Daily Deacon

Annabel Love Story #2

A panel discussion called Truth Lies and Politics: Ideology, Rationality, and Choice in an Election year was held in the Wait Chapel on February 16. Members from the Wake Forest community and people from the area came to listen to these panelists discuss important issues regarding the upcoming election.

Dr. Melissa Harris Perry, Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Wake Forest, was the moderator for the event. She challenged the panelists by sparking conversation regarding climate change, the effect of media, political gridlock, and ideological differences.

Two out of the three panelists could not attend the discussion due to weather conditions and airfare. Jed Purdy and Keith Payne filled in the places for Dr. Anthony Appiah and Dr. Dan Kahan. According to the office of sustainability, the two substitute panelists were connected to faculty members that were familiar with their work.

Hannah Slodounik from the office of sustainability said, “it was a quick change of events and was not what we planned, but the outcomes from the event were exactly what we were hoping for.”

The discussion started with talking about polarization and whether or not it is problematic to see the world in profoundly different ways. Jed Purdy a Professor of Law at Duke University argued, “the constitution is composed of our long history of disagreeing over the meaning of equality and the meaning of liberty. In democracy you have to respect the competing voices because that is what national elections are all about.”

Dr. Lucas Johnston, a religion professor at Wake Forest, said that he “enjoyed how the conversations kept evolving and reflecting on bigger issues.” He mentioned that he appreciated Naomi Oreskes and her insights on climate change.

Naomi Oreskes Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University argued, “Climate change is not a scientific disagreement it is a political disagreement.” Climate change can be scientifically proven but it is a political disagreement about what to do about it. Her research focuses on the earth and environmental sciences and has noticed that if we don’t reduce carbon emissions we are going to have a serious problem.

Dr. Keith Payne, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at University of North Carolina mentioned “no one wants to have a conversation with people that want to change your worldview. However, we need to start talking more about politics, religion, and money around the dinner table with the Uncle that doesn’t agree with us and start talking about these issues with mutual respect.”

Stephanie Eagan, a Wake Forest student with a Politics and International Affairs major, enjoyed that the panel was interactive among panelists and between the panelists and the audience. “I thought that they did an impressive job in encouraging us to think of important issues in a new light and I enjoyed the conversations that arose with my friends after the event.”

Wake Forest students follow the footsteps of Mother Teresa in Kolkata, India

December 28th is normally a day of rest after the flurry of Christmas activities. But while the majority of her classmates spent the day relaxing and eating leftovers, sophomore Hannah Hulshult boarded a plane to the slums of Kolkata, India.

Hulshult, joined by 10 other Wake Forest students and two faculty members, forewent vacation time and decided to participate in City of Joy, WFU’s longest running international service trip. From December 28th to January 10th, the team volunteered with Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata. This year marks City of Joy’s 21st anniversary since being pioneered by a University undergrad in 1994.

“I heard about the trip through my sorority, ADPi,” said Hulshult. “I had never been out of the country before, and it seemed like a really cool opportunity to serve.”

“Cool” would later turn into “culture shock.” A typical day began with a 6 AM walk from the Lytton Hotel to the Charity headquarters. Here, the team gathered for breakfast and connected with volunteers from across the globe, hailing from Spain, Argentina, Australia, China, South Korea, and England among numerous other countries. After breakfast, the students were split into groups and stationed at various Charity houses throughout Kolkata.

Among the seven total houses, the WFU team was assigned to Shishu Bhuvan, a home for sick and homeless children; Prem Dan, a home for the mentally and physically disabled; Daya Dan, a home for disabled children; and Kalighat, a home for the dying and destitute. Duties ranged from tending children and doing laundry to simply comforting the elderly, most of whom would die within a week.

Hulshult’s primary station was Shishu Bhuvan in the mornings and Kalighat in the evenings.
Although faced with a language barrier (Kolkatans speak Hindi and Bengali) and sickness due to the city’s highly toxic level of pollution, Hulshult adapted quickly to each houses’ needs and was touched by the compassion of the Charity workers.

