Wake Forest University Announces the Naming of Crisp Lane
7/26/2022 11:13:00 AM | General
WFU’s first full-time female faculty member’s name will be on the road leading to the Arnold Palmer Golf Complex.
Wake Forest University Honoree Video | Wake Forest University Announcement
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Wake Forest plans to name four roads on the Reynolda Campus in honor of four trailblazing professors who changed the course of history for the University: Elizabeth Phillips, Marjorie "Marge" Crisp, Dolly McPherson and Herman Eure.
"These names and the inspiring stories behind them expand the narrative of leadership and excellence at Wake Forest," said Wake Forest President Susan R. Wente, Ph.D. "Each person honored has made an indelible mark on the University."
The University road-naming process has been underway for several months. This spring, President Wente appointed the Administrative Committee for Honorifics – led by Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer José Villalba and former Provost Rogan Kersh, to recommend names for roads on campus. The group gathered feedback from the Wake Forest community and conducted extensive research on potential Wake Forest individuals to honor. The Committee sought research support from the University Archives and the Wake Forest Historical Museum and consulted with leaders of key University groups once they had identified likely honorees.
The recommendations for road names were presented to the Wake Forest Board of Trustees at their meeting in late June and approved. Two sections of a Reynolda campus road named for Washington Manly Wingate will be renamed and two additional roads not previously named for Wake Forest individuals will be named.
Earlier this month, the University submitted application materials to the City of Winston-Salem as part of the official process for road naming, and the University expects a decision from the City in mid-August. With City approval, new street signs will be installed in the fall.
Marge Crisp Bio
Marge Crisp led our university as the first full-time female faculty member when she was hired in the physical education department in 1947. She established the first physical education program for women and the first intramural sports program for women on campus. She organized the university's efforts for intercollegiate athletics for women, leading as the women's athletic administrator in the early 1970s and later as the women's golf coach.
And now, Marge Crisp's name will help lead the way for generations of Demon Deacons when they visit Winston-Salem, as she is honored on the newly christened Crisp Lane outside of the Arnold Palmer Golf Complex and Haddock House.
Crisp is considered by many Deacs to be the single most influential person in the start of women's athletics at the university. A high school basketball standout in her hometown of Grover in Cleveland County, N.C., Crisp went on to play basketball, track & field, volleyball and field hockey at Appalachian State University, where she graduated in 1934.
After obtaining her master's degree from George Peabody College (now part of Vanderbilt University), Crisp went on to work at Gardner-Webb College and Louisburg College before coming to Wake Forest as the university's first full-time female faculty member in 1947. She retired as an assistant professor of physical education in 1977, but remained on staff in the athletic department as the women's golf coach until 1983.
She was the first woman inducted into the Appalachian State Athletic Hall of Fame in 1984 and one of the first two women inducted into the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame, alongside her long-time colleague Dorothy "Dot" Casey, in 1993.
The road is just one small addition to Crisp's legacy at Wake Forest. The Marge Crisp Award, given annually to the top female athlete at Wake Forest, has been awarded since 1980.
"She (Marge) was a real pioneer in women's athletics," said Dianne Dailey, Wake Forest's women's golf coach from 1988 to 2018 and also a former director of women's athletics, at the time of Crisp's induction into the hall of fame. "Over the years, she supported women's athletics and fought for women's athletics. She put her heart and soul into women's athletics at Wake Forest."
The naming of the road outside of the Arnold Palmer Golf Complex is done posthumously. Crisp passed away on February 13, 2005, at the age of 92.
"Marge was the founder of women's athletics at Wake Forest and we are all indebted to her for what she did at the very start," Ron Wellman, Wake Forest's director of athletics, said on the occasion of her passing. "We wouldn't be where we are today without her."
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Wake Forest plans to name four roads on the Reynolda Campus in honor of four trailblazing professors who changed the course of history for the University: Elizabeth Phillips, Marjorie "Marge" Crisp, Dolly McPherson and Herman Eure.
"These names and the inspiring stories behind them expand the narrative of leadership and excellence at Wake Forest," said Wake Forest President Susan R. Wente, Ph.D. "Each person honored has made an indelible mark on the University."
The University road-naming process has been underway for several months. This spring, President Wente appointed the Administrative Committee for Honorifics – led by Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer José Villalba and former Provost Rogan Kersh, to recommend names for roads on campus. The group gathered feedback from the Wake Forest community and conducted extensive research on potential Wake Forest individuals to honor. The Committee sought research support from the University Archives and the Wake Forest Historical Museum and consulted with leaders of key University groups once they had identified likely honorees.
The recommendations for road names were presented to the Wake Forest Board of Trustees at their meeting in late June and approved. Two sections of a Reynolda campus road named for Washington Manly Wingate will be renamed and two additional roads not previously named for Wake Forest individuals will be named.
Earlier this month, the University submitted application materials to the City of Winston-Salem as part of the official process for road naming, and the University expects a decision from the City in mid-August. With City approval, new street signs will be installed in the fall.
Marge Crisp Bio
Marge Crisp led our university as the first full-time female faculty member when she was hired in the physical education department in 1947. She established the first physical education program for women and the first intramural sports program for women on campus. She organized the university's efforts for intercollegiate athletics for women, leading as the women's athletic administrator in the early 1970s and later as the women's golf coach.
And now, Marge Crisp's name will help lead the way for generations of Demon Deacons when they visit Winston-Salem, as she is honored on the newly christened Crisp Lane outside of the Arnold Palmer Golf Complex and Haddock House.
Crisp is considered by many Deacs to be the single most influential person in the start of women's athletics at the university. A high school basketball standout in her hometown of Grover in Cleveland County, N.C., Crisp went on to play basketball, track & field, volleyball and field hockey at Appalachian State University, where she graduated in 1934.
After obtaining her master's degree from George Peabody College (now part of Vanderbilt University), Crisp went on to work at Gardner-Webb College and Louisburg College before coming to Wake Forest as the university's first full-time female faculty member in 1947. She retired as an assistant professor of physical education in 1977, but remained on staff in the athletic department as the women's golf coach until 1983.
She was the first woman inducted into the Appalachian State Athletic Hall of Fame in 1984 and one of the first two women inducted into the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame, alongside her long-time colleague Dorothy "Dot" Casey, in 1993.
The road is just one small addition to Crisp's legacy at Wake Forest. The Marge Crisp Award, given annually to the top female athlete at Wake Forest, has been awarded since 1980.
"She (Marge) was a real pioneer in women's athletics," said Dianne Dailey, Wake Forest's women's golf coach from 1988 to 2018 and also a former director of women's athletics, at the time of Crisp's induction into the hall of fame. "Over the years, she supported women's athletics and fought for women's athletics. She put her heart and soul into women's athletics at Wake Forest."
The naming of the road outside of the Arnold Palmer Golf Complex is done posthumously. Crisp passed away on February 13, 2005, at the age of 92.
"Marge was the founder of women's athletics at Wake Forest and we are all indebted to her for what she did at the very start," Ron Wellman, Wake Forest's director of athletics, said on the occasion of her passing. "We wouldn't be where we are today without her."
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