Fedora lands helicopter at North Davidson HS

[DistrictDeacon]

Although I think core comes off as an idiot, he is partly correct - The latest fundraising letter I got from Wake said that our graduates have the highest average debt load of any Top 25 school.

Getting a non-professional degree from Wake is getting harder and harder to justify.

 

[TownieDeac]

Although I think core comes off as an idiot, he is partly correct - The latest fundraising letter I got from Wake said that our graduates have the highest average debt load of any Top 25 school.

Getting a non-professional degree from Wake is getting harder and harder to justify.

Why put that in a fundraising letter?

And how are we considered a "valuable" or cost-effective education with this in mind?

 

[Neurodeac]

Strick, thanks for the lengthy and reasoned response and others like townie and rafi with good discussions. My family lived in WS from the 1940's (My grandmother ran for alderman back when women didn't do such things) and I spent 13 years in WS, albeit associated with WFU the whole time. I agree that WFU could have done a better job of integrating with the community but I think that is because Wake was just one part of the RJR/Hanes plan for uplifting Winston-Salem. The arts/culture scene was dominated by the RJR/Hanes and WFU was considered an adjunct or a small part of that scene by the Reynolds Foundation. When RJR/Hanes fell off, WFU didn't have even a fraction of the resources (and in fact dependend on RJR/Hanes for it's own resources) to fill that huge hole. You talked about your own undergraduate college but didn't mention the size of the city or how much the larger university contributed to the partnership. I also think you also underestimate the influence Bowman Gray has had on the town for years and when RJR left downtown. As Rafi mentioned, The medical school moved the entire Physiology/Pharmacology department into RJR buildings downtown as early as 1991. You alluded to examples of smaller colleges playing a large role in downtowns but my impression is that happens when the size of the city is fairly small relative to the school. A contrary example would be Emory in Atlanta. In fact, I think that is a fairly good analogy on a bigger scale because the parent/beneficiary corporation (Coca-Cola = RJR/Hanes) dominates the downtown scene and Emory is not a player at all. If Coca Cola were to fall, I don't think anyone would expect Emory to fill that role for Atlanta. Anyway, a thoughtful discussion on your part and thanks for making me think about the subject.

 

[Strickland33]

Emory is a perfect counterexample. Though ATL is huge by comparison, right? I'll think of some smaller schools in midsized cities when I get a chance.

Also thanks to both you and Townie for filling in some gaps and correcting my original post's misconceptions. Much appreciated. Learning a lot.

 

[bojanglefunk]

Why put that in a fundraising letter?

And how are we considered a "valuable" or cost-effective education with this in mind?

One of the main goals for the current fundraising is the addition of new scholarship money.

 

[TheReff]

I didn't realize that Targacept was affiliated with Wake? I was referring to Biotech Place, btw, when I said very recently.

I was also referring to the entirety of the Downtown Plan, from the failed IMAX plaza to the stadium, light-rail, etc. That said, I haven't lived in Winston since 2005, so I'm only as up to date as my parents and siblings allow me to be. I was under the impression that Wake has largely kept out of the arts-and-culture/creative-sector revitalization of downtown.

Probably not hard to believe since Targacept was started as a little biotech spinoff of RJ Reynolds Tobacco and uses nonotine receptors in their drugs. So our biotech center makes perfect sense. A lot of the RJR chemists went over there 10-15 years ago.

 

[wakephan09]

I spent 13 years in WS, albeit associated with WFU the whole time.

Man, I used to spend so much time playing Command and Conquer: Red Alert at your house.

 

[tsywake]

Super long post

Shorter post

Both solid posts. While not affiliated with the politics of Winston, I've grown up and lived here 30+ years. One thing that hasn't been brought up that should be taken into consideration IMO. In 1990, the undergraduate campus had only been in town for 34 years. The RJR/Hanes point is a good one. Until the 90s both companies were major players and were essentially running the town. KK was also booming and about to reach its peak. Bowman Gray was established, but unlike now, didnt nearly have the money or resources to make any power plays.