“Whether learning how best to feed a child or understanding the hand signals a woman gives me when she wants company, I eventually felt more of a help than hindrance,” said Hulshult. “The love that fills the different homes, even when the people within are dying, is incredible.”

Chaplain Timothy Auman led the trip along with senior Mike Thomas. For Auman, who also attended the trip in 2005, the team’s service efforts were less significant than the wisdom gathered from the experience.

“We spent a lot of time feeling out of place,” said Auman. “But we’re there to learn and be open to feeling uncomfortable – that’s what’s key about this trip.”

The student team was selected based on reflective essays explaining why they wanted to go and their expectations of the trip. After learning of their acceptance in the spring, the group met in Campus Kitchen each week throughout the fall to prepare via discussions, lectures, and training sessions. However, according to junior Adeline Ding (who attended the trip in 2015) most of the preparation was futile. Like many Wake Forest team members, the trip was her first intimate encounter with poverty.

“Upon arrival, we realized that no amount of preparation could allow us to deal with what we would see,” Ding posted on the City of Joy blog. “To set the scene, Kolkata’s streets are filled with homeless people and dogs, sleeping among trash night after night. The best word to describe our feelings is confusion.”

Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) might be India’s 3rd largest city and economic frontrunner of West Bengal, but the city also faces extreme levels of poverty. A 2011 census estimated that there are 70,000 homeless living in Kolkata, meaning the homeless population has grown nearly 30% in the past decade. For Chaplain Auman, the city alone forces a jolting recognition of Western entitlement.

“As privileged Wake Forest people, we choose not to see this poverty regularly,” Chaplain Auman said. “But in Kolkata, it’s in your face everywhere. The mass of humanity in the streets is overwhelming.”

Yet within the chaos of Kolkata’s overcrowded slums and dense pollution clouds, both Auman and Hulshult found inspiration in the human resilience at the Charity houses.

“The more time I spent volunteering, the more I began to see the beauty within the work of Missionaries of Charity,” said Hulshult. “It inspires me to continue working toward my goal of becoming a medical missionary one day so I’m able to share that love and kindness to people who need it the most.”

Hulshult plans on returning to Kolkata next winter and recommends all interested Wake Forest students look into City of Joy. Auman, does not see himself returning in the future, but recommends the experience for its learning opportunities, deep introspection, and self-realization.

“In our organized Western world, there are so few opportunities for spontaneity and adventure,” Auman said in conclusion. “The trip really makes you think – ‘Am I following my heart or am I following my degree?'”

Photo courtesy of City of Joy blog

Graduating Seniors Choosing Grad School Now More Than Ever

As graduation approaches, Wake Forest University Seniors are being pushed to decide the next step in their lives. And more than ever, those students are choosing graduate schools over searching for immediate placement into the workforce.

U.S. News and World Report recently reported that graduate school applications from graduating undergraduates rose more than 8% from 2015 to 2016. This follows an 8% increase from 2014 to 2015, equaling the largest percentage growth in history.

Wake Forest Seniors seem to be helping this trend with more than 23% of students surveyed in the Senior Class planning on attending graduate school in the next year or one year removed from the end of their undergraduate careers. According to statistics on the Wake Forest University Graduate Program website, this number has increased steadily from 11% since 2011.

According to Generation Opportunity, a conservative nonprofit that advocates for millennials, this spike in undergraduate seniors deciding to pursue graduate school is a sign of a struggling economy and tough job market. A Wake Forest Senior who asked to remain anonymous echoed the sentiment that only the highest qualified applicants are being considered for jobs. “These are entry-level jobs, but experienced people are taking them.”

As out-of-college job placement becomes increasingly difficult, “millennials, and employers for that matter, are starting to believe that an undergraduate degree just isn’t good enough,” said Dr. Herman Rapaport, a Wake Forest Professor of more than 20 years. “A degree, even from a prestigious university like Wake Forest, just doesn’t mean what it used to in terms of gaining meaningful employment.”

