Who We Are and Who We Will Become
Wake Forest University is committed to being a community of students, faculty, staff and alumni from diverse backgrounds, lived experiences and perspectives. We seek to create and sustain an equitable, inclusive environment where all can live, learn, belong and thrive across our institution and beyond.
Our motto, Pro Humanitate, calls upon the entire University community to engage in the fundamental questions about what it means to be human. It invites us to use our ideas, knowledge, talents and compassion on behalf of humanity in all its difference and diversity – in short, to be catalysts for good.
Wake Forest’s identity, who we are, is defined by strong commitments to:
- educate the whole person
- sustain a strong liberal arts curriculum
- serve our undergraduate, graduate and professional school students to ensure their personal and professional success
- generate new knowledge that benefits humanity through research, scholarship and creative expression
- recognize the roles of teacher and scholar as interdependent, each contributing to excellence in teaching, learning, and the generation of new knowledge
- sustain an environment that values the critical role of student mentorship by faculty and staff
- compete at the highest levels of college athletics
- continue the work needed to provide greater access and opportunity to success through equitable learning, living, and working environments
- emphasize the development of leadership, character, and integrity
- teach and model the importance of democratic process, civil discourse, and dialogue across difference
- embody Pro Humanitate, and call Wake Foresters as individuals and Wake Forest University as a community to take action consistent with this belief.
The University will become a catalyst for good in society by extending those commitments into our third century and becoming a recognized national model for:
- Graduating leaders with integrity and courage, across disciplines and professions, who embrace evidence-based debate, open dialogue and critical thinking;
- Innovation in curricular, co-curricular, experiential learning, and personal and professional development;
- Excellence in defined scholarship and research areas across our academic programs and partnerships that address pressing problems facing society;
- Acting on our commitment to ensuring inclusive excellence as a powerful catalyst for learning and a community strength; and
- Entrepreneurial partnerships that advance Wake Forest’s mission.