From the Quad

Presented by Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist
 
Happy #WFFriday Demon Deacon Nation!
 
It has been an action-packed week in DEACTOWN with all of our fall sports now back in Winston-Salem and in preseason prep. I have had a blast being around the energy and aspirational enthusiasm of our Demon Deacons student-athletes at practices, team meetings and eating in the Pit. On Tuesday, we brought the entire Wake Forest Athletics staff together for our annual kickoff meeting which began with a standing ovation for Coach Kim Lewellen as she hoisted the 2023 NCAA Women's Golf Championship trophy! 
 
One of the annual highlights of our kickoff meeting is President Susan R. Wente's address and charge to our athletics staff. Her presence and sincere expression of appreciation for the efforts of our coaches and staff in creating a World Class Student-Athlete Experience while adding Value to Wake Forest, Winston-Salem and the Triad Communities means so much. That same impact was felt during her heartfelt speech to our football team about commitment and responsibility at their first practice of training camp last week.
 
As you would imagine, President Wente and I have both been heavily engaged with our ACC colleagues as we have all been witness to another episode of what seems to be an annual rite of summer, conference realignment. It was just a week ago today that the Pac-12 saw its 100-plus year tradition rocked by the defection of five longtime members to the Big 10 and Big 12 conferences. The biggest element of instability for the Pac-12 was the impending end of its current media rights contracts and grant-of-rights on June 30, 2024. In this time of tumult in the entertainment broadcast media industry, the ACC is in an advantageous position in many ways because of our long-term contract with the worldwide sports leader, ESPN, and our grant-of-rights through 2036.  
 
At the same time, we fully recognize that we have to continue to increase the value our conference can bring for our partners, which in turn gives incredible exposure for our student-athletes and institutions while also providing revenue to help us continue to provide A World Class Student-Athlete Experience.
 
And thanks to the loyal and grassroots support of the Demon Deacons everywhere, Wake Forest has answered the bell and helped raise the standard of investment in the ACC - and produced incredible results in return! 
 
Specifically since Aug. 1, 2019, Wake Forest has been the fastest growing and hottest brand in the Power 5 (and the ACC), with a 115 percent growth in our fanbase during this span. Across the nation, over 2.7 million people now identify as Wake Forest fans, which ranks ninth in the league and ahead of Virginia Tech and just trailing NC State.



The Demon Deacons are an ascending brand with a fan base that over-indexes on key elements including diversity, education, affluence, and influence in their place of business according to international market data firm YouGov. In fact, approximately 40 percent of our nearly three million fans belong to a minority group.
 
Wake Forest football, under Coach Dave Clawson's leadership, has the second longest bowl streak (seven) and most bowl wins (five) in the ACC in that span to go along with the 2021 ACC Atlantic Division title. 
 
Fans watch winners so it should not surprise you to learn that Wake Forest football's ESPN and ABC national broadcast ratings are well above the NCAA average and two of our Big 4 brethren.
 
As we continue, our tremendous upward trajectory and emergence as a national college sports brand has been the result of incredible student-athletes and coaches, tremendous investments like the $38 million raised for the McCreary Football Complex from leadership donors and supporters, like Bob ('61) & Michele McCreary, and passionate fans.
 
Three weeks ago, Wake Forest opened the aforementioned 60,000 square feet world class facility for our football student-athletes. The pictures and reactions are priceless and I believe our on-campus facilities are among the very best in the country. But, we have also been uncompromising in our commitment to financial responsibility and this crown jewel comes with zero long-term debt and even includes a long term maintenance and reserve fund!
 
On Thursday next week, we will honor Bob and Michele, and all of Deacon Nation at the McCreary Football Complex dedication. Over the last 10 years, Wake Forest has intentionally invested more than $250 million in athletics facility upgrades including renewal projects like this summer's new turf for our three-time NCAA Champion Field Hockey program and safety and lighting upgrades for Allegacy Stadium and the Wake Forest Tennis Complex.
 
