'Many Faces' weekend to spotlight campus diversity

By Alex Reyes
Contributing Reporter

Campus may appear more diverse this weekend when dozens of high school students tour campus as part of the "Many Faces of Wake Forest" program.

"Many Faces" is aimed at providing a glimpse of campus life to prospective multicultural students. The high school students will have the chance to stay overnight on Sept. 27 with a current student.

On Sept. 28, students will be able to attend a session on admissions and financial aid, meet with a panel composed of multi-cultural students and attend a faculty fair.

There will also be performances from the Gospel Choir, XPRESS step team, SOUL, The Sign Language Club, Unified Rhythms, and freshman Tamara Pickett playing cello.

"We are committed to bringing in outstanding students from a variety of backgrounds," Martha Allman, director of admissions, said. "Differences of culture and opinion enrich our community and make for stimulating intellectual and social exchange."

The weekend complements Harbringer Corps' new muticultural component, aimed towards attracting more diverse students to apply.

The incoming freshman class this year is composed of 14 percent minority students ¯ the largest in university history.

"We hope to more accurately reflect the evolution of our nation in terms of diversity," said junior Courtney Barksdale, vice-president of the multicultural component of the Harbinger Corps. "We want to highlight the multicultural community of Wake Forest and allow prospective students to encounter the diversity that exists on our campus which may otherwise not be immediately visible on a less structured visit to campus."

"We are encouraged by our admissions successes this year," Allman said. "We hope that programs such as 'Many Faces' and the new efforts of the Harbinger Corps will continue to diversity our campus."