“During her 36 years at Wake Forest, she taught as a professor for undergraduate and graduate courses, served as chair of the English Department and contributed to faculty mentorship programs.” (Courtesy of Wake Forest University)

Wake Forest celebrated its 190th Founders Day on Feb. 15 and honored the legacies of Claudia Thomas Kairoff and Dianne Dailey, recipients of the 2024 Medallion of Merit. 

The event also featured a senior oration from Austin Torain, a performance from the Wake Forest University Chamber Choir, remarks that celebrated Wake Forest milestones and an in-memorium video honoring Wake Forest community members who have died in the last year. The event was held at 4 p.m. in Wait Chapel.

“For 190 years, Wake Forest has grown, flourished, faced challenges, embraced change and aimed for continual improvement,” Wake Forest President Susan R. Wente said. “All to ensure the education of generations of alumni to be leaders and exemplars of Pro Humanitate in the world.” 

She continued: “All to ensure that we are catalysts for good in society. I believe that ‘founding’ is a verb continuously happening, and that all students, faculty and staff members who choose to live, study and work at Wake Forest are founders — each capable of leaving a legacy that enhances our community as a whole.”

The first Medallion of Merit was presented to Claudia Thomas Kairoff, a former English professor. During her 36 years at Wake Forest, she taught as a professor for undergraduate and graduate courses, served as chair of the English Department and contributed to faculty mentorship programs. She has also published several books on eighteenth-century British literature. She contributed to developing the university’s “teacher-scholar ideal” model that placed equal importance on research and education. 

Upon being awarded Kairoff spoke in a video that was presented at the event.

“The University wanted the teaching to come first because it was our emphasis,” Kairoff said in the video. “But we also wanted to balance that with real scholarship because the teaching enriches your scholarship, and the scholarship then enriches your teaching. The two are absolutely symbiotic.”

She is known for her enthusiasm and for being welcoming to all Wake Forest community members.

“She brought to every leadership role she has been asked to fill the same dedication, collaborative spirit, organizational skills and attention to detail that characterizes her work as a scholar,” English Professor Barry Maine said in a statement via email. “And in addition to having been the consummate teacher-scholar and model citizen of the College, Claudia Kairoff is a lovely person, in every sense of the word: caring, considerate, thoughtful and charming. I admire her for the person she is as much as I admire her teaching and her scholarship.”

The second Medallion of Merit was presented to Dianne Dailey, former coach of the Wake Forest Women’s Golf Team. Before her retirement in 2018, Dailey’s 30-year coaching career led the team to four ACC Championships and 15 NCAA Championships. She also led Wake Forest to 30 team titles and 38 individual titles. She received four ACC Coach of the Year honors. 

Dailey also gave comments to the crowd over video.

“I wanted to be known for asking people to do their best and to excel,” Dailey said in her video. “I feel like I’ve been the luckiest person in the world to be able to be here at Wake Forest. We set the foundation for us to have really great programs here. We made sure that they were funded properly and that we were able to attract the best talent in the country.”

She is remembered for her advocacy and contributions to the women’s sports teams at Wake Forest.

“Dianne Dailey was a trailblazer, teacher and leader that embodies the Pro Humanitate motto of Wake Forest University,” Assistant Director of Athletic Communications Isaiah Green said in a statement via email. “Coach Dailey mentored and impacted hundreds of students throughout her transformational tenure in Winston-Salem, and there’s no one more deserving of such an honor. We are all thankful for the impact she’s had on the athletic department overall.”

Austin Torain, also known as “speaker kid,” gave his senior oration titled “Surround Sound.” He explained how sharing music with others was always a way for him to form connections. Torain said that during the campus-wide COVID-19 restrictions in 2020, he began carrying a speaker in his backpack, which helped him connect with others in a time of isolation. 

“There weren’t a lot of people who looked like me,” Torain said. “It was really hard for me to make Wake [Forest] feel like a place that I could call home, somewhere where I could be my authentic self.”

Torain said that he eventually found his community through music organizations, including Momentum Crew and the Spirit of the Old Gold & Black, Wake Forest’s marching band. He said that, in a time where everyone craves a sense of community, the most important thing we can do is show kindness to others and help them feel a sense of belonging. 

“My general rule of thumb is: as long as what I’m doing — walking around campus with a speaker in my backpack — makes someone feel a little less alone on this campus, then I’m going to keep doing it,” Torain said. “Connection was something that I craved. It was something I starved for. In most of the places that I looked, I couldn’t find it. In most places, I felt like I would never truly belong. But I found a sense of belonging here.”

Torain also spoke to the Old Gold & Black via email about Founder’s Day and its meaning to him.

“To me, Founder’s Day is acknowledging the history and foundations that have brought us to our current Wake Forest, and realizing that we continue to build new foundations every year,” Torain said in his statement. “I hope that as a Wake Forest community, we all just continue to try and understand one another. I think with understanding comes positive change, and we all have room to grow as individuals and as a collective.”

Dr. Shea Kidd Brown, vice president for campus life, gave a speech emphasizing the importance of remembering the University’s origins and the moments in history that led to the present. 

“Today, we aspire to be an inclusive campus where all matter, belong and thrive,” Kidd Brown said. “In these moments, we recognize with more clarity from where we have come, always looking forward. Reckoning with the past requires that we reflect upon parts of our story that are painful, and looking to the future requires being comfortable with change, ambiguity and the unknown.”

Gretchen Castelloe, campus life fellow and Wake Forest alumna (‘23), said that attending Founder’s Day reminded her of the effort Wake Forest takes to support every student, which she remarked is evident both as a former student and current staff member.

“Our institution is committed to providing everyone with opportunities and resources to feel like they can make a difference, and be a founder in their own way,” Castelleo said. “As a student, I felt supported to pursue my passions and advocate for change and improvements to our campus culture. As a staff member in the Campus Life Division, I see my colleagues and our leaders pour their energy into making our university a more inclusive and supportive place that is able to produce humans who are not only knowledgeable and capable but who are also committed to humanity.”

In his closing remarks, Rev. Dr. Corey D. B. Walker, dean of the School of Divinity, said that embracing the past opens the future to new possibilities. 

“Founder’s Day does not belong solely to the myths of the name,” Walker said. “Rather, it belongs to the story of the infinite souls who make and remake this institution. For foundings are not only about the past, they are about our futures.”