Wake Forest College stands as the cornerstone of Wake Forest University. It is a distinctive academic institution that values and maintains the liberal arts tradition within the context of an internationally recognized research university. The College embraces the teacher-scholar ideal, valuing exceptional teaching; a commitment to outstanding and innovative research, discovery, performance, and creative activities; and personal academic interaction between students and faculty both in and out of the classroom.
The College honors the ideals of liberal learning, which encourages habits of mind that ask “why,” that evaluate evidence, that are open to new ideas, that attempt to understand and appreciate the perspectives of others, that accept complexity and grapple with it, that admit error, and that pursue truth. Liberal education also entails commitment to teaching the modes of learning in the basic disciplines of human knowledge; advancing the frontiers of knowledge through in-depth and interdisciplinary study and research; transmitting cultural heritages; developing critical appreciation of moral, ethical, aesthetic, and religious values; and using knowledge in the service of humanity. The College believes in the development of the whole person and is committed to sustaining an environment where beliefs, assumptions, and ideas are examined thoughtfully and critically in a climate of academic freedom.