To many, a graduate degree offers a more secure path towards the goal of a gainful career. Wake Forest University Senior, Valeria Villa, turned down several offers from high-earning jobs out of college in order to pursue a Law Degree from New York University. “It just makes more sense in the long run,” she said, explaining her decision to reject her initial offers. “A Graduate Degree of any kind opens so many doors that otherwise would never even be on your radar.”

A tough job market and a broader field of job options are not the only reasons today’s undergraduates are more frequently pursuing graduate degree programs than their older peers. Some seniors, such as Senior Biology and Chemistry Major, Eric Bueter, see Graduate School not as a vehicle for job placement but rather motivation for waiting longer to enter the job market.

“I just worked my a** off for four years, and had the best time of my life,” Bueter said when asked why he wanted to put off the job search in favor of completing a Graduate Degree at the University of Chicago’s Biochemistry Ph.D. Program. “Now I get to study exactly what I want to at one of the best programs in the entire world. Who in their right mind would pass on that?”

As factors such as the difficult job market and a more secure career path weigh on graduating seniors now more than ever, it is easy to see why Graduate School has become a more frequently chosen option for first year post-graduates than it has ever been in the past. And in the case of Bueter, Graduate School just makes sense. “I never want to stop learning. Ever.”

Wake Forest Business School Undergraduate Program of 2016-2017

The Wake Forest School of Business recently made its decisions regarding admissions for the undergraduate program of 2016-2017. Emails released between Feb. 10 and Feb. 15 informed students whether they were accepted on the condition that they continued to perform well during the fall semester of 2016, deferred and given a chance to reapply after the fall semester, or rejected and advised to evaluate other opportunities at Wake Forest to help attain their goals.

Admissions status was based on completion of MTH 111 or 112, ECN 150, and ACC 111, the GPA for these core classes, and cumulative GPA. The process is fairly competitive due to only having 265 seats available and approximately 350 applicants each year. The average GPA for the undergraduate program of 2015-2016 was a 3.2 for core classes and 3.5 for cumulative according to Betsy Hoppe, Executive Director of the Undergraduate Program.

“The key traits that the program looks for in applicants are analytical skills which are reflected in the focus on Mathematics, Economics, and Accounting courses and hardworking which is reflected in overall GPA,” said Pat Dickson, Associate Dean of the Undergraduate Program. Dr. Dickson led the business school’s sophomore orientation on Feb. 21 in Broyhill Auditorium.

Wake Forest international student from Beijing, China, Anling Deng, was accepted on Feb. 11 and stated, “I was not really surprised, but relieved after getting accepted. I don’t know anyone who got rejected.” Deng is aiming to be an auditor working in the U.S. and was attracted to the business school due to holding top pass rates on the CPA exam among all U.S. institutions, and it’s #1 ranking for academic quality by Bloomberg in 2014. Deng is one among many international students drawn towards Wake Forest’s Business School by its accolades.

The undergraduate program offers Accountancy, Business Enterprise Management, Finance, and Mathematical Business majors. Dr. Dickson stated that all of the programs are equal in quality and there are multiple paths one can take to get where they want in the business world. Dr. Dickson also included that one of the strengths of the Wake Forest Business School is its close connection to the liberal arts side of the school, giving students “the best of both worlds.” In the past few years, leadership and communication skills have been implemented into the curriculum for every business school class. Changes are also constantly made to the undergraduate program based on what the market wants and what qualities employers are looking for.

Wake Forest sophomore, Dean Beckford, who was deferred from the business school said, “I was missing a required course for the Mathematical Business program, but I am not worried.” Beckford believes after the completion of this fall semester, he will be accepted.

