellowships, book contracts, etc. The faculty here really want to help one another be successful. People will read grant drafts for you, read manuscripts drafts for you, share their syllabi freely, share exams, share teaching tips and on and on. It’s been a great place to work.”
28. J.L. Bolt (P ’10)
Construction Manager, Facilities and Campus Services
He preserves a bit of Wake Forest’s history by making furniture and gifts from wood recycled from campus furniture and trees.
“The Wake Forest community is made up of people who share the same values; it’s really a family atmosphere. People try to keep the traditions and values that have been created and pass them down to newcomers and explain what it means to be in the community. It’s a pretty tight community, with people that you can count on.”
29. President Nathan O. Hatch
“One of the great treasures of Wake Forest is the deep experience of community that people have felt here for generations. It opens people up to new avenues, but at the same time accepts them for who they are. That hospitality is something we need to preserve and enhance, because it’s at the core of what it is to be human. … We live in a time when there are huge forces, maybe a tidal wave, against real functioning community. It’s the way people sort themselves out. It’s the polarization of media and politics. It’s the digital world. … You don’t have community without hard work. That’s our task: to create a place where civil discourse can prosper. But it will not necessarily happen automatically. It has to be structured in and out of classrooms. It has to be modeled by faculty, staff and administrators.”
30. Evan Raleigh (’09, MAM ’10)
Director of Business Inclusion and Advancement, City of Winston-Salem, and an Alumni Council member who is a proponent of community-building in life after college
“Wake has a way of pulling you back,” says Evan, who first experienced the University community as a student, and now as an alumnus and resident of Winston-Salem. “There’s the opportunity to be more engaged … an intimacy … a personal thing you can’t name but you feel it when it’s there.” The most dramatic change he’s seen since his college days is the physical development of campus, but he appreciates other ways in which the community is evolving. “There’s a broad diversity that was not here when I was a student,” he says, “a new level of thought and activism. Wake has embraced the new age and taken a more active role in the Winston-Salem community. Students can’t help but be engaged.”
31. Nate French (’93)
Director, Magnolia Scholars
Works with first-generation college students through the Magnolia Scholars program
“What I like best about the community is the depth of individuals across space and time, from an Ed Wilson (’43) to a new freshman. Our population has changed over time, but all of us have a connection to Wake Forest so we connect as family on that level. There’s something about running into people from Wake Forest. When the only place to buy a Wake Forest shirt was on campus, when you saw someone wearing a Wake Forest shirt, you knew they were an alum. You could walk up and say ‘what year?’ and start the conversation from there. You could always talk about an Ed Christman (’50, JD ’53) or an Ed Wilson (’43) or a Herman Eure (Ph.D. ’74) or a Bill Starling (’57). Everyone knew these people and that made that sense of family so much stronger.”
32. Marybeth Sutton Wallace (’86)
Special Assistant to the President
Spreads the message of community to the President’s Aides and Wake Forest Fellows
“I can still hear Provost Emeritus Ed Wilson (’43) from a classroom in Tribble quoting Nobel Prize-winning Irish poet William Butler Yeats: ‘Think where man’s glory most begins and ends /And say my glory was I had such friends.’ What it means to be part of the Wake Forest community is to be part of a lifelong network of friends. I’m still in touch with people I met when I was 18 years old, inside and outside the classroom, those who taught me and those I worked with on Old Gold & Black. Those friendships, and faculty and student relationships, are at the heart of the community.”
33. Elise Dean (’18) Beaufort, of South Carolina
Communication major and journalism minor
Current Wake Forest Magazine intern
“It was so great to see so many young and old faces come together for a group photo from the simple connection to Wake Forest and the Demon Deacs. Now if that’s not community, then I don’t know what is. As a senior at Wake Forest, my time rolling the Quad and enjoying breakfast Tater Tots in the Pit is coming to an end. But with the strong communal Wake Forest spirit both on and off campus, I know that I will never truly leave.”
34. LB Snipes (’18) of Charlotte, North Carolina
Psychology major with a minor in neuroscience
President’s Aide
“The most memorable moment I would say from the community is probably the Lovefeast where everyone just came in to the chapel and no matter where they were from or what their background was, they all came for one purpose: to celebrate being together.”
35. Dr. Leslie Danese Kammire (’82, MD ’86, P ’18, ’19, ’21) of Welcome, North Carolina
Associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology
Member of the Greek Alumni Advisory Board and has served on the University’s Faculty Senate
“When I think of my time at Wake Forest, I found the staff engaging, and (they) taught me to think much more independently than I ever had. Faculty taught me how to question things that I had taken for granted. I’m pleased that my children go here because I know they will get a top-rate education, and it’s focused on making this world a better place. Pro Humanitate truly is what Wake Forest will teach.”
36. Byrd Tribble (’54, P ’80, ’82, ’88) of Winston-Salem
Roomed with Betty Holliday Waddell Bowman on the Old Campus
They still call each other “Roommate”
Has taken six classes in the University’s Lifelong Learning Program
“I was happy that Wake Forest moved to Winston-Salem (in 1956) because it’s my hometown, which is different from a lot of my relatives who lived in eastern North Carolina. They were horrified, and it took them years to get over it. Now I’m enjoying going over there (to Reynolda Campus) again whenever there’s a parking place. Even though I can’t get on campus as much as I want to, I enjoy it whenever I can.”
