Writing the Script for 2021
1/18/2021 9:00:00 AM | General
Every year around the holidays, my family has a tradition that I'm sure many of you share. We go around the table reflecting on memories from this past year, acknowledging the people and experiences we're most thankful for, and sharing our goals for the coming year. With two current Demon Deacon student-athletes sitting at the dinner table and a pair of alumni parents, it doesn't take a Wake Forest degree to guess our main topic of conversation.
And I'll tell you — I have never been more proud to be a Deac, or more fired up about our future.
I heard both of my daughters share how thankful they were for the opportunity to compete this fall. With zero prompting (I promise!), they thanked YOU — Wake Forest's incredibly generous donors — for making Deacon Club contributions that allowed Wake Forest Athletics to invest in PPE, regular COVID testing, and additional vans and hotel rooms that enabled our teams to maintain social distancing. My daughters spoke about the opportunity to compete at the ACC Championships and watching the men's cross country team crack the top 25. They talked about celebrating with teammates after a first collegiate win. I felt their awed excitement and heard their immense Deacon pride.
These memories — not just those of the Faircloth family — but the memories of all our student-athletes, were made possible because individuals like you decided that, in spite of the "COVID haze" that constantly surrounds us, providing for life-changing opportunities for 400 student-athletes is an endeavor worth pursuing. In fact, nearly 30 percent of you increased your gifts year over year.
You're finding opportunities to leverage a record-high stock market to make gifts of appreciated stock and creating lasting legacies at Wake Forest by establishing a record number of estate gifts.
You decided to reallocate dollars spent on football season tickets toward a donation that could be reinvested in scholarships and enrichment services like leadership development. Even as I'm writing this article, the Deacon Club and Ticket Sales Team staff are fielding calls from fans who are offering to make charitable contributions out of dollars they had set aside for basketball season individual game tickets. These gifts, combined with traditional annual support, have prompted participation in the International Leadership Circle to increase by 20 percent in just three months. Your generosity is sparking a movement.
As I think about the coming 2021 year, I'm filled with incredible hope, optimism, and excitement — so much so that I'm proclaiming 2021 the "Year of the Deacs."
Just in Spring 2021 alone, men's soccer, women's golf, men's golf and men's tennis all enter their championship seasons with top 10 national rankings, while women's tennis and baseball both look to build on top 25 appearances in 2020 — not to mention the dawn of the Steve Forbes Era of men's basketball and the start of the women's basketball season that saw them defeat a top 25 opponent during their opening week.
With the optimism surrounding several potential vaccines, we hope that by the fall of 2021 (or maybe even sooner?) we will be coming together again to cheer on our teams in person, reconnecting at events, and just enjoying the company of our fellow members of Deacon Nation.
2021 brings an opportunity for Wake Forest Athletics to accelerate out of the pandemic and into unprecedented, historic successes. Deacon Club members like you will continue to serve as the catalyst for this acceleration. By increasing your Deacon Club support and making sport-specific Excellence Fund gifts, you allow Wake Forest Athletics to make strategic investments in resources like technology, strength training and summer school that provide competitive advantages in key metrics for Wake Forest student-athletes.
We have this unique opportunity to help write the script for 2021. I envision a year which we will talk about for decades within the Wake Forest family. I see us building new memories together. Thank you for laying the foundation for this year, and I absolutely cannot wait to celebrate our successes.
Go Deacs!
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