Christopher Livengood, a partner at EMBER Audio + Design and a lifelong city resident, credits restaurant owners and artists with the revitalization of downtown. So when he saw signs from Wake Forest University that read “Deactown” — in reference to the demon deacon — being put up downtown, he was disturbed. 

“Krankies was literally built by hand by a group of great locals with less support than you’d think possible, and after that, we saw restaurants like 6th&Vine and Sweet Potatoes,” Livengood said.

Winston-Salem is a city historically known for being built on tobacco, but recently, Wake Forest University is trying to brand it as more of a college town. 

The university moved to Winston-Salem in 1956 and has since contributed $3.3 billion to the economy, according to a study commissioned by the University of North Carolina school system. Still, the question remains: do non-Wake Forest affiliated residents want Winston-Salem to be a college town?

Wake Forest moved its medical school downtown in July 2016. That same year, the Wake Downtown program began, which offers interdisciplinary and engineering courses to undergraduate students in the Innovation Quarter. With more students downtown there has been a push to make the area more college-friendly. 

In an attempt to gain more support for Wake Forest athletics, the university’s marketing department has put “Deactown” signs all over Winston-Salem. These are intended to create a college game day experience for sports fans. 

According to Rhett Hobart, the Assistant Athletic Director and Director of Fan Experience and Brand Development, the development is “all about connecting with the greater Winston-Salem community, particularly those who don’t consider Wake their No. 1 team.” 

One “Deactown” sign is across the street from Bailey Park in the Innovation Quarter, across from Wake Forest’s medical school and downtown campus. 

The “Deactown” branding of downtown has not gone over well with some residents. Last September, Nicholas Schmidt, an artist who lives in Winston-Salem, painted a mural depicting the Wake Forest mascot as a robber baron. This mural was approved and funded by a nonprofit called Art for Art’s Sake. Days after the mural was painted, Henry Knabb, the CEO of Art for Art’s Sake, decided that it was too controversial and had to be painted over. 

Schmidt said that he meant the painting as a commentary on capitalism. 

“The term robber baron was used to criticize the wealthy elites of the 19th century. Men who made their millions of dollars exploiting and displacing the working class as they saw fit. That’s what the behemoth institution of Wake Forest University does to the working-class people in Winston-Salem,” he said. 

Schmidt said that the money Wake Forest has invested downtown doesn’t change his mind. 

“It has not improved the lives of people who might never qualify for a mortgage and have to pay rent their whole lives,” he said. “Less affordable housing has led to an increase in unhoused people in our town. So, who has benefited? The people who already hold all the capital and wealth in this city.”

Many other downtown residents echoed Schmidt’s opinions. In response to a query posted on the Winston-Salem Downtown Neighborhood Facebook page, Vickie Morrison wrote that the signs seem like Wake Forest is “taking ownership of something a lot of small businesses worked for…” Delana Vickers posted that the signs seem arrogant. Many other residents on the downtown Winston-Salem resident Facebook group agreed that Wake Forest needs to read the room before trying to brand downtown as its own.

Some residents are either unbothered by or support the Deactown signs. 

Jeremy Thorne posted, “It’s simply advertising for Wake Sports.” And many others agree that this initiative will be over soon enough and is nothing to be upset about.

Josh Hartle provides a different perspective as both a Winston-Salem native and a Wake Forest student. Hartle, a freshman and a top baseball recruit out of high school chose Wake Forest for the academics and the great baseball team. 

“I’ve been a Wake Forest fan my whole life,” he said. “I like the advertisement for Deactown and fully support it. I look forward to building a bigger fan base for the community.”