From the Quad

Presented by Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist

Good Morning Demon Deacon Nation!

After the blur that was the month of June, we are off and running in July and excited to officially welcome SMU, Cal and Stanford to the ACC! In a moment, we'll look back at a few items from last month, but as our Deacon Club closes the books on fiscal year 2024, I want to start with a quick thanks to our members around the world who share the fruits of their hard work to help Wake Forest live up to our goal of offering A World Class Student-Athlete Experience.

And, yesterday we made an exciting announcement about our "In Her Wake" initiative!

You'll remember back in February on National Girls & Women's in Sports Day, we announced a $100 million initiative to further opportunities for female student-athletes, building on the momentum ignited during the 50th Anniversary of Wake Forest Women's Athletics Celebration back in the 2021-22 academic year. This effort enhances scholarships, personal development, and investments for women's sports programs. And, thanks to tremendous leadership and generosity of hundreds of Wake Forest Athletics supporters, including Truist, the "In Her Wake" initiative has surpassed its first milestone of $25 million with gifts establishing three named coaching positions and 25 new scholarships endowments.

Those interested in learning more about the In Her Wake initiative and helping to spread the word can click here as Wake Forest Athletics aims to surpass $100 million by 2029.

It may be the lazy days of summer for some, but not for our loyal Deacon Club staff members! Remember, you can visit the Deacon Club website anytime or call 336-758-5626 for assistance.

And, congratulations to our staff who were recognized two weeks ago at NACMA with a pair of awards.

Now, let's get to the rest of the updates!

What It's All About! Deacs Score More Academic Honors
Final grades are in and once again the Deacs have earned high marks! In the last edition of From the Quad, we celebrated the 113 Demon Deacons who earned degrees across the 2023-24 academic year. Since then, 54 student-athletes (Track & Field, 21; Baseball, 13; Women's Tennis, 6; Men's Tennis, 5; Women's Golf, 5; Men's Golf, 4) from our spring sports programs have earned Academic All-ACC honors! These incredibly accomplished group of young men and women are headlined by Rachel Kuehn as she garnered Women's Golf ACC Scholar Athlete of the Year honors for the second-straight year!

Also, Wake Forest Athletics had nine programs score a perfect 1,000 in the latest annual Academic Progress Rate scores and men's golf, women's golf and women's tennis all recorded perfect multi-year rates for the academic years 2019-20 through 2022-23. As we continue to fulfill our goals that begin with providing a World Class Student-Athlete Experience and having Integrity in Academics, these scores are a testament to how hard our student-athletes work in the classroom each day. In this era of increasingly impersonal education, Wake Forest's teacher-scholar model continues to be a key distinctive and we are grateful for the skill and care of our esteemed faculty.

Kudos and congratulations to our Athletics academics staff, which is led by Sr. Associate AD Jane Caldwell, for their dedication in helping all our Demon Deacons achieve success!

Achieving Goal No. 5 – Opening Night, Presented by Winston-Salem Police Department!
The first date circled by Deacon Nation and all college football fans in the Triad Community is Thursday, Aug. 29, which will be Opening Night at Allegacy Stadium presented by the Winston-Salem Police Department and Winston-Salem Police Foundation. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. and this contest will be streamed nationally on ACC Network Extra.

This event promises to bring our Triad Community together in myriad ways that includes a combined halftime show with Wake Forest's marching band – The Spirit of the Old Gold and Black – and North Carolina A&T's Blue & Gold Marching Machine. We'll also honor Coach Bill Hayes, who is a trailblazer that coached the Deacs running backs from 1973-75 as he became the first Black assistant football coach in Wake Forest and Atlantic Coast Conference history. He later went onto a hall of fame career as head coach at both North Carolina A&T and Winston-Salem State University.

Multiple sellouts are expected this fall and fans are encouraged to take advantage of Wake Forest Athletic's 4-for-$59 Opening Night ticket package, while supplies last. This limited availability Bojangles four-pack is a great way for families and friends to enjoy all the festivities of the Deacon Deacons' Opening Night contest against North Carolina A&T with four east side tickets and a LJVM Coliseum lot parking pass. Meanwhile, single game tickets for Opening Night are on sale beginning at just $15.

