Celebrating Influential African American Voices at Wake Forest University

This month the Wake Forest School of Professional Studies invites you to join us in embracing and honoring Black History Month and the incredible contributions the African American community has made throughout U.S. history. 

We want to start by taking a look at the impact on our community.

Since its founding nearly 200 years ago, Wake Forest University has had the privilege to host countless noteworthy speakers from politicians and activists to writers and entertainers. 

Here’s a look back at some of the most notable African American individuals to speak at our university: 

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. King spoke at Wake Forest on October 11th, 1962. He was the first black speaker invited to the university after Wake Forest had officially integrated in August 1962.

He ended the speech with the same passage that would later be made famous by his 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech, calling for “black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics” to join hands while singing the Negro spiritual ending with “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we’re free at last!”

An audio recording and transcript of King’s speech are available by request from the digital archives at Z. Smith Reynolds library.

Dr. Condoleezza Rice

Dr. Rice broke barriers as the first woman to serve as National Security Advisor in 200, and in 2005, she became the first African-American woman to hold the post of Secretary of State.

She spoke at the commencement ceremony for the undergraduate Class of 2021 with a pre-recorded message due to the restrictions in place from Covid-19. 

Watch Dr. Rice’s speech. 

Michelle Alexander

As part of the University’s Voices of Our Time series, civil rights lawyer, advocate, and legal scholar Michelle Alexander spoke at Wake Forest on October 1st, 2013. 

In her talk, Alexander argued the criminal justice system has facilitated a new form of racial and social control.

Read more about her speech and the impact it had on students who attended.

Kenneth Chenault

Kenneth Chenault is a successful businessman who served as chairman and CEO of American Express from 2001 to 2018. In 2010, he delivered the Wake Forest commencement address. 

He urged graduates to live their lives according to Pro Humanitate: “Your school’s motto is not a meaningless Latin phrase. For humanity, it is who you are.” 

Read a transcript of the entire speech.

Maya Angelou 

Wake Forest was fortunate to have a longstanding relationship with Dr. Maya Angelou, who first came for a speaking engagement in 1973. She would go on to be awarded an honorary degree in 1977 and was named the University’s first Reynolds Professor of American Studies in 1982.

Most notably, she delivered the 1985 commencement speech where she told graduates that their destiny is “to develop the courage to dare to love, to dare to care, to dare to be significant.”

Learn more about  Dr. Angelaou’s relationship with Wake Forest. 

See the full lists of notable speakers who have visited Wake Forest University.