Wake Forest Magazine June 2003 - Past Issues - Wake Forest ...

“I did struggle with perceptions to various situations and how to
respond to ideological differences.…You treat each other with
respect and look beyond differences.”
—Reggie Mathis (’06)
want to take psychology and anthropology and sociology; and
how I can care for them, which is where the sciences come in.”
For Kelly McManus, who practically grew up on campus
during the nine years her father, Jerry (’78), was an assistant
football coach before moving to East Carolina, coming to Wake
Forest really was like coming home. She quickly bonded with
her roommate, Kaylan Gaudio, daughter of assistant men’s basketball
coach Dino Gaudio, and began working in the Deacon
football office. Her first semester was going well until early
December when the East Carolina football staff was fired. “It
was one of the worst experiences of my life,” she recalled. “But
my friends here and the (Wake Forest) football staff were
incredibly supportive. And Kaylan could relate to what I was
going through since her dad is a coach, too.” (Kelly’s father was
ultimately rehired at ECU).
All eight freshmen did well academically—most made the
Dean’s List—but none were satisfied. (Overall, about half of
freshmen make the Dean’s List; the average GPA for freshmen is
2.9, out of a possible 4.0). All learned the necessity of staying
caught up with their work. Most mentioned the amount of
work—and that it seems to come all at once—as their biggest
challenge, rather than the difficulty of the work.
Malkush struggled at first in one spring semester class that
had been recommended by her favorite professor, Anne Boyle
of English, from last fall. “At first, I couldn’t understand why
she recommended the course. But I realized that she did so with
my best interests in mind. The professor was less motherly and
his style encouraged me to become more independent in class.”
Lobashevsky was accepted into the Open Curriculum program,
which will give him flexibility in selecting alternative
classes to the required divisional requirements, and he decided
to add a women’s studies minor to his chemistry major.
Mathis, one of only two or three minorities in all his classes,
said it didn’t bother him that many classmates assumed he was
an athlete because of his race and large build. (He did play offensive
tackle on his high school football team). Of the thirty black
males in the freshman class, only six are not on athletic teams.
Barefoot set up weekly meetings with his Spanish professor,
Jen Wooten, and found his first-year seminar professor, Wayne
King, helpful as well. “A couple of teachers really baffled me
last (fall) semester,” he said. “This semester (spring) the work is
easier but more time consuming. I’ve pulled a lot of allnighters,
even though I try to stay on top of things. I don’t get
stressed out much. Any stress I do feel comes from keeping up
my grades for the (Starling) scholarship and having enough
time to do all the work, and not from the work itself.”
Wilber’s first-year seminar, “Children and Society” reminded
her how much she enjoys working with children. The class had
a “service-learning component” requiring students to volunteer
at Kids Café, an after-school program that offers elementary
children a good meal and help with their homework.
For the freshman women, the return to Wake Forest for the
second semester marked the start of “rush.” Wilber and
Malkush joined Chi Omega, while McManus joined Kappa
Kappa Gamma. Overall, about 52 percent of female undergraduates
join a sorority; 34 percent of men join a fraternity.
Lobashevsky was the only one of the four males to rush; he
received a bid, but decided not to join.
“Originally I wasn’t planning on rushing,” Malkush said.
“I fell into believing the northern stereotype of Greek life. I
assumed that sorority girls enjoyed two things: hazing and
drinking. Quickly I learned what ambitious and outgoing
girls they were.”
32 W ake Forest Magazine