Pro Humanitate: Wake Forest Athletics Launches $100 Million “In Her Wake” Initiative in Support of Demon Deacons Women’s Athletics
2/5/2024 8:37:00 PM | General
This fundraising effort will provide centralized marketing messages that highlight ongoing philanthropic efforts creating a World Class Student-Athlete experience at Wake Forest.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – As one of seven schools in the Atlantic Coast Conference with 10 NCAA Championships, including a title recently by the Demon Deacons women's golf program in May 2023, Wake Forest University has a proud and storied tradition of intercollegiate athletics. Women's athletics and the broad-based success on those programs are among those at the forefront that have helped Wake Forest become the fastest-growing brand in the Power 5 since 2019 with 2.7 million fans worldwide.
Today, on National Girls & Women's in Sports Day, Wake Forest Athletics is excited to announce a $100 million initiative to further transform opportunities for female student-athletes. Today's news follows the tremendous momentum from the celebration of 50 Years of Women's Athletics during the 2021-22 academic year as that fiscal year saw nearly 800 donors commit over $4.1 million toward women's athletics initiatives. That tally included 20 new scholarships in support of women student-athletes.
Ignited by the celebration, Wake Forest extended the effort and during the 2022-23 academic year Athletics raised $21 million - a nearly 375% increase in support in one year.
This fundraising effort will provide centralized marketing messages that highlights the ongoing philanthropic efforts creating a World Class Student-Athlete experience at Wake Forest, such as telling stories of trailblazers who came before them and the indelible mark those individuals would like to leave behind them. With that, current student-athletes will learn and share how they reached current levels of success and whose wake they followed behind to reach that feat. Past student-athletes will look back at the wake that has followed them as they share how their experience as a Demon Deacon had an impact on their career trajectory.
Also, the In Her Wake initiative will further enhance scholarship support; create new opportunities in personal, leadership and career development; and provide strategic investments in areas that create a competitive advantage for individual sport programs. Supporters will also be encouraged to consider the legacy they leave to others who follow in their wake by exploring Forever Deacs endowments that make permanent the impact of their contributions on generations of student-athletes to come.
Those interested in learning more or in supporting the In Her Wake initiative can visit this website. Truist and other lead investors have already committed over $21 million to the In Her Wake initiative this past year, as Wake Forest Athletics aims to surpass $100 million by 2029.
What They're Saying
President Susan R. Wente, Ph.D.
HONOR THE PAST. INVEST IN THE PRESENT. CHANGE THE FUTURE.
Today, on National Girls & Women's in Sports Day, Wake Forest Athletics is excited to announce a $100 million initiative to further transform opportunities for female student-athletes. Today's news follows the tremendous momentum from the celebration of 50 Years of Women's Athletics during the 2021-22 academic year as that fiscal year saw nearly 800 donors commit over $4.1 million toward women's athletics initiatives. That tally included 20 new scholarships in support of women student-athletes.
Ignited by the celebration, Wake Forest extended the effort and during the 2022-23 academic year Athletics raised $21 million - a nearly 375% increase in support in one year.
This fundraising effort will provide centralized marketing messages that highlights the ongoing philanthropic efforts creating a World Class Student-Athlete experience at Wake Forest, such as telling stories of trailblazers who came before them and the indelible mark those individuals would like to leave behind them. With that, current student-athletes will learn and share how they reached current levels of success and whose wake they followed behind to reach that feat. Past student-athletes will look back at the wake that has followed them as they share how their experience as a Demon Deacon had an impact on their career trajectory.
Also, the In Her Wake initiative will further enhance scholarship support; create new opportunities in personal, leadership and career development; and provide strategic investments in areas that create a competitive advantage for individual sport programs. Supporters will also be encouraged to consider the legacy they leave to others who follow in their wake by exploring Forever Deacs endowments that make permanent the impact of their contributions on generations of student-athletes to come.
Those interested in learning more or in supporting the In Her Wake initiative can visit this website. Truist and other lead investors have already committed over $21 million to the In Her Wake initiative this past year, as Wake Forest Athletics aims to surpass $100 million by 2029.
What They're Saying
President Susan R. Wente, Ph.D.
- "Support for women's athletics has advanced tremendously over the past few years, and we are aiming even higher. We know that the experience of being a student-athlete can have a transformational impact on the leadership trajectories of young women. 'In Her Wake' will enable Wake Forest to further harness and accelerate leadership development by enhancing Wake Forest's investment in women's athletics."
- "My favorite moments during our celebration of 50 Years of Women's Athletics were listening to stories of success from women who benefited from the sacrifices of those who came before them. Their understanding of these experiences and subsequent desire to pay that forward encourages me in knowing the foundation is being laid for future success."
- "Thanks to tremendous leadership from our head coaches and the dedication of thousands of student-athletes over the last 50-plus years of women's athletics, and with the support of Deacon Club members, the Board of Trustees and many friends, Wake Forest University has become synonymous with excellence in women's intercollegiate athletics. Buoyed by incredible support from Truist - the Presenting Partner of Wake Forest Women's Athletics - our current and future female student-athletes will benefit from the more than $21 million in new commitments over the past year. We've enjoyed celebrating the impacts of these gifts through named coaching positions, endowed scholarships, and facility naming recognition. The public launch of In Her Wake beckons the greater Wake Forest and Winston-Salem communities to consider current, multi-year, and estate commitments which can further elevate Wake Forest University as an elite destination for future generations."
HONOR THE PAST. INVEST IN THE PRESENT. CHANGE THE FUTURE.
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