september 2007 GREAT GAME, COACH The Quarterly Magazine of Wake Forest University F EATURES E DITOR Cherin C. Poovey (P ’08), [email protected] A SSOCIATE E DITOR Kerry M. King (’85), [email protected] D ESIGN / A RT D IRECTION Sherry Simmons, [email protected] P HOTOGRAPHER Ken Bennett, [email protected] C LASSNOTES E DITOR Janet Williamson (P ’00, ’03), [email protected] S ENIOR W RITER David Fyten, [email protected] 12 Coach, Teacher, Friend P RINTING The Lane Press, Inc. By Dan Collins Burlington, Vermont The untimely loss of men’s basketball Head Coach Wake Forest Magazine (USPS 664-520 ISSN Skip Prosser leaves the Wake Forest Nation crying 0279-3946) is published four times a year in tie-dyed tears. September, December, March, and June by the Office of Creative Services, Wake Forest University, P.O. Box 7205, Winston-Salem, NC 27109-7205. It is sent to alumni, donors, and friends of the University. Periodicals postage paid at 2 A ROUND THE Q UAD Winston-Salem, NC 27109, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to 38 C LASSNOTES Wake Forest Magazine Alumni Records P.O. Box 7227 Winston-Salem, NC 27109-7227. On the Cover: Skip Prosser greets students after a game last season. Volume 55, Number 1 Photo by Brian Westerholt. September 2007 Copyright 2007 WWW.WFU.EDU {Skip- 20 Skip’sisms} Wit By Lenox Rawlings Skip Prosser left behind enough recorded quotations and unforgettable rejoinders to fill a memory bank, or tickle a sad heart. 26 Capital Ideas By David Fyten Translational research—converting inventions and discoveries to commercially viable products—has translated into important money for Wake Forest, with promise of 32 Finding Family in Vietnam even more in the future. By David Nix (‘08) We didn’t just study in Can Tho; we didn’t just build a couple of houses P ROFILE or work on a bridge; we—every one of us—became a family. C ONSTANT & TRUE 64 The Best Ambassador By Jill Bader (’05) Skip Prosser’s greatest gift was 36 People, Planet, Profit that he made us all proud to be Demon Deacons. By Karilon Rogers Combining positive energy and social responsibility, Tom Dingledine (MBA ’78) leads the business of change. Immigration: Recasting the Debate Immigration has become one of the most hotly debated issues in the United States today. On October 3-5, the University’s “Voices of Our Time” series will present a three-day conference, “Immigration: Recasting the Debate,” to explore the challenges and solutions surrounding U.S. immi- gration. The event will feature keynote addresses by major public figures and forums with leading immigration policy experts and scholars. David Coates, Worrell Professor of Anglo-American Studies, and Peter Siavelis, associate professor of political science, share some insight into why they organized the conference and what it means for Wake Forest and beyond. 2 Wake Forest Magazine QUAD Where did the idea for this conference come from? To that end we intend to bring together academics, THE Siavelis: The idea for this conference grew from an policy makers and politi- informal discussion David and I had concerning cians to debate policy the very ugly tone the debate on immigration had solutions that address Coates, Siavelis taken in the United States. the concerns elicited by Rather than focusing on solutions that would immigration in Winston-Salem, in North Carolina, balance national security with humane treatment and in the country as a whole. We will be debating AROUND for immigrants, many public officials began to talk, solutions with policy makers on that national level, in often racially charged terms, about unrealistic solu- like Senator Chuck Hagel, while simultaneously tions like mass deportations and the building of walls. exploring the effects of immigration with local Our goal for this conference is to recast the debate activists and those facing the challenges produced toward realistic solutions that balance U.S. national by an influx of immigrants locally. interests with the fundamental rights shared by all human beings by virtue of their humanity.This is Coates: We were also keen to design a conference even more vital in light of the recent failure of that recognizes migration as a process with two ends. President Bush’s immigration initiative, and the fact People leave one place, and come to another. The that this failure leaves 12 million people living in leaving is difficult. The journey is hard. It’s one that the shadows. people make only because conditions at home are bad; and bad conditions in one place are often the Coates: All I would add is this. Peter and I have long product of good conditions elsewhere. We wanted thought that one responsibility of the academic com- a conference that explored the relationship between munity is to bring its expertise to bear on issues of