Wake Forest to Host 'Gold Rush Childhood Cancer Game' on Sept. 7 Against Virginia
Following the Pro Humanitate motto of Wake Forest University, we are proud to partner with Atrium Health Levine Children's Brenner Children's Hospital for a 'Gold Rush' game to raise awareness and benefit research for childhood cancer on Saturday, Sept. 7 when the Deacs host the Virginia Cavaliers inside Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium. This exciting opportunity, is slated to kickoff at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast to an ESPN2 national television audience, bringing tremendous Value to Wake Forest, Winston-Salem & Triad Communities as it will be showcased on a national platform.

Supporting the incredible efforts of our local children's hospital in fighting childhood cancer, while also packing Allegacy Stadium with Gold-clad Wake Forest fans, marks the synergy of the broader Demon Deacon community. Click here to learn more and purchase these special, but limited $35 ticket packages! In addition to our partners at Atrium Health, I want to thank Winston-Salem's Hanesbrands for producing the gold t-shirts that will be sold in the Deacon Shop on campus, at Allegacy Stadium and at www.WakeForestShop.com.

Throughout the 2024 season there are multiple ways to get involved and experience a Wake Forest football gameday! Click here for the full promotional and game sponsor schedule for Allegacy Stadium this fall. Additionally, opportunities are available to enjoy the Best Fan Experience in North Carolina through organized group outings. On sale now, while supplies last, are 2024 single game tickets and season tickets starting at just $149. Call the ticket office today at 336.758.3322 ext. 1 or visit GoDeacs.com/tickets to secure your seats. Did you know that payment plans are available to Wake Forest football season ticket holders? Opt in to a payment plan online or ask your ticket office representative how it works.

Further Achievement of Goal No. 3 – Wake Forest Men's Hoops to Play Michigan at Greensboro Coliseum on Sunday, Nov. 10
Speaking of great opportunities for Deacon Nation and bringing Value to Wake Forest, Winston-Salem & Triad Communities, men's basketball head coach Steve Forbes recently announced a neutral-site series with perennial Big Ten power Michigan for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons.

The Triad and its 1.7 million residents will host the first installment of the series on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, inside the venerable Greensboro Coliseum, just 29 miles from our beautiful Reynolda Campus. The second contest will be played in Michigan during the 2025-26 season. In addition to returning big time college basketball to the historic home of the Atlantic Coast Conference, neutral site games offer an important opportunity for both the Deacs and Wolverines to bolster their NET ranking – an important metric utilized by the NCAA Selection Committee.

All fans will have the opportunity to buy tickets for the Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024 game beginning on July 24, with prices starting at just $25. Additionally, season ticket holders, Deacon Club members, and International Leadership Circle members will receive a pre-sale promo code for their priority sales windows opening on July 10. Information will be sent to eligible priority groups in the coming weeks.

With the Triad rating as the No. 7 ESPN market in the entire country, I know Tobacco Road basketball fans will create a great atmosphere inside the Greensboro Coliseum. Both Coach Steve Forbes and UM's Coach Dusty May have exciting teams, including all-star returners like Hunter Sallis and talented newcomers ready to prove their mettle in this big-time game.

For more information, Deacon fans can call the Wake Forest Ticket Office at 336-758-3322 ext. 1, Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. or the Greensboro Coliseum Ticket Office at 336-373-7400. Hours are 12 p.m. – 5 p.m. on Thursday's and Friday's through the summer.

Welcome to (and back to) Wake Forest for Deacon Hoopers!
Coach Steve Forbes and our University community has welcomed back a key group of returners from last season's squad, including Hunter Sallis, Efton Reid III, Cameron Hildreth, Parker Friedrichsen and Marqus Marion. Additionally, six new Demon Deacons have joined the program this summer that includes Tre'Von Spillers from App State, Omaha Biliew from Iowa State, Ty'Laur Johnson from Louisville, Davin Cosby Jr. from Alabama, Churchill Abass from DePaul and high school enrollees Juke Harris and Mason Hagedorn.

