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VOL. 95, NO. 5
T H U R S D AY, S E P T E M B E R 2 2 , 2 0 1 1
“Covers the campus like the magnolias”
Moneyand the Magnolias By Charlotte Leitch | Contributing writer
Graphic by Renee Slawsky/Old Gold & Black
We’ve all heard about them, perhaps even coveted them and, should we be lucky enough, received them: scholarships are perhaps the most sought after portion of the financial aid package for many college students. However, when asked if they are receiving financial aid from the university, or any other source for that matter, many students feign deafness and avoid answering like the plague. Why is it that many are so fearful of others knowing that they are receiving aid? With tuition prices just under $40,000 a year, and additional costs pushing the price tag far higher, it seems only plausible that many students would need help and, according to the Office of Financial Aid, this is definitely the case. Bill T. Wells, director of Financial Aid, shared that in the 2010-11 school year, 63 percent of the student body received scholarships and aid of some kind. These did not necessarily come from the uni-
Students show recent research endeavors
versity, but any source available, the most prevalent seeming to be the NCLTG (North Carolina Legislative Tuition Grant).While this number dropped to 56 percent when the NCLGT was taken out of consideration, this still represents a majority of students at the university. How does this affect the university’s apparent reputation as a “rich school”? While many other campuses perceive that Wake Forest attendees and their families have an ample amount of cash flow, Wells affirms that this is not necessarily the case. The university’s endowment is lower than most cross-admit schools such as Vanderbilt, and does have to be shared with the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, which many counterparts do not have to worry about. Wells admits that, regrettably, many wonderful students are accepted to the university every year, yet chose another college of comparable standing because of a larger endowment and, therefore, greater grant and scholarship
See Financial, Page A3
Lunch?
Building dedicated to notable alum By Liz Stalfort | Contributing writer
On Sept. 10 in the admission center auditorium, President Nathan O. Hatch and other administrators and faculty dedicated the Porter B. Byrum Welcome Center to a man who believes in more than living the motto “Pro Humanitate.” Porter Byrum needed a scholarship to attend the university in the 1940s. He has more than paid back the school since, donating a total $82 million, including a recordbreaking $40 million in scholarship money this summer. Named the 2010 recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award, Byrum’s generosity has allowed many students to attend the university that would not have otherwise been able. Byrum (’42) was one of his four brothers to attend the Byrum university on scholarship. His father, a Baptist minister, graduated from Wake Forest College in 1908. After receiving his degree, Byrum enlisted in the army and served at the Battle of the Bulge during WWII. By the early 1950s, he established a legal practice in Charlotte, where he would work for almost 60 years. Byrum’s legal career connected him with many members of the Charlotte business community, eventually allowing him to own the Park Road Shopping Center in Charlotte. He donated the shopping center to Wake Forest University, Wingate University and Queens University in Charlotte in June of this year. Each university has used the money in different ways.
By Madeline Price | Contributing writer
Sample research projects from the symposium “Traditional Chinese Medicine: Survival and Expansion in the 21st Century” - Xinxin Zhang “Southern Jews and the Civil Rights Movement” - Hannah Berkowitz
Porter B. Byrum (‘42)
Charlotte lawyer and major university donor
Graphic by Renee Slawsky/Old Gold & Black
From the impact of Disney Princesses on American girls to the genetic diversity of the tomato, the undergraduate research fair exposed the intricacies of the many academic departments and, at the symposium, there truly was something for everyone. On Sept. 16, the fifth annual Undergraduate Research Day was held in Benson University Center. Jacquelyn Fetrow, Dean of the College, welcomed parents, alumni and students to the presentations of 110 students, proudly stating that research of this type “strengthens faculty and student interaction across the college.” Among the posters stood Ashley Birkedal, an English major, whose 30-page research project was “the longest paper she has ever written.” Originally scheduled to read and analyze the works of her favorite author Edith Wharton for 10 weeks, Birkedal spent three months focusing on the role art plays in Wharton’s novels. Ultimately, Birkedal discovered that Wharton usually criticizes those artists that were socially accepted.
“Education gave me an opportunity for life. It is my privilege to give the same opportunity to others.”
