A Message from President Hatch

Greetings, Wake Forest community!

For the last several months, we have navigated a global health crisis not seen in a century, and I am ever grateful for the way the Wake Forest community has responded. You showed great flexibility, unwavering patience and steadfast goodwill in the face of the unknown and unsettling. Now, as we move from managing a crisis to planning and preparing for our next steps forward, we will rely on those same values.

As is our charge, Wake Forest will continue to be an active learning community in the fall. More than anything, I want to see this campus filled with life and learning — the way it was intended. We are in the midst of determining what accommodations would be necessary to care for the health and safety of all if we fulfill our academic mission on campus. We will announce our fall plans for operation on or before June 30.

I see our work over the next several weeks unfurling in three major phases. First, we will identify the on-ground conditions and assumptions upon which our scenarios will be organized. Second, our deans and faculty will develop strategies to fulfill our academic mission with a character and quality that is our hallmark. Finally, we will complete a comprehensive operational strategy for the fall, with an implementation plan, assessment of risks, key success factors and mitigation strategies.

Multiple groups are contributing to academic and operational plans. A subset of the Reynolda Cabinet comprises the steering committee that ensures guiding principles are applied consistently for a single University approach. Ultimately, our ability to offer our vibrant Wake Forest experience will take the efforts of all of us, individually and collectively. As we move through this process of determining what the fall will look like at Wake Forest, we need all in our community to actively contribute.

It is my commitment to you that we will do the work — with care and critical thought — that will result in the best possible execution of our fall semester. You can expect transparency in information that is shared; you can anticipate regular updates; and you can count on your input being heard.

Thank you for helping us make the best possible plans for Wake Forest. We will do our utmost — with the information, resources and expertise that we have — to move ourselves from right now to what is next. I am grateful to be part of this community as together we take those steps forward.

Please continue to stay healthy and safe.

With gratitude,

Nathan O. Hatch
President