both ends of the migration process, and one that was public importance—that academics should play the sensitive to the hardships involved – for those who role of public intellectuals when their expertise is migrate, those they leave behind, and those they join. relevant—and should not leave that crucial task sim- ply to professional journalists, however good those Immigration is a hot topic right now; what do you journalists may be. see as the value of this event to Wake Forest? Immigration is so important an issue, and the scholarship on it is so considerable and so fine, that Siavelis: This event will help to consolidate Wake we couldn’t stand by, silent, leaving the framing and Forest’s role as a national center for intellectual discussion of the issues to people whose prejudices debate on the most pressing issues facing the country. were often stronger than their knowledge-base. Already having hosted two presidential debates, the University is well poised to play that role again. This Can you talk about the agenda for the conference? event will be of that caliber, given the prominence Who will the panelists be, what will the topics of of the academics and policy makers we have invited discussion be? and the type of national press coverage we anticipate the event will draw. Siavelis: Our goal in putting together the agenda was In each of the thematic areas of the conference, to gather the best minds working on and thinking we have commitments to attend from the top minds about immigration and immigration policy. We want and decision makers in those areas. The conference to help recast the national debate on immigration, will also provide a forum for debate among local while also providing our local community a window citizens—an important role a university should play on the wider debates on policy, and the reality of in any community. immigration on the ground in North Carolina. www.wfu.edu/wowf September 2007 3 QUAD Coates: The long-term local benefits may be consider- indigenous and illegal workers alike…and how to do able. We certainly hope so. We hope the conference all those things at one and the same time? THE will begin to build bridges with the emerging Latino We are convinced that problems of that complex- communities in North Carolina. We hope it will help ity cannot be solved by policy designed by quick to spread understanding between communities sound bites. If solutions are possible at all, it seems long-established in North Carolina and those now obvious to us that they will require careful thought, being created; and we hope too that, by drawing the balancing of costs and benefits, an openness to AROUND key policy-makers down to the Carolinas from alternatives, a genuine spirit of compromise, and the Washington and the West Coast, the conference mobilization of our best and most humane values. will increase the visibility of Wake Forest as a power- This conference has been designed to strengthen all ful academic center, one whose stock is steadily on those capacities in everyone who participates in it. the rise. Could you talk about the value of this event to The goal of this conference is to facilitate open students and the role students might play in it? discussion on the topic—not take sides. Could you elaborate? Siavelis: Students increasingly tell us that they want to hear intellectual debates. They just don’t want to Siavelis: One of our major goals in designing the go and hear a speaker on a particular topic from a conference was to facilitate open discussion from a particular perspective, but instead, want to hear the variety of perspectives. However, we are not talking pros and cons of different perspectives. about the partisan sniping that increasingly is pass- Immigration will be a central, if not the central, ing for political dialogue in our country. issue in the upcoming presidential campaign. As vot- Rather, the conference will provide a space for ers, students will want to make informed decisions open discussion of real solutions from all ideological among the candidates, and this conference, we hope, perspectives. will help shape the way they think about immigration Indeed, we have invited speakers with the intent as a national issue. We also have included students in of being sure all reasonable voices are heard, and the planning process and will rely on extensive stu- have participants from major think tanks across the dent involvement to put the whole show on. political spectrum. Coates: If Pro Humanitate is to be more than an empty Coates: I entirely concur. In a period in U.S. politics phrase, Wake Forest students have to engage with the when activists within the main parties have a dis- complexity of the human condition and seek ways to proportionate influence on policy—particularly, in improve it.