The effect of spending time with professors outside of the classroom is explored — does it help or hurt students?
By Adam Buie | Contributing writer While some students think that asking a professor to lunch or coffee is brownnosing, students and professors alike attest to the benefits of these interactions. At the beginning of every semester, many professors encourage their students to come and speak with them during their office hours if they have any questions about course material.
See Professors, Page A6
Leonard honored by Baptist organization By Caroline Angle | Contributing writer
“The Political Drama of Harold Pinter: Torture & the Totalitarian State” - Cameron Roberts “How 1994 Lives On: The Teaching of Apartheid in South Africa’s Classrooms” - Ashley Millhouse After some difficulty deciding, Birkedal revealed that House of Mirth is her favorite book but she chose this project because she enjoys Wharton and the 1860s era in which she wrote. Laura Grace Carroll, a senior psychology and communication double major, received a Richter Grant to travel to rural Kenya by herself for six weeks. There, she helped children that had “never heard of washing their hands” in a village without electricity or running water. The kids would rinse their hands in a “nasty, dirty well” but after attending Carroll’s health seminars, the percentage of children that washed their hands regularly went from less than 10 to almost 100. “The results were really, really positive,” Carroll said. She hopes to take a gap year after graduation, perhaps to do work with an NGO back in Africa.
See Symposium, Page A6
Byrum has maintained a connection with his alma mater and thus decided to give back to the institution that enabled him with an education.“Education gave me an opportunity for life. It is my privilege to give the same opportunity to others,” Byrum said. Since 2001, over $2 million has been given to 64 students due to his scholarships. Provost Emeritus Ed Wilson called the Welcome Center the “front porch of the community.” Much larger and more spacious than the previous welcome center, this will place the prospective students in a more “comfortable, hospitable, and warming atmosphere,” Martha Allman, director of admissions said. Byrum’s portrait resides in the new welcome center that now bears his name. The dedication event was well-attended and there were many notable administrators there in attendance.
Huxley Rodriguez/Old Gold & Black
Professor Bill Leonard was the founding dean of the School of Divinity.
Bill J. Leonard, professor of Church History, was selected as the first James and Marilyn Dunn Chair of Baptist Studies at the School of Divinity Sept. 14. This chair is a tribute to James and Marilyn Dunn, influential partners in the School of Divinity and leaders of the Baptist Society. Leonard, the founding Dean of the Wake Forest School of Divinity, is an ordained Baptist minister who taught at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for almost 20 years before joining the university community. After retiring as dean in 2010, Leonard has continued to teach Church History in the department of religion and in the divinity school. His most recent books, “Baptist Questions, Baptist Answers” (Westminster/ John Knox, 2009) and “Baptists in America” (Columbia University Press, 2005) focus on the evolution of Baptist beliefs and traditions, and the fundamental spiritual and practical questions of Baptist life. The Chair of Baptist Studies recognizes the university’s Baptist tradition and encourages the education of the next generation of Baptist leaders. “I hope that the chair will represent the best of the progressive Baptist heritage glimpsed present at Wake Forest from its earliest days, as evident in Dr. Poteat’s decision to teach evolution in the 1920s, the invitation to Martin
Luther King to speak in chapel in the 1960s, and student participation in desegregation in Winston-Salem in the 1960s,” Leonard said. “That [progressive Baptist] tradition anchors vital, personal spirituality in the necessity of uncoerced faith, the centrality of individual conscience and the possibility for dissent in both church and culture. That is an important legacy as the university moves toward religious diversity and interfaith dialogue along with a greater affirmation of ‘voice’ on the campus and in the larger society.” The chair also honors James and Marilyn Dunn’s life work. James Dunn is known for his position as the executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty in Washington D.C., an organization dedicated to maintaining the Baptist ideals of religious freedom and separation of church and state. He joined the School of Divinity staff in 1999. Marilyn Dunn is a prominent Baptist musician who often performs at musical events in the Winston-Salem community. The Dunns also established the Moyers Scholarship Program in 2005, which granted one graduate student per year from the School of Divinity a semester internship at the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. “I am honored to be named to a chair that honors the work of two outstanding representatives of Baptist identity, religious liberty and freedom of conscience,” Leonard said.