For those rejected, Dr. Dickson who majored and received a PhD in communications recommends, “work hard no matter what you are majoring in, be passionate about your studies, employers can teach you their trade provided that you are passionate and a critical thinker.” Dan Feldstein who was the featured speaker for orientation, is the Chief Marketing Officer and co-founder of Red Ventures which accepted 35-40 Wake Forest students in 2015, half of them being from the liberal arts division of Wake Forest. Dr. Dickson emphasizes that any major can get you to where you want in life.

The Man Behind the Bells

Every day at 5 pm, Wait Chapel’s 48 bronze bells ring across campus, sounding anything from Tchaikovsky’s Waltz from Sleeping Beauty to ‘What a Wonderful World’ to Pirates of the Caribbean‘s ‘He’s a Pirate.’ The bells can be heard from just about anywhere on campus. What most people do not know is that there is a man behind the bells, and that man is Ray Ebert.

Ray Ebert, who graduated from Wake Forest in 1960, has been playing the bells, or the carillon, for over twenty years and the pipe organ for even longer.

“I came here to be a math major,” said Ebert. “And then I saw the big pipe organ downstairs, and I spent the rest of my life playing it.”

On top of playing the Chapel’s carillon, Ebert, who is semi-retired, still works as an organist for churches in Winston-Salem and accompanies dance classes and rehearsals for Wake Forest’s dance department and at UNC School of the Arts. Ebert also gives carillon lessons to several Wake Forest students.

“We call ourselves the Carillon Club. There are about eight or so of us. When we come together, like on Love Feast, and we’re all taking turns playing, it’s a real bonding experience.”

“Here,” Ebert said as he pointed to a picture of himself and four Wake Forest students taped to the wall, “We are playing what one student called a waterfall, where you play down the keyboard and then the next person starts and keeps going.”

Ebert, standing next to the keyboard of the carillon and the practice keyboard, made his hands into fists and demonstrated. This newly climate-controlled room, one floor beneath the bells themselves, lies 170 steps from the ground floor of the Chapel. (Ebert counted when the elevator broke temporarily last week.)

Ebert often lets his students play the carillon, especially when their lesson wraps up near 5 pm, he explained. He also lets them play after sports victories and recently made a tradition of letting one of the seniors play at commencement.

“It can be kind of scary. Let’s say they hit G sharp,” he sang, “and it goes a little too long. Well, then it’s too late. G sharp is all over campus,” Ebert said with a laugh.

The Carillon Club, Ebert explained, now takes song requests from their Facebook page, “The Wake Forest University Carillon.” But when asked his favorite piece to play on the carillon, Ebert pulled out sheet music for a song called “Fantasia on a Theme of Wake Forest,” written by Ryan D. Whittington.

“One of my students, who was majoring in music, wrote this song, a duet. It’s only four notes. They spell ‘W-A-K-E,'” said Ebert as he pulled out a chart of handwritten music notes. “Here’s the way you figure it out. Here’s the music scale, A through G, if you align the rest of the letters underneath, W would be B, then A, K is D, and then E. B-A-D-E.”

Ebert, who is from a Moravian family heavily influenced by music traditions, began playing the piano when he was five years-old, but did not start playing for dance classes until much later in life.

“One day, this person called and said, ‘The School of the Arts needs someone to play for dance classes.’ I was young and foolish. Have you ever heard someone who just started to play for ballet class and doesn’t know what to do? Well, it’s awkward,” Ebert laughed. “Now, I can. I have a lot of things in my memory, but I can also improvise, just making up the tune on the spot.”

One of the classes Ebert plays for every week is Wake Forest’s advanced classical ballet class. The class is taught by Brantly Shapiro, who enjoys the live accompaniment.

“For one thing, ballet is a musical art, and the musicality element is huge in terms of getting proficient in ballet. When you have live accompaniment, the big difference for the teacher is you set the combinations and then someone accompanies that. And if you have a good musician, they come up with a flavor of music that matches. The other thing is the rapport with the musician. He’s not just stuck in the corner. He’s a part of what you’re learning,” said Shapiro.

Many of Shapiro’s students agreed that Ebert is a big part of their class.