Winning Championships is something that is a result of all this investment and support as our women's golf national title marked the 10th NCAA crown in our University's storied history. Wake Forest is now one of only seven ACC schools to win 10 or more NCAA championships, along with Notre Dame, North Carolina, Virginia, Duke, Syracuse and Florida State.   
 
Along with three recent ACC Championships, and the memorable run to Omaha for Coach Tom Walter's ballclub a few months ago when the Deacs were ranked No. 1 in the country from April to June, our success has been intentional and further elevated the Wake Forest national profile. For example, GoDeacs.com had 1.5 million page views during the month of June which ranked in the top eight in the country for SIDEARM-affiliated schools, and was the only ACC school to achieve that mark. 
 
As we move forward, we continue our commitment to the five goals that drive Wake Forest Athletics! Last time in From the Quad we covered Goal No. 1, a World Class Student-Athlete Experience –  so let's take a look at No. 2 today!
 
Goal No. 2 - Integrity in Academics, Compliance, Finance, Inclusion and Safety
While we list these Integrity elements alphabetically, everyone at Wake Forest knows (as our staff members hear me ask them often!), the top priority for Athletics is SAFETY! Practicing what we speak, led by Associate AD, Head Athletic Trainer Niles Fleet, Athletics hosted our staff and medical professionals at Allegacy Stadium a few weeks ago with our partners at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist for an important emergency care training session. 
 
Academically, Wake Forest has been named a Top 30 U.S. institution by the U.S. News & World Report for 27-consecutive years and our distinctive learning environment in Winston-Salem provides an intimate 11-1 student-faculty ratio, while also offering students a full, comprehensive suite of undergraduate and advanced degrees, including law, medicine, engineering, liberal arts and business/accounting programs.
 
The collective efforts of our student-athletes in the classroom were recently highlighted by a record total of 317 Demon Deacons earning spots on the 2022-23 Atlantic Coast Conference Honor Roll. Individually, Zach Facioni (men's cross country), Rhett Lowder (baseball) and Rachel Kuehn (women's golf) all earned ACC Scholar Athlete of the Year honors.
 
From an inclusion perspective, Athletics is committed to leading, educating, and supporting Demon Deacon student-athletes in addressing issues of social injustice and racial oppression. This includes our efforts with equality, diversity and inclusion during Pride Month and commemorating Juneteenth as a University holiday for the third-straight year. This past Feb. 2023, our leadership welcomed Dr. Derek Greenfield for an impactful visit with our coaches, staff and student-athletes. His dynamic and interactive approach, and sense of humor helped break down barriers and generated positive conversations about bias and inclusion. 
 
Financially, Wake Forest donors supported a World Class Student-Athlete Experience at record levels this past academic year. Alumni, parents and our valued supporters contributed $32.8 million in support of annual fund, endowments and capital projects in fiscal year 2023, including $20.1 million in annual fund support of scholarships, enrichment programs like career development, and Excellence Funds to provide a competitive advantage for each sports team. Unlike some schools, our fiscal year total reported includes only actual gifts - not future pledges.
 
I am so grateful for our loyal and generous Deacon Club members, parents, alumni athletes, fans and friends who have helped Wake Forest Athletics become A Model Intercollegiate Athletics Program. As always, we pledge to be careful stewards of the hard-earned dollars you have shared which provide strategic investments in academics, health technology, strength training, and incredible facilities to enable a competitive advantage and a World Class Student-Athlete Experience at Wake Forest. 
 
Finally, Sr. Associate AD Daren Koudele and his staff do an outstanding job of educating our coaches, support staff and student-athletes about all national rules and regulations to ensure we are an exemplar of NCAA compliance and student-athletes maximize their opportunities. 
 
