New Website Chronicles Wake Forest's Progress On Diversity

Wake Forest University unveiled a new website Tuesday that outlines its plan for increasing inclusion and diversity on campus and addressing bias. It was developed after students raised concerns during a town hall meeting with university officials last year.

The website is called Community in Progress. The tool was created to help address a growing concern among the campus community.

Several incidents have been reported in recent years. In September 2013, a sign in front of the LGBTQ Center was vandalized. Soon after, a student was called a homophobic slur while walking on campus and some students have said that campus police were spotlighting students of color.

Others raised concerns about reports of an ethnic-themed party on campus where students dressed up and impersonated minorities. And this past November, an associate Muslim chaplain at the university found a bucket of urine in front of his office on campus.

Dr. Penny Rue, Vice President of Campus Life, says school officials received over 150 recommendations from the community after a public meeting last fall.

“Many people are very interested in the progress we are making and the follow-up to various recommendations, so we wanted to create a one-stop shop where all interested community members could go and be updated about our efforts and our progress,” says Rue.

Wake Forest University implemented an online bias reporting system last year. Rue says the new website takes their action plan a step further. It outlines strategies for changes in several areas on campus, including admissions, curriculum and faculty engagement,  policing and strategic management.

“For example, one of the items that is of great interest to a lot of our students is making sure that our orientation program addresses issues of diversity and inclusion very concretely,” says Rue. “Another is the issue of making sure that our admissions office is recruiting and admitting a diverse student body, and while we have made excellent progress on that we will continue to focus on that as an issue.”

Rue says the university is also campaigning to raise scholarship money, so it can offer attractive financial aid packages to more incoming students.

“We are making great progress. We've gone from 19 percent underrepresented students in 2009 to 23.3 percent in 2013, representing a 22 percent increase.”

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