By Grace McGavin
Lucy Rice, a junior at Wake Forest University, picks up litter on the streets of downtown Winston Salem every Tuesday. On one recent Tuesday, from only an hour of walking, she picked up nine empty cigarette boxes, nineteen abandoned cans of beer, and countless miscellaneous garbage debris.
Downtown Winston Salem street (2019)
Rice participates as a member of the Office of Civic and Community Engagement at Wake Forest University, which helps connect students to volunteer opportunities in town.
Rice’s day of service is one of the many ways in which Wake Forest students support downtown. Some study at the university’s downtown campus. Some live in the new apartments that have sprung up. And others enjoy hanging out at downtown coffee shops and breweries.
Grace Lyons, a Junior at Wake Forest University frequently visits Camino’s coffee shop, clothing stores, and her favorite restaurant, Cugino Forno.
“Going downtown is a great escape from campus,” Lyons said. “The atmosphere is so fun and I like supporting the small businesses.”
Lyons doesn’t have a car on campus, however that doesn’t stop her from exploring downtown.
WFU Transportation provides a network of shuttles throughout the year for students, faculty and staff. The Wake Line makes it easy to commute to campus, get around campus between classes, do research at the medical center, or explore downtown Winston Salem. On the Wake Shuttle, students can be picked up at Benson University Center and be dropped off at the Front of Innovation Quarter building on Vine St within 15 minutes.
“It’s so easy to just hop on and off the shuttle, because it comes about every 20 minutes,” Lyons said. “It can just pick me up right outside one of my class buildings on campus and take me downtown for lunch… I can even track it on my phone, which is so nice.”
As downtown begins to develop, Wake Forest students gravitate towards the area.
Innovation Quarters is the epicenter of change in downtown Winston Salem as the area was transformed from the once R.J. Reynolds Tobacco compound to a “city of arts and innovation.” The 1.2-million-square-foot research park includes the Wake Forest medical school and engineering school, marketing companies and research labs.
The university played a founding role in the development of Innovation Quarter as Wake Forest Health Sciences partnered with the city. Wake Forest’s partnership allowed for larger donations and investment opportunities, totalling around $106 million, according to the Wake Forest Magazine. Today, Innovation Quarters is governed by Wake Forest School of Medicine with support from the university.
Nathan O’Hatch, President of Wake Forest University, standing in front of Innovation Quarter after opening.
The development opened in 2012 and since then has been growing. Innovation Quarter holds 90 companies, over 3,600 workers, and 1.6 miles of green space according to the Innovation Quarter website. Although the general public does not have access to the research building, shops in Innovation Quarter along with Bailey Park are public access.
“Wake Forest did a tremendous job,” a lifetime resident of Winston Salem Shelia Torres said. “I love walking around Bailey Park. Before, it used to be nothing, and now people can actually enjoy the area.”
Long-time residents like Torres have enjoyed the impact of Wake Forest and the students as it contributes to the growth of their hometown.
“There are so many young students walking around… it’s refreshing!” Torres said, “Finally people are able to enjoy downtown.”
Lucy Rice has enjoyed her volunteer work downtown so much that she plans to start a new club called “Downtown Deacons.” Her hopes for the club are to mainly focus on community services downtown, such as organizing food drives, fundraising for local businesses, and cleaning up litter downtown. Additionally, Rice plans to connect more students to downtown by using social media platforms to spotlight restaurants, shops, and other activities downtown for students to stay engaged.
“I do wish there were more specific actions taken towards downtown. ” Rice said. “I wish there was a separate club dedicated to downtown.”
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