Demon Deacons Excel in External Leadership Opportunities
Beyond their incredible athletic and academic performances, I am constantly amazed how our student-athletes find the time to give even more in leadership and community engagement as illustrated in this outstanding feature by our CER colleague Keri Brown about Wake Forest's Freedom School. That's football's AJ Williams in the cover photo, who along with his teammate, Jaylen Hudson, are among many Deacon students who are part of a Wake Forest program which began six years ago and today serves nearly 70 students in grades Kindergarten to 5th Grade in Forsyth County and is supported by the Children's Defense Fund.
 
While I was out of town last month, I was delighted to get a message out of the blue from Winston-Salem Assistant Chief W.S. Weaver II as he thanked me for our student-athletes spending time with the children of R.O.O.T.S. promoting positive energy against violence and adversity on a hot weekend afternoon. 
 
Led by Sr. Associate AD Arin Dunn and our student-athlete development team, student-athletes are taking advantage of several leadership and professional development opportunities.
 
This fall graduate student and pentathlete Anna Bush is headed to New Orleans as Wake Forest's representative at the Women's Leaders Convention, men's basketball forward Andrew Carr will be a student-athlete representative on the NCAA Oversight & Competition Committees.  Meanwhile 13 female student-athletes will be attending the "Follow My Lead" Women's Student-Athlete Leadership and Character Retreat while four staff members and six student-athletes participated in the ACC Unity Tour in Washington, D.C. 
 
Less Than Three Weeks Until Gameday at Allegacy Stadium! 
For me, the signal that football season is almost here is the news and headlines from ACC Kickoff, with Coach Dave Clawson and our student-athletes talking Wake Forest on a national stage. I encourage you to watch Coach Clawson on the ACC Network set with the ACC PM crew where he told a story about the massive debate as to the football team's best barber, Ivan Mora or Ke'Shawn Williams!
 
Wake Forest Athletics continues to roll out unique ticket options, like the Bojangles 4-Pack, which includes a $20 gift card per account! This ticket option comes with four tickets on the east side of Allegacy Stadium and one LJVM Coliseum Lot parking pass. Don't worry, if you have already purchased a single game four-pack of tickets for this fall, your account will be automatically credited for the Bojangles extra as a value add for our passionate fans!
 
This is also a great way to introduce a new fan to the fun of Wake Forest football so grab a pack now before the current price goes up by $10 next week on these tremendous four-pack offerings. At current prices, fans can save a minimum of $66 with a single game 4-pack! Single game 4-packs for Georgia Tech are already sold out and limited inventory remains for Florida State, so don't wait another second to lock in the best deal of the season. 
 
We anticipate all six games being sold out with the fever for Wake Forest football at an all time high, including the most season tickets sold since the 2011 season! Remember, season tickets start at just $125 - only about $20 per game. For questions or assistance, please contact the Wake Forest Ticket Office at 336-758-3322 ext. 1 or tix@wfu.edu. Regular office hours are Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 
 
From the Quad Big 3
Finally, here are today's Big 3 ways to help the Deacs: 

1. Deacon Nation is exploding and welcomes all! It's as easy as forwarding From the Quad to your friends, neighbors and colleagues. Remember, Wake Forest is NOT "small" –   strike that word from your Wake Forest vocabulary. We are distinctive, intimate, and uncompromising in our pursuit of success academically and competitively. Pro Humanitate is BIG!
2. Come out to Spry Stadium on Wednesday evening, August 16, for Fan Fest, which is free to all and includes fun interaction with student-athletes and coaches and games and activities for the whole family. Fans attending can also grab this exclusive ticket deal!
3. DEACTOWN yard signs are back and they are better than ever, including signature sign toppers for each Wake Forest fall sport! You can pick them up FREE at soccer's fan fest and the Bridger Field House ticket office. Put one in your yard or place of business to show Deacon spirit wherever you live and work. 

In next week's From the Quad we'll do a deep dive into our fall sports programs as they all gear up for successful seasons! Until then, thanks for all you do for our Demon Deacons student-athletes! Shoot me a note at wfuad@wfu.edu, stay cool and…
 
Go Deacs! 


 
John Currie
Director of Athletics