This group of Demon Deacons is already training hard and looking to build on the success we have all witnessed over the last three years that included 10 or more ACC wins each season and an impressive 48-7 record inside Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the best home record in the conference and second-highest mark in the country.

Meanwhile, Coach Megan Gebbia's women's team welcomed Tamia Jones from SMU, Emily Johns from American, Aurora Sørbye from Norway and high school enrollee Kennedy Moore from Montana. It's been fun to see these Deacs working hard as summer workouts are underway.

Welcome to Wake Forest, Mary Lucal!
Speaking of newcomers to our University community, Wake Forest has named Mary Lucal, a nationally known leader in higher education human resources, as vice president and chief human resources officer! She comes to Winston-Salem following successful tenures at George Mason University and the University of Tennessee. We look forward to welcoming Mary to many Deacon ballgames this fall!

Celebrating Juneteenth
A highlight of last month's Juneteenth observation was a great celebration at downtown Winston-Salem's Bailey Park featuring African American traditions, music, dance, food, and panel discussions all afternoon and into the evening. To better understand the history of Juneteenth, here's an article written by my good friend and colleague Corey D. B. Walker, our recently installed Dean of the Wake Forest Divinity School.

Welcome Home, WSSU Chancellor Bonita Brown!
Bonita J. Brown was recently named the 14th Chancellor of Winston-Salem State University and she officially started at WSSU on July 1! Chancellor Brown is a double graduate of Wake Forest University as she earned a B.A. in history and her J.D. from our School of Law.

We also welcome the new leader of our Opening Night at Allegacy Stadium opponent, NC A&T James Martin II, a civil engineer who has led engineering and STEM initiatives at three large research universities, and was elected chancellor of North Carolina A&T University last week.

Dr. Larry Hopkins Legacy & Impact Honored by Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist
There is no one who epitomizes the Pro Humanitate spirit of our community more than our late Trustee, Dr. Larry Hopkins, who starred at tailback on the Wake Forest 1970 ACC football championship team before a lifetime of service as an OB-GYN physician. Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist continues to strive to improve the lives of all those in our community and their recent efforts on this front were personified through an expanded services center in East Winston-Salem that will add internal medicine, women's services and on-site lab, pharmacy and imaging to the existing pediatric and occupational medicine services. With that, it was special to see the legacies of Dr. Hopkins and Dr. Charlie Kennedy, African American medical pioneers in Winston-Salem, honored. With that, members of the their respective families watched the unveiling of their names on the new Kennedy-Hopkins Medical Building.

From the Quad Big 3
Before we close, here are today's Big 3 ways to help the Deacs:

Opening Night at Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium is less than 75 days away and we are again offering our signature and Bojangles four-pack ticket packages for all the games! This is a great, affordable way to introduce Wake football to a new neighbor, colleague or employee. Packages are currently as low as $59 and most include a parking pass, so click here to learn more and buy now - and get your $20 Bojangles gift card!
Make it a point to catch the Deacs on the road at least once this fall! With games right down I-40 at NC State and North Carolina, at UConn, in California versus new ACC member Stanford and in Hard Rock Stadium vs. the Miami Hurricanes, we've got great places to join the merry band of Deacon roadsters and have some fun!
Let's congratulate Lyons Family Associate Head Men's Golf Coach Aaron O'Callaghan who was recently named the head men's golf coach at East Tennessee State University after six transformative years with us in Winston-Salem that included the 2022 ACC Championship! I encourage you to read Coach Jerry Haas' message about Aaron's impact at Wake Forest and we wish him the best of luck with the Buccaneers.

Before I close, Mary Lawrence, our children and I are extremely grateful to call Wake Forest and Winston-Salem home and appreciate the unwavering support of President Wente and the Board of Trustees. Last week's contract extension announcement is really a testament to the cumulative efforts, accomplishments and contributions of our student-athletes, coaches, staff, donors, and past leaders like Ron Wellman and Dr. Gene Hooks. We've accomplished so much together, but we have many more big games to win together, so let's get to it!

As always, I appreciate the feedback, questions and suggestions you send to wfuad@wfu.edu. Enjoy your Fourth of July Holiday, stay safe, and …

Go Deacs!

John Currie
Director of Athletics

Wake Forest Athletics

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