Wake Forest University

• 1. Founding And Early History

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  On the 3rd of February 1834, the Wake Forest Manual Labor Institute opened its doors in a rural area north of Raleigh. The Baptist State Convention had purchased a plantation from Calvin Jones to establish this new school. Students and staff were required to spend half of each day performing manual labor on the grounds. Samuel Wait served as the principal who later became president of the institute. By 1838, the institution changed its name to Wake Forest College and abandoned the manual-labor system. The town that grew around the college eventually took the same name. During the American Civil War, the school closed due to students and faculty joining the Confederate States Army. It reopened in 1866 and prospered under presidents Washington Manly Wingate, Thomas H. Pritchard, and Charles Taylor.

• 2. Relocation To Winston-Salem

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  The School of Medicine moved to Winston-Salem in 1941 under Dean Coy Cornelius Carpenter. This transition transformed the program from two years to four years before becoming the Bowman Gray School of Medicine. In 1942, Wake Forest admitted its first female undergraduate students after World War II depleted the male student pool. Large gifts from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation enabled the entire college to move to Winston-Salem for the fall 1956 term. Charles and Mary Reynolds Babcock donated fields and woods at their estate called Reynolda. Fourteen new buildings constructed between 1952 and 1956 were built in Georgian style. The old campus was sold to the Baptist State Convention to establish the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

• 3. Desegregation And Social Change

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  On the 27th of April 1962, Wake Forest's board voted to accept Edward Reynolds as the first black full-time undergraduate. Reynolds transferred from Shaw University and became the first black graduate in 1964 with a bachelor's degree in history. He later earned master's degrees at Ohio University and Yale Divinity School before receiving a Ph.D. from the University of London in 1972. On the 23rd of February 1960, ten Wake Forest students joined eleven students from Winston-Salem State Teachers College for a sit-in at Woolworth's lunch counter. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke in Wait Chapel on the 11th of October 1962. Herman Eure and Dolly McPherson became the first black tenure-track professors in 1974. Maya Angelou served as Reynolds Professor of American Studies from 1982 until her death in 2014. The Office of Minority Affairs formed in 1978 and later became the Office of Multicultural Affairs.

• 4. Academic Structure And Expansion

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  A graduate studies program began in 1961, and the school gained full accreditation as Wake Forest University in 1967. The Babcock Graduate School of Management opened in 1969 and is now known as the School of Business. Planning for the School of Divinity started in April 1989, with the first Master of Divinity degrees conferred the 20th of May 2002. The School of Law was established in 1894 and remains accredited by the American Bar Association. The School of Medicine directs education for about 1,800 students annually across its Bowman Gray Campus and downtown location. In July 2016, a second campus opened downtown near the historic Brookstown area. A new Charlotte campus for the School of Medicine officially opened in 2025 after construction began in 2022. The university maintains international properties including Casa Artom in Venice, Flow House in Vienna, and Worrell House in London.

• 5. Athletic Achievements And Identity

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  In 1923, a newspaper reporter wrote that the Deacons fought like Demons following an impressive win against Duke Blue Devils. This gave rise to the Demon Deacons name used today. The athletic teams have won eleven NCAA team national championships across five different sports. Women's field hockey claimed three consecutive titles from 2002 through 2004 under Head Coach Jennifer Averill. Men's golf secured national championships in 1974, 1975, and 1986. The men's tennis team won its first NCAA title on the 22nd of May 2018, defeating Ohio State 4, 2. They claimed their second championship by defeating TCU 4, 2 in 2025. Wake Forest is a founding member of the Atlantic Coast Conference and participates in Division I athletics. The Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum seats 14,407 people and serves as home for basketball since 1989.

• 6. Notable Alumni And Leadership

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  As of 2024, eighteen Rhodes Scholars including thirteen since 1986 have been affiliated with Wake Forest. Five Marshall Scholars and eighteen Truman Scholars also represent the university alongside sixty-two Fulbright recipients since 1993. Notable alumni include nine college founders and presidents, seven U.S. governors, members of Congress, five federal officials, and five diplomats. Three billionaires and one Pulitzer Prize winner emerged from the student body. Tim Duncan became a two-time league MVP and three-time NBA Finals MVP while Chris Paul earned Rookie of the Year honors in 2006. Arnold Palmer attended during the late 1940s and early 1950s before becoming a PGA Tour legend. Nathan O. Hatch served as president starting the 1st of July 2005, succeeding Thomas K. Hearn Jr. Susan Rae Wente became the fourteenth president on the 29th of January 2021, serving until June 2026 when she stepped down immediately upon announcement on the 1st of October 2025.