Wake was still considered the new kid in town rather than a leader, still finding its place. There were tons of construction and upgrades that still needed to be done to the infrastructure of the main campus which obviously was a priority. Had Wake been in Winston since 1834, I can see how we'd have done things differently. I think we're finally to a point now where Wake can start asserting itself, and we've done that with buying up properties on Deacon Blvd. Until the bubble burst, there was quite a bit in the works. Supposedly once everything rebounds, we'll start on that again, but who knows. In recent years, we've taken on Ernie Shore Field and the LJVM, both properties that have and will take a large amount of $$ to renovate.

 

[KVegasDeac]

Wake has a connection to ND football...Pretty sure Rob Lingerfelt is the OLine coach. He played here in the late 80's-early 90's.

 

[WRS]

Private university tuition is crazy expensive all over the country, Wake isn't unique or especially predatory in that regard.

/thread

Nothing annoys me more than people like core ranting and raving as if Wake woke up one day and decided to aggressively increase tuition ahead of the private school market.

 

[PhDeac]

One of the main goals for the current fundraising is the addition of new scholarship money.

Curious about Wake's plans to cut spending since their plans to raise revenue are quite clear.

 

[coredeac]

/thread

Nothing annoys me more than people like core ranting and raving as if Wake woke up one day and decided to aggressively increase tuition ahead of the private school market.

You TOTALLY missed my point. Like, by a mile. It was in the context of local high school athletes and the complete disassociation of Wake from the local community in its quest to recruit academically both nationally and internationally. Wake has essentially abandoned the local market in search of greener pasture. Additionally, there is just no groundswell of support in the local community for a school that charges over $40,000/year for a liberal arts degree. Sorry, but there just isn't. It has nothing to do with Wake being competitive in the private school market. Not a damn thing. It has everything to do with the fact that Wake is in the epicenter of a very strong University of North Carolina collegiate system which can offer very competitive degrees at fractional prices compared to Wake. Which returns to my original point, which I stand by, that a Shy Tuttle has very little reason to give a nod to a "local school" such as Wake as opposed to an LSU when Wake has done very little in the local community to ingratiate or even earn such acknowledgement and/or respect. Both schools, are for the most part, foreign.

Now, conversely, I think this tide can be changed and it can occur through fielding a more successful and proactive athletic program. It is the one avenue through which many can feel connected with Wake Forest. I think this was seen after the Orange Bowl success. However, we never capitalized on this as we should have and appear to have returned to being a more isolated school within a larger metropolitan area.

I was posting my thoughts from a sports perspective and pointing out the challenge(s) Wake faces in recruiting top-shelf athletes in the local community. If you want to turn this into a referendum on private universities, then have it. I'm out.

I don't want my opinion or thoughts to get in the way of you shooting the messenger. So, please, keep bitching and enjoy the sky in your world.

 

[Tobacco Road]

But your argument about Wake not reaching out to the local community just does not hold up in Tuttle's case. Wake has maintained a great relationship with his school. There is even a Wake Forest physician on the North Davidson sideline for each of his home games. Wake made that commitment years ago. As noted, we have a former player on the sideline (unless that changed recently and have a good relationship with the head coach. The ND football team has been invited to and attended Wake practices in the past. Wake is not foreign to a ND football player.
Though Tuttle does not have to pay tuition, I understand your point about the expense of tuition causing a barrier between many "normal" families. However, I doubt that is legitimately an issue. If we were cheaper, I doubt that would have improved our chances with them. Your other point (Orange bowl) is where I think the real issues lies. If Wake develops a rep as one of the big boys on the field, then we make it into the living room conversations of the "Tuttles" of the future. Without big-time success, I agree with core that we will have more difficulty be a local favorite as a small, expensive institution.

If we are truly pro humanitate, Wake should always be looking for new ways to use her resources to support and improve the community. And there will always be more that can be done. Just because there is more, doesn't mean that Wake has done a sorry job and failed the community and itself.
My issue commenting and (neg repping) earlier was that there were some people lazily complaining and criticizing when they did not seem to have an adequate appreciation of the facts and factors. Always easy to bitch anonymously about something someone else is/isn't doing.