Wake Forest celebrated its 192nd Founders Day on Thursday, Feb. 19, in Wait Chapel. The annual event featured a senior oration by Chase Clark, the presentation of the Medallion of Merit to Dr. Jay Wayne Meredith and Dr. Julie Ann Freischlag and performances from Wake Forest’s Chamber Choir.
“As we mark this Founders Day, we recommit to the continuous founding of Wake Forest that unfolds even today,” Rev. Chris Donald, university chaplain, said in the invocation. “We pledge to nurture and pursue inquiry, creativity and freedom. All for the thriving of the people here and beyond.”
The event began with opening remarks from President Susan R. Wente, who reflected on her presidency as she approaches its conclusion in June. She emphasized the nuances of the term ‘founder.’
“To found is a verb,” Wente said. “It’s an action, not a single static moment frozen in the past. It implies motion, fluidity and the courage to affirm, over and over again, our shared values. I believe that founding is a collective process.”
Wente also recognized the University’s growth over the past five years, and highlighted many developments, including the launch of the School of Professional Studies and the second medical campus in Charlotte, as well as partnerships with the Grounds, Innovation Corner and the Pearl.
“This is the Wake Forest that we are founding together,” Wente said. “A Wake Forest of opportunity, discovery, honesty and excellence. As I look forward, I am so full of hope for what this university will continue to do to discover and invent itself. I am so full of gratitude for what we’ve accomplished in this era of Wake Forest, and deeply, deeply confident that this great university is positioned to continue to survive.”
Senior Oration
Senior Chase Clark gave her senior oration speech titled “I’ve Seen Why the Caged Bird Sings” after introductions from Eric Stottlemyer, associate dean for interdisciplinary curricula, and Alessandra Von Berg, an associate professor in the department of communication.
“For nearly two centuries, our orators have used their voices to push our community, to challenge our assumptions and to inform our collective future,” Stottlemyer said. “They remind us that at Wake Forest, our students give as much as they receive.”
Clark’s speech reflected on her experience as a Black woman at Wake Forest. She said she initially felt unsure of her place on campus.
“Night after night in my dorm room, I wondered how to exist in a place like Wake Forest, a place clearly not designed with me in mind,” Clark said. “While I navigated the complicated terrain of being the only Black woman in many of my classes, one of the few Black women on my residence hall floor and the minefield that is daily microaggressive conversation, every choice felt heavier. Every gesture, deliberate. Every word carefully measured before it even left my mouth.”
She said that through her many campus involvements, including serving as president of the Black Student Alliance, hosting the “Chase at Wake” podcast and leading her nonprofit Chase’s Chance, she has learned to walk around campus proudly, knowing she is a voice for students like her.
“As I near the end of my time here, I see that I gave my all to Wake Forest because it gave me the time and space to reflect, grow and cultivate a vision of a better world,” Clark said. “Not only that, but Wake Forest gave you the tools and the network needed to help create that world.”
She continued: “From the questioning first year, a student walking across the quad, unsure of herself, in her place at this university, to the woman standing before you today, I found my voice, and I’ve used it to create a space that I now feel very dearly.”
Medallion of Merit presentations
The Medallion of Merit, Wake Forest’s highest honor, presented for significant contributions to the University, was presented to Dr. Jay Wayne Meredith and Dr. Julie Ann Freischlag, who both have made significant contributions to Wake Forest Baptist Health.
First, Dr. Craig M. Greven accepted the award on behalf of Meredith, who is the immediate past chief of clinical chairs at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist and chair of surgery at Wake Forest School of Medicine. Baptist Health is constructing an emergency, acute surgical tower called Project EAST, which is named after Meredith’s personal motto during his battle with cancer: endure, adapt, survive and thrive.
Next, the award was presented to Freischlag, CEO and chief academic officer of Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist. She also previously served as the dean of Wake Forest’s School of Medicine and is a practicing vascular surgeon. Atrium Health is constructing a center called the Julie Ann Freischlag Tower.
When she accepted the award, Freischlag reflected on how she has seen the medical field change during her career and offered her advice to members of younger generations in the audience.
“You have to form these amazing relationships with people, just like you do with your fellow students, with the choir, with your professors, with your patients,” Freischlag said. “You develop those relationships because that leads you to that North Moravian star to always do the right thing.”