“The music he plays is beautiful and diverse,” said freshman Emma Scott. “He also warns us when he’s going to play music from a ballet on the bells that evening.”

Ebert explained playing for dance classes is just as satisfying as playing the carillon and teaching students to play the carillon. As he nears 80 years-old, Ebert claims he has no plans to stop playing.

“Ray has been playing for ballet classes as long as I have been here, 33 years. He has been a big part of the Winston-Salem music scene as long as I can remember too,” said Shapiro. “He’s a fixture.”

Truth, Lies, Ideology and Politics – Suyash Keshari

A panel of professors from different backgrounds discussed and debated political ideologies, processes, climate change and upcoming policy changes on account of the presidential elections and the influence of media in the process.

_____ (idk who said this as she did not say her name) set the stage pretty well starting with “we humans have powerful emotional needs to form and maintain certain political beliefs. We conform to the cultural communities we identify and those who are interested in manipulating this are happy to do so in political and ideological spheres.”

Naomi Oreskes a professor in the department of History of Science and affiliated professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University, Jedediah Purdy, a professor of Law at Duke University and Keith Payne, a professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of North Carolina all held different opinions on the influence of ideology, its interpretation and tolerance by people of America.

The panel held on February 16th at Wait Chapel was moderated by Melissa Harris-Perry, Presidential Endowed Wake Forest professor in the department of Politics and International Affairs.

The discussion kicked off with Harris-Perry directing the first question to Keith Payne –“there is a deep division between american politics and socio-cultural life and that division is hurting the identity of us as humans. But is this so called polarization actually a problem or there is some importance in seeing the world in profoundly different ways?”

Payne responds saying “ideology is a set of ideas about how we believe the world works, and how we believe we should organize ourselves in a society. The problem in politics isn’t people thinking different ideology, it’s how they think about change and create walls between each other, making us politically polarized.”

Oreskes brought law into the discussion. She believes that “in a democracy we obviously must respect and accommodate all opinions. Thus ideology itself is not a problem. The problem arises when ideology trumps the rule of law.

Taking the example of former supreme court Justice Antonin Scalia’s death and the question of appointment she says “if the congress says we don’t want to consider anyone, no matter how qualified and experienced, is problematic.”

The panel discussion attracted a large number of Wake students, faculty and staff. Alexine Devyn Carr, a first year student said “I thought that opening the discussion from the polarity angle set a thought provoking tone that was woven throughout the test of the evening.” “It made it even more interesting that the panel was composed of people from different backgrounds” she added.

Jake Orent a sophomore present at the discussion said “it really broadened the scope of thinking with respect to the upcoming elections by making me more informed yet at the same time getting me thinking about many questions.”

Jedediah Purdy shared that “I think it must have been interesting for students to see how people from different disciplines approach the same set of problems in different ways. There were some clear places of agreement and disagreements which should get students thinking and making a sense of the ideological pervasiveness in politics.”

Oreskes said that “I am thrilled to be here in Winston Salem. If you live in North Carolina, knowing the role of the tobacco industry as a part of southern industry and its economical importance to the state’s upbringing is very important. This talk with the tobacco industry example may help students learn that we are not prisoners of past and can definitely reverse things. And one can see clearly that North Carolina is not a prisoner of its past and we should take this example out to other fields such as climate change.”

WFUs Reaction to The Waiting Room // Rachel Hirsch

The Waiting Room opened on the mainstage at Wake Forest University February 12th through the 21st and was directed by their very own, John E. R. Friedenberg.

The play is focused around three women who are from different time periods and of different cultures who are all waiting in the same doctor’s office. All three women struggle to meet the standards of beauty in society. The play is described as a “dark comedy [that] will have you squirming with laughter as the characters struggle to beat the system and win at life.”

Friedenberg, WFUs Director of Theatre, explained that the play had a lot to say and he didn’t exactly know how each audience would react, but said “the main thing he wanted the audience to leave with was having seen the same play he thought was there.”

