Getting lost can be a great way to find yourself.

Wake Forest is intentionally designed to be a place where you can lose yourself in what inspires and interests you, in the company of others doing the same. One of the things students appreciate most about the School of Divinity is the close community day in and day out. Because of the small class size, students get to know each other and learn from each other in class and outside of class.

  • We worship together once a week as a community.
  • Students are able to dine on campus with a faculty member through our Lunch & Learn Program.
  • The annual Fall Renewal Service, Incarnation Celebration (at the end of the fall semester), and End of Year Banquet (at the end of the spring semester) are high points of the year.

Life is more than books and ministry is more than preaching. Students are encouraged to take advantage of the rich resources of the University and the city of Winston-Salem.

The Seal of Wake Forest University inset in the new brick walkway in front of Reynolda Hall on the Quad.

Pro Humanitate

It’s not about you. It’s about us, and the greater meaning what it means to be human. Our motto, Pro Humanitate (For Humanity), is a calling to use our knowledge, talents and compassion to better the lives of others. It can mean donating time and resources to our communities or simply a lifelong commitment to pursuing our best self. No matter your personal interpretation, it’s an opportunity to leave the world better than we found it.

“From the inception of this University, the vision was one of graduates capable of applying the lessons learned here for the good of humanity. Fulfilling our Pro Humanitate motto requires education to extend beyond the classroom. I have come to think of educating the whole person as requiring a commitment to five core elements: intellectual curiosity, character, wellness, global awareness and innovation.”

— President Nathan O. Hatch, from his speech “Where We Stand

Diversity

Together we’re different. The education we offer is a direct result of the environment and culture we foster, and the simple truth is that what makes people different makes them interesting. In our world, diversity has come to largely be defined by ethnic and socioeconomic factors. While these are incredibly important, we like to go further. Ours is a definition that includes talent, geography, life experience, religion, sexual orientation, ability and the endless list of variables that come together to form individuality.  Everything you are, have been and will be what makes Wake Forest what it is. So bring what interests you.

  • 71% of the student body is under the age of 30 (age range is 22 – 64, with the mode age, or most occurring, being 24)
  • They come from 16 states and 6 countries
  • They represent 53 undergraduate colleges and universities
  • Women represent 61% of the student body
  • 40% of the student body identifies as ethnic minority
  • More than 21 ecumenical voices (denominational affiliations)
  • Whatever your educational background, your voice is welcome. Divinity students hold degrees and work experience in religion, theology, the humanities, social and behavioral sciences, natural and physical sciences, technical studies, fine arts, education, and beyond
School of Divinity students review the Safe Zone Workbook - related to LGBTQ inclusion - handed out from the LGBTQ Center on campus

Z. Smith Reynolds Library

Shushing the norm.

The Z. Smith Reynolds Library is the 2011 recipient of the Association of College and Research Libraries Excellence in Academic Libraries award (that’s the NCAA Championship of libraries). Boring doesn’t live here, and the intellectual hub of our campus comes fully stocked with all things interesting. Come on in, and alter your perception of libraries forever.

  • Over 95,000 theological holdings as part of 1.9 million volumes (and growing)
  • Open 138 hours per week with two all-night study rooms
  • 56 full time faculty and staff
  • Starbucks Coffee Shop on-site

Health and Well-Being

There are eight sides to this story.  Wellbeing is about much more than physical health. Here, it’s an eight-dimensional balancing act that – when maintained properly – leaves us best able to cope with adversity, build rewarding relationships and live with a sense of purpose. College, and life in general, can be at times overwhelming. The ability and personal awareness to slow things down and remember what matters is a valuable skill in a competitive world. It’s why we added board games, ping pong, a piano and more casual seating to some of our most trafficked public spaces in 2013 – and continue to do so each semester. It’s why we have almost 200 clubs and organizations for students to do what makes them happy. And it’s also why, in 2014, we launched a new comprehensive approach to wellbeing on our campus. Wake Forest created Thrive to provide students with the skills, knowledge and perspective to maintain a healthy, balanced life – wherever life takes them. Your wellbeing is, and will always be, your responsibility. We’re here to help you along the way.

