Here’s to new beginnings. 
Picking up where we left off. 
Reflecting on what has been. 
Anticipating what is yet to come. 

These sentiments tend to frame many of our thoughts and emotions at this time of year, as students, as staff members, as faculty, as alums, as caretakers, and as members of our society. It is in this spirit that I would like to welcome (and welcome back) all who live, work, learn, and grow on our campus; here in Winston-Salem, at our campus and in programs in Charlotte, NC, and throughout our center in Washington DC and at study abroad opportunities around the globe. Regardless of our connections to Wake Forest, we have been brought together this week - and for members of our professional programs and graduate studies, a few weeks ago - to embark on either a new journey or continue one that has already started.

Over the past 17 or so months - and much longer than that depending on who you ask and the challenges they and their loved ones have been confronting beyond a public health pandemic - our campus community has been faced with specific stressors and crises related to a worldwide pandemic, coming together to solve acute and chronic inequities, and opportunities and challenges confronting our university’s history. As we welcome new students, staff members, and faculty, let us lean into our collective talents and gifts to make a better community of students, scholars, creators, and problem solvers. This university community is at its strongest when all of us are encouraged to use our strengths, and we will never reach our aspirations of “for the betterment of humanity” if we take the easier road of focusing on ourselves without caring for those around us.

In the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, we stress the notion of “lifting as we climb,” as we echo the words of Dr. Maya Angelou. But those of us in ODI who are committed to this community - in partnership with valued colleagues throughout the university - also heed the words of Rebecca Gorman: “For there is always light if only we're brave enough to see it. If only we're brave enough to be it.” In this space, it is near impossible to not “see” the darkness that has come to light on our campus during the last week of August 2021. This darkness has impacted survivors of sexual violence, those traumatized by racism and xenophobia, those who have experienced pain at the intersectionality of gender, gender identity, and race, and members on our campus who - as friends and loved ones - care for and support those who are suffering in so many different ways. If we cannot commit to lifting up those among us who need us the most, then our motto is simply a collection of consonants and vowels as meaningless as a hashtag placed in front of it. But if we demonstrate the courage and strength required to lift each other up, we just might arrive at the community we aspire to… the community we say we want to be. 

José Villalba, PhD., LPC