He discussed how each audience was going to be very different in their reaction from each other especially when it came to laughter which would be hard for his cast to deal with.

Lillie Burrow, who played Victoria, one of the main women described how the audience was hesitant to laugh at the beginning of the play because of the dark material, but eventually they warmed up to actually being okay to laugh at everything.

“Someone laughed at a scene that shouldn’t have provoked laughter, which was weird to handle” Burrow said.

When asked what the intended reaction of the audience to her character was she said, “I’m not too sure, but I hoped people would laugh at my lines and eventually cry when I was forced to return to my terrible, hysterical husband.”

Tyler Johnson, who played Larry, the Board of the Hospital experienced some of the same struggles as his castmember Burrow. He said, “Some nights a joke would kill and then other nights I would pause for laughter and it was completely silent.”

Heather Sullivan, who played Wanda, another main women had a different take on the reaction to the play than Burrow and Johnson. She talked about the audience members who approached her after the show rather then the reaction during the play.

“Some people told me that they laughed or cried and others said the playwright tried to tackle too many issues. Someone even told me they thought the first half was funny and then the second half took them by surprise” Sullivan said.

Sullivan discussed how out of all the plays she had done at WFU this was the play that gave her the most positive and thoughtful responses.

Sammy Moorin, a Sophomore at WFU and audience member said she loved the play and thought it was hilarious.

“I went to the play to get credit for a WGS class assignment, but I thought the commentary on the feminist struggles throughout the years was brilliantly done” Moorin said.

To see a review on the play from The Winston-Salem Journal, click here.

Wake Forest College Republicans host former Louisiana state senator — Chris Caswell

Wake Forest College Republicans hosted former Louisiana state senator and congressional candidate, Elbert Guillory on Feb. 12.

Guillory has drawn considerable interest across the country due to his multiple changes in party affiliation. According to The Daily Advertiser, a Louisiana newspaper, Guillory was a registered Republican prior to 2007. In 2007, he switched to the Democratic Party when he first ran for the state House. Then in 2013, he returned to the Republican Party.

In 2013, he released a video explaining his choice to switch affiliations. In the video, he explains that he believes the Republican Party is better for blacks.

“The left is only concerned with one thing: control,” Guillory says. “Programs such as welfare, food stamps; these programs aren’t designed to lift black Americans out of poverty. They were always intended as a mechanism for politicians to control the black community.”

At the College Republicans event, instead of giving a speech, Guillory encouraged an open discussion, but he began by introducing himself and talking about the events in his life that shaped his career and beliefs as a politician.

According to Guillory, he was arrested at a public library when he was 15 years-old. He was arrested for sitting in the library after the librarian refused to let him check out a book. He has said in a previous interview with the National Review that this was a driving force in his life, leading him to public service.

Guillory mentioned another important event in his life, too. At the age of 17, Guillory was the Editor-in-chief of his school’s newspaper, but a year later, he was expelled from his school at gunpoint because of articles he wrote about civil rights.

Guillory was shaped by these discriminatory events, but he emphasized that the U.S. has changed a lot since then.

“The United States is not perfect, but it’s come a long way in my lifetime,” said Guillory. “I’m not sure it ever will be [perfect], but it’s the best thing on Planet Earth.”

Though Guillory thinks the country has come a long way in his lifetime, he still believes it faces important challenges ahead.

When asked what he thought the biggest single issue was facing the U.S. today, he responded with funding, in particular, the national debt.

“It will affect every decision Americans make over the next decade,” said Guillory. “There is no money for the jobs of tomorrow.”

Students asked Guillory what the government can do to control the deficit and what programs should be cut back. He responded that it must put a ceiling on debt and should cut back on “just about everything.” An example Guillory gave was social security. He said that the government should cut it back, because it is unstable and unsustainable.

Another issue that he spoke of is education. Guillory said that the American education system has deteriorated over the past several decades.

