Peter Rodriguez has been named 15th president of Wake Forest University. An economist by training, he currently serves as dean of Rice University’s School of Business, which includes the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business and the Virani Undergraduate…
At Baptist schools, debates about DEI are theological
Among Baptist-related universities, decisions about diversity, equity and inclusion are no longer simply administrative adjustments. They have become theological decisions in broader debates about identity, governance, theology and political risk. Recent developments, from Samford University’s closure of its DEI office…
‘Freedom of speech is under attack,’ Pelley tells Wake Forest grads
CBS journalist Scott Pelley’s commencement address at Wake Forest University urged graduates to defend democracy and freedom of speech — and set MAGA world ablaze in the process. While the author and 60 Minutes correspondent never mentioned President Donald Trump…
$10 million gift will help Wake Forest Divinity offer no-tuition MDiv
Wake Forest University School of Divinity has received a $6.6 million gift from the Griffin Family Trust, the largest individual donation in the school’s history. Combined with an earlier gift from the Griffin family, that brings their support for the…
Dispelling myths about HIV/AIDS is part of this center’s faith calling
Major stereotypes about HIV/AIDS and its victims persist despite decades of advancements in the knowledge and treatment of the virus and disease, said Stacy W. Smallwood, new executive director of the Faith COMPASS Center at Wake Forest University Divinity School….
Putting the wicked to rest: Creating teal steeples beyond Sexual Violence Awareness Month
I turned on the TV / And flipped it over to the news / And what I saw I almost couldn’t comprehend. I saw a preacher man in cuffs / He’d taken money from the church / He’d stuffed his…
Grace Valentine, ice cream and sources of empowerment for women in complementarian circles
After a Good Friday worship service, Anne-Tillery, a divinity school friend and I, were discussing gender roles in the church over ice cream at the local Kilwins. The night before, we had found ourselves among a sizable group of sorority…
‘The Prayers of Both Could Not Be Answered’: The history of slavery at Wake Forest University and the Baptist church
On Oct. 23, faculty at Wake Forest University gathered to offer a film screening and panel discussion hosted by the institution’s Slavery, Race and Memory Project, an academic committee dedicated to the “examination of the history of slavery and its…
New Wake Divinity dean wants to expand the ‘circle of we’
Friends and colleagues have sometimes considered Corey D.B. Walker, the new dean of Wake Forest University School of Divinity, as somewhat of an academic jack-of-all-trades given his extensive research, writing, teaching and higher education leadership experience. “A lot of people…
The grace of wildness: Reflections on a new year
The church was full of birds; at least it was when I was there. In January 2005, for about a week, I went to mass at 5:00 every morning in the Catholic church across the street from the Mekong River…
BNG columnist David Ramsey dead at 61
BNG columnist David Ramsey died at his North Carolina home Sunday, Dec. 11, after a brief illness. He was 61. “BNG greatly mourns the loss of this beautiful life among us, someone who courageously chronicled his own journey from cradle-roll…
Frederick Buechner, Maya Angelou and Helen Lewis: Telling the truth
But to preach the gospel is not just to tell the truth but to tell the truth in love and to tell the truth in love means to tell it with concern not only for the truth that is being…