37. Betty Holliday Waddell Bowman of Winston-Salem
Daughter of Donald Van Holliday (’29)
Roomed with Byrd Tribble (’54, P ’80, ’82, ’88) on the Old Campus as first-year students in 1950 until eloping during her sophomore year. (If she and Byrd had roomed all four years, she has said, “we could have really been famous.” To this day, they still call each other “Roommate.”)
“When I think of Wake Forest and we sing the song, ‘Dear Old Wake Forest,’ my thoughts go to the old Wake Forest when it was a college. I am so proud of the University, but I’m so very proud of the college. I wish the students today could have had our experience when all the cares we really had were worrying about our grades. … All the professors not only taught us but had an interest in our futures; and, of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my college roommate, Byrd Tribble. … I’ve had many blessings in my life, but the years at Wake Forest will always be a special time for me.”
38. Spencer Schiller (’18) of Lititz, Pennsylvania
Spanish and politics and international affairs major
President, WFU Student Government
President’s Aide
“I’m a little biased, but I truly believe that Wake Forest is the best undergraduate university in this country. … I never looked for a school that was particularly small. I wanted the liberal arts feel. I wanted the classic college campus and I found that at Wake Forest. And intrinsically, I also got that 11-to-one student-to-faculty ratio. It’s amazing. I truly believe the small-town feel combined with the big-time research and the focus makes a wonderful comparison.”
39. Jiayi “George” Baolin (’18) of Beijing, China
Double major in economics and music performance
Member of the Concert Choir and Asian Student Interest Association
President’s Aide
Campus carillonneur since spring of his freshman year
Likes to play Mozart and show friends the carillon in Wait Chapel
“I think (the) carillon is (a) very special symbol for the community, because every day around like 5 o’clock you’re going to hear it no matter where you are. Sometimes you study in the library; some day(s) you chill out with friends on the Quad. You hear that and you realize, ‘O.K., I’m part of this community.’”
40. Alex Katz (’18) of Boston, Massachusetts
English and business majors
Past president of Sigma Chi fraternity
Started a male-only discussion group with Director of Financial Aid William Wells (’74)
“My journey through Wake Forest has been atypical. I should have graduated in 2017, but I took a year off between sophomore and junior years. Returning was definitely a challenge, and I was anxious about returning to a place where I didn’t know half the campus. My community had totally changed. What I found was, instead of people being skeptical about my time off, everyone was welcoming. Since I’ve been back, I’ve tried to immerse myself in different parts of the college experience. I’ve made new friends. But as much as I’m grateful, I’m equally unsurprised; you just come to expect that in this accepting and comfortable environment.”
41. Kate Mewhinney
Managing Attorney, The Elder Law Clinic, and Clinical Professor of Law who supervises upper-level law students representing actual clients in civil matters and inspires law students to work for social justice
Kate values the “interdisciplinary community-building” that connects the Reynolda Campus, the School of Medicine and the City of Winston-Salem. “The University is committed to the support of students, faculty and staff,” she says, and the Elder Law Clinic extends Wake Forest’s reach into the extended community — often spanning generations as it assists families in matters of geriatric law. “People who are now coming to us for assistance will say, ‘Oh, you helped our mother.’”
42. Simeon Ilesanmi (JD ’05, P ’15, ’20)
Washington M. Wingate Professor of Religion
A native of Nigeria, he’s experienced Wake Forest as a faculty member since 1993, as a law student and as the parent of two students
“Community is when all of us share a sense of belonging, all working for a shared vision to promote an intellectually vibrant and inclusive community. There has to be a commitment to the ethos that enables everyone to feel genuinely affirmed and valued as a member of the University. … The student body is more diverse and more international. There is more effort to connect the University to the global community, not just students studying abroad, but also bringing (international) scholars and students here. When I walk around the Quad, it’s like being at a university in New York. There is an attempt to create, in a micro way on campus, the real world. The bubble has been busted.”
43. Jeff MacIntosh (’80)
Member of the Winston-Salem City Council
Economics major who relies also on his Wake Forest anthropology, politics and history education in his city council work
“Back in the day, as far as we ventured was the Safari Room or Tavern on the Green, a mile away. Now the community and the University are so much more integrated. I’m so happy to see that. It brings a very different culture to town that enhances everything we do and gives a better feeling of a cosmopolitan place to live than we used to have. I love to see the University reach out, especially in the downtown area, and both have benefited greatly from that partnership.”
44. Suyash Keshari (’18) of New Delhi, India
Political science and international affairs major with minors in journalism and entrepreneurship
Aspires to be a consultant in business or government
Owner of Captain, the dog in the photo
“In a very deep sense I know where I’m from. I’m from India. I know my roots. I know my family values. I know my cultural and religious values. At the same time, I know the American and cultural values as well — the way they interact socially, personally and professionally. The Wake Forest community, to me, means a community that is very tight-knit, very social. You can migrate to different parts of the community and find your place. … It’s a huge learning environment. Administrators and staff — they’ve mentored me; they’ve tutored me — just listening to them opens my mind so much.”