He compared scores from his community – amid the civil rights movement – to now and claimed that scores were worse now than when “separate but equal” was still legal in schools. Guillory said that education is an area in which the U.S. must improve to compete globally.

“We cannot compete on an international basis, and we can’t grow anything, like the economy, with an illiterate country,” said Gillory.

Later on, when asked how exactly he proposes the government strengthen schools, he said schools should take disruptive children out of the classroom so other can learn.

“The federal government said that the bad kid has to stay in the classroom,” Guillory said. “They should put that kid in a better environment.”

However, he also said that, in response to a question about Common Core standards, that the federal government should leave guidelines on education to states.

The College Republicans were, overall, pleased with the discussion.

“Senator Guillory spoke extensively on ways in which the left has created a culture of dependence that is harmful to American welfare as a whole and detrimental to equality,” said Joe Macy, President of College Republicans. “We hope his legacy will reach across several generations to renew core values to ensure a better future.”

Another student shared Macy’s enthusiasm for the event.

“It was a wonderful chance for Wake Forest students to get a good perspective from a sitting senator,” said graduate student Eric Henderson. “For me, it’s nice to see a good turnout, because a young crowd isn’t privy (sic) to participating in politics.”

Sage the Gemini and the Chainsmokers coming to WFU//Karlee Spirit

Come April 8^th, the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum will no longer resonate with the pounding of a basketball, screeching of sneakers and the cheering of fans. Instead, it will be filled with students, alumni, and interested administrators and faculty listening to the hammering of keys and mixing of beats.

Wake Forest University Headliner’s Committee of Student Union has introduced their 2016 Spring Concert with performances by Sage the Gemini and the highly anticipated American DJ duo the Chainsmokers.

Kate Hubbs, the Headliners Chair for Student Union, is the leader of the Headliners Committee and manages the Headliners budget in order to book one or more concerts for the academic year.

“I have to be aware of upcoming artists that have the potential to put on a good show, as well as be aware of what the student body wants as a concert,” Hubbs said. “I use the information I get from my spring concert survey in order to bring an act that will be most popular with the student body.”

The Student Union works closely with Babco Entertainment, a booking agency stationed in Virginia, when looking for music acts to bring to campus.

Babco Entertainment agents provide the Headliners Chair with a list of all the artists that are available for booking in the spring along with their typical price range for a performance.

Using this information, Hubbs and her committee go through the list of potential artists and narrow it down to about 30 artists within the Student Union’s budget. These 30 artists are the ones that get put on the survey that is sent out to the student body in order to see who the Wake Forest community is most interested in.

The Chainsmokers’ awaited performance has already sold about 1,000 tickets within the first two weeks of ticket sales, and has yet to be opened up to other schools or the general public.

Sarah King, the Vice President of Communications on the Executive Board for Student Union, manages social media platforms, weekly newsletters and creates graphics. She ensures that all of the Student Union events, especially the spring concert, are effectively marketed to the students. She has the important role of making sure everything is organized, planned and advertised to the community.

“When planning an event, I must consider venue, ticket prices, security, hospitality needs, marketing plans, etc., while all of this must be approved by the artist’s agency,” King says. “Once everything is approved, I can start to tell people and promote, promote, promote!”

WFU Student Union tweets a reminder to the Wake Forest community

McKenzie Ziegler, a senior and member of Student Government, says she can’t wait to attend the concert.

“I enjoy electronic music and the Chainsmokers have a good number of well-known songs,” Ziegler states. “I would like to attend simply because I’m a senior and it could be my last hurrah.”

Doors for the spring concert open at 7:00pm and the performances begin at 8:00pm. While all seating is general admission, tickets are priced at $20 for students, $25 for faculty, staff, alumni, other university students, and $35 to the general public.

To purchase tickets to see Sage the Gemini and the Chainsmokers, click here.

