Wake Forest is welcoming about 100 children of alumni to the Class of 2030 this August, including four who have two Deacs as parents. They are arriving from such farflung spots as northern California, Toronto and Palm Beach, Florida.
Balloon towers, cheering RAs and marching band performances are providing the traditional welcome for families unloading first-years’ possessions along the South campus and western side of the Quad. Rowan Kimmer (’30) moved into Johnson Residence Hall last week with the help of his father, Garland Kimmer (’89), who grew up in Winston-Salem and now lives in Taunton, Massachusetts.
“I think I’ve sort of lived around Wake Forest my whole life,” Rowan says. “Not in the literal sense, but it’s always been a part of my family.” His father’s advice: “Get out and meet people. Don’t be afraid to be yourself, even when it feels like the worst thing possible to do. And go to basketball games.”
Joe Fogleman’s (’30) trek from eastern Winston-Salem was only 15 miles from Wait Chapel, but it marks a full-circle journey for his family. Joe was 6 years old when he helped his brother, Cy Fogleman (’18), move into his dorm for the first time. This fall, Cy, now a family medicine resident at Wake Forest School of Medicine, was one of five family members helping to move in Joe, who remembers sleepovers with Cy in Polo Residence Hall, along with Cy’s bringing Joe’s church-league basketball team to the then-new indoor courts to play.
“Wake was the only school for me,” the youngest Fogleman says. It’s a conviction shared by Cy; both brothers applied early decision to Wake Forest and nowhere else. Cy’s family learned the following March that he had been awarded the Porter B. Byrum Scholarship; Joe’s family this time qualifies for the new North Carolina Gateway to Wake Forest, which waives tuition for in-state students with family income of less than $200,000 a year and typical assets.
Joe Fogleman made a big difference in his brother’s life from day one, inspiring Cy to study family medicine after he saw their mother fight for her life on the way to the hospital to deliver Joe prematurely. Cy’s introducing Joe to Wake Forest, followed by Joe’s own summer immersion experience on campus studying psychology, led him to apply, with plans to study psychology and go into medicine as well.
Joe Fogleman and Rowan Kimmer are among more than 1,590 first-year students this year. The incoming class comes from 42 states and Washington, D.C. About 18% are from North Carolina, up from 16% last year. They were chosen from a record number of applicants — more than 21,000.
Official first-year move-in is Tuesday, Aug. 18, but Fogleman and Kimmer were setting up their rooms last week, eager to start pre-orientation programs. Their parents, understandably, seemed a little reluctant to let the moment pass. “I was doing all right until this morning,” said Dawn Fogleman, Joe’s mom, while fitting a mattress topper on his bed.
For his part, Garland Kimmer was lamenting the loss of his “consistent” tennis hitting partner. “I’m going to miss that more than anything else, and just the chance to go out together,” he says. And he’ll miss “his kindness to our dogs.They’re going to be really upset that he’s not getting off the bus … at 2:45 p.m.,” the dad says. “And somebody who insists that we have steak for dinner.”
In addition to his father, Rowan’s Demon Deacon lineage includes his uncle, Christopher Kimmer (’95), and grandmother Jean Kimmer, the University’s longtime associate registrar. For Rowan, though, there was much more to Wake Forest than family tradition. When he visited as a prospective student, “it seemed like the social environment was more welcoming than most schools,” he says. “It was the weather, too. … I thought it would be easier to work in an environment where it wouldn’t be cold and gloomy all the time, like it is in Massachusetts.”
His father’s favorite Wake Forest memory: “The day after graduation, my sophomore year, a bunch of my friends who had graduated were still in town. Around this time, they were also shooting the Wake Forest photo book, so there were about 20 of us who got to go down to (the original campus in the town of Wake Forest) with (then-Provost) Ed Wilson ( ’43, P ’91, ’93).
Still, “I hope he doesn’t follow in my footsteps,” Garland Kimmer says. “I’m most excited he’s going to have that opportunity to grow and become himself here. Hopefully (he’s) going to get the chance to study abroad.”
Turning to Rowan, he says, “All these things are going to be options that you’re going to have. Seeing you take them, seeing you become who you’re going to be, that’s what’s exciting for me.”