Logo for the Thrive campaign at Wake Forest University

Sustainability

Of the environment, for the environment. We’re invited guests on this planet and our Office of Sustainability offers many ways for us to show we know what that means. With a special blend of innovation and common sense, this office works to support and encourage our campus and local communities in a shared mission to love the world we’re with. How we’ve made a difference:

  • 7 LEED certified Green buildings constructed on campus since 2010
  • Every 9 minutes the Choose to Reuse program saved another disposable bottle from a landfill
  • Demon Deacons rallied together in May to divert over 22,500 pounds — over 11 tons — of discarded goods from the landfill as part of Deacs Donate, an end-of-year move-out waste reduction campaign
  • 46 water bottle refill stations across campus, and counting…
  • We shed more than 8000 pounds…of books, by donating them to Better World Books, a champion of global literacy
  • 900 meals per month provided to Winston-Salem residents through the efforts of the University’s Campus Kitchens program
  • 5 forms of alternative transportation offered on campus
Wake Forest students Philip Kayser, Justice von Maur, Branden Cook, Anne Peyton Brothers, and Lillie Burrow star in the Wake Forest Theatre production of Spark, photographed during the final dress rehearsal on Thursday, September 22, 2016.

Arts, Theatre, and Culture

All the campus is a stage. 

Or a canvas, a dance floor or a concert hall.  As a student at Wake Forest you’ll find yourself within arms reach of artistic expression at all times, and that includes the greater Winston-Salem community and its many opportunities to experience or participate in the fine arts.

Theatre Department

The theatre department supports interdisciplinary exploration of its plays through the Interdisciplinary Performance and the Liberal Arts Center (IPLACe), which connects the performing arts and other academic departments. The department allows students to participate from their first year, and performs, on average, 4 major productions per academic year that are open to the entire student body.

Film Studies

Students many approach the study of film through courses that explore their cultural, political, and social implications. Participate in the annual Reynolda film festival of student films from around the world, meet filmmakers and screen their films. Past guests have included Oscar-winning Robert Elswit, the director of photography for “There Will Be Blood;” Francesco Tabone, noted Mexican documentarian; and Bruce Cohen, the producer of “American Beauty” and “Big Fish.”

START Gallery

The START Gallery, Wake Forest University’s student art gallery located in Reynolda Village, is unique in that it serves as a year-round venue for viewing, discussing, and purchasing student works of visual art. Presenting 12-15 exhibitions per year, the gallery provides undergraduates and alumni with an opportunity to gain immersive experience and transferable skills in the visual arts market by developing a setting in which high quality student art is available at reasonable prices.

Museum of Anthropology

The Museum of Anthropology‘s permanent collection consists of objects from the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania, including household and ceremonial items, textiles, hunting and fishing gear, and objects of personal adornment. Materials collected by Moravian missionaries can be found here, as well as prehistoric artifacts from North Carolina’s Yadkin River Valley. The special exhibits gallery houses exhibitions reflecting University and community interests and provides faculty and students opportunities to develop and install exhibits, research and care for collections, and produce special class project exhibits.

Hanes Art Gallery

The Charlotte and Philip Hanes Art Gallery at Scales Fine Arts Center provides an ongoing schedule of exciting art exhibits, and it features student exhibitions as well as work by Pablo Picasso, Roy Liechtenstein, Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns and Keith Haring, among others.

Secrest Artist Series

The Secrest Artist Series was established to bring the best performing artists to campus — all free of charge to students, faculty and staff.

Reynolda House

Reynolda House, Museum of American Art, boasts one of the finest collections of American art in the Southeast, ranging from the colonial period to the present. The museum features works by Albert Bierstadt, John Singleton Copley and Grant Wood, all in the distinct setting of the historic home of Katharine and R.J. Reynolds, located a short walk from campus.

Sports and Athletics

…and the crowd goes wild.

The smallest school in the Atlantic Coast Conference has the biggest heart. And lungs. We also have a decent-sized trophy case that includes as many accolades from inside the classroom as those earned on the field.

Meet the Demon Deacon

What’s in a name?

Everything, when you’ve previously taken the field as the Tigers (shockingly not indigenous to NC), and the Baptists (nothing strikes fear into the hearts of opponents like the clergy). After a win over Trinity (now Duke University) in football in 1923, the name ‘Demon Deacons’ stuck after it was used to describe the team’s “devilish” play and fighting spirit in the victory.

He may be old and wears funny pants, but the Demon Deacon makes his formidable presence felt on courts, fields, pitches and courses across the country. And while he lacks the fangs, claws or weaponry of his mascot brethren (though he once menacingly wielded a plunger that over time evolved to become a cane), the fury that resides in his sideburns alone is more than enough to make even the baddest of mascots quake in their oversized, foam-filled novelty shoes.

Wake Forest hosts the Festival on the Quad at Homecoming 2017 on Saturday, September 16, 2017. The Demon Deacon hangs out and poses for photos.