Wake Forest Professor a huge hit at TEDxWakeForestU

A collective gasp filled Wake Forest’s Wait Chapel at the sight of the image on the big screen. The image of millions of ants crossing a river, forming a bridge as a collective unit, jolted the crowd with a nervous energy as the speaker took the seemingly grotesque image and it applied it to cyber security.

The speaker was Wake Forest’s very own computer science professor Errin Fulp. Professor Fulp made his TEDx debut this past Saturday in front of the sold out Wait Chapel, as hundreds of his students, colleagues and peers witnessed him speak publicly for the first time about applying patterns in nature to cyber security. He emphasized how nature operates in the most efficient manner, taking the shortest paths in accomplishing its goals and continuously evolving. He believes that these principles can be applied to improving our cyber defense systems.

The idea of speaking in front of so many colleagues and students was not lost on Professor Fulp when he was invited to speak at the event in November.

“I was apprehensive at first. TEDx is a pretty big deal in my opinion, I knew a lot of people were going to be there, it’s televised, ” Fulp explained. “There was a lot of pressure to get it right. I’m just glad I had a lot of time to prepare.”

Professor Fulp was the sixth speaker in an eight person lineup, including Oracle CEO Mark Hurd, who headlined the event. The theme of this year’s TEDxWakeForestU was Haven: Fearlessness Reimagined in which each speaker gave an 18 minute speech about security that in some way was relative to their area of expertise. For instance, Fulp and Hurd spoke about cyber security. Bradley Myles, CEO of Polaris, talked about how his company combats human sex trafficking on a global scale.

The TEDxWakeForestU conference was started in 2012 by student activist and leader Lucy Lan, who wanted to to “promote technological entrepreneurship here on Wake Forest Campus,” according to the TEDxWakeForestU website. She contacted many different speakers across different disciplines, and over 1,000 people came to watch the event. The conference has been an annual event ever since.

Following Lucy Lan’s initiative, an all-student staff completely runs and operates TEDxWakeForestU.

“The staff picks the theme, sends out invitations to speakers, does all the budgeting, and gets in touch with other schools’ designers (in this case Forsyth County Technical College) in order to help build the set and design the stage,” explained TEDxWakeForestU emcee and senior Daniel Sechtin. “I was just the emcee, introducing the speakers and asking them a question or two afterwards. I just wanted to make sure I was prepared to do justice to our staff and the great speakers we had.”

The global organization TED started in 1984 in California as a non-profit dedicated to spreading ideas about Technology, Education and Design (hence the acronym TED) according to the TEDxWakeForestU website. TEDx “offers individuals or groups a way to host local, self-organized events around the world,” the site explained. TEDx is what enables Wake Forest and other institutions to host TED conferences.

The conference was headlined by Mark Hurd, CEO of the global computer technology corporation, Oracle. Being the CEO of such well known company, as well as being a father of a current Wake Forest student, he definitely generated buzz among some of the students who attended the event.

“One of the main reasons I went this year was to see Mark Hurd,” said sophomore Austin Rubino. “Being the CEO of such a large technological corporation that is prevalent in our everyday lives, it was great to be able see what he had to say about cyber security, which is an extremely relevant issue in our society today.”

One of Mark Hurd’s principle messages was that it is within our own power to protect our data and internet information.

“Data is getting more secure, not less…. But there is no technological trick we have to protect you, like personal decision making, personal responsibility,” Hurd said.

He emphasized how important is is to make sure that we’re not revealing too much data on the open internet, and to make sure that whomever we trust our data with will do everything in their power to protect it.

To many, it was Errin Fulp who stole the show, however.

“All of the speakers were great, but Errin Fulp was my favorite,” Austin Rubino reflected. “It was great to see one of our own being able to share his ideas with such a big audience.”

Daniel Sechtin echoed this sentiment, reveling at the impact that Professor Fulp has made on him as a student at Wake Forest.

“Every speaker was amazing, but it was especially great to have Wake Forest’s own Errin Fulp in the mix. To see one of our professors mentioned in these great group of speakers doing great things, it makes me proud to be a student here.”