The tour starts at the Welcome Center.
The Admissions Welcome Center
This self-guided walking tour of Wake Forest University begins and ends at the Porter Byrum Welcome Center. Welcome Center hours are Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
If you have questions about campus or Wake Forest University, please feel free to contact the admissions office by phone at 336.758.5201, visit online at admissions.wfu.edu or email us at admissions@wfu.edu.
Scales Fine Arts Building
The Scales Fine Arts Center is a contemporary building housing the departments of art, music, theater and dance.
The lower building (closest to the Welcome Center) is the visual arts wing, with spacious studios for painting, photography, sculpture and printmaking, along with an art gallery and classrooms. You may visit the art gallery, which is immediately on the left after entering the main doors. Also in the lower building is the theater/dance wing, including two theaters which stage multiple plays and two dance recitals each year.
The upper building is the music wing of Scales, containing Brendle Recital Hall, as well as classrooms, practice rooms, and offices for the music department.
Wake Forest values the liberal arts ideal and encourages its students to become active in the arts. Students are not required to minor/major in a fine art in order to participate in any of the arts programs.
3 Davis Field
Adjacent to the Scales Fine Arts Center is Davis Field. The field serves as an open recreational space for students, as well as the practice field for the Wake Forest Marching Band.
At the top of Davis Field, cross the street at the crosswalk and onto the sidewalk adjacent to the Visitor Parking lot. On your left is Taylor Residence Hall. Continue along the sidewalk toward The Arch.
Taylor Residence Hall
Taylor is a co-ed, suite-style residence hall, as are the majority of the residence halls surrounding Hearn Plaza.
On the corner closest to Hearn Plaza is
Campus Grounds, a student run coffee shop.
Around the corner and facing Hearn Plaza is the
Campus Bookstore, where you'll find books, supplies, Starbucks Coffee and WFU-themed items.
The Arch
As you make your way from Taylor Residence Hall and onto Hearn Plaza, you'll pass under The Arch.
The Arch is a replica of the arch on the “Old Campus” in the town of Wake Forest, North Carolina and was a class gift from the Class of 2006.
Efird Residence Hall
After passing under The Arch, turn left onto the brick walkway. You'll pass in front of the Bookstore's outdoor seating area. Immediately beyond that, on the left, is Efird Residence Hall, a co-ed dorm that houses about 90 undergraduate students, mostly juniors and seniors. Freshmen and sophomores typically reside in residence halls on south campus.
Wait Chapel
Wait Chapel, the most prominent building on the Reynolda Campus, was dedicated in 1956 and named in honor of the University’s founder and first president, Samuel Wait. Although at the time of its completion, the University was affiliated with the Baptist denomination, the school officially became an independent, private university in 1986.
Wait Chapel remains the largest seating venue on campus and is frequently used for community events. Convocations, concerts, orientation activities, speaking engagements and two presidential debates have been held in Wait Chapel.
Farrell Hall
Farrell Hall is home to the Wake Forest University Schools of Business, including both the undergraduate business program - Business Enterprise Management, Accounting, and Finance - as well as the MBA and Masters in Management programs.
North Dining Hall
North Dining Hall includes a la carte option Hilltop Market, the more formal Bistro ’34, a Starbucks, and a P.O.D market. More information about North Dining Hall, including hours of operation, can be found on the
campus dining website.Magnolia and Dogwood Residence Halls
Dogwood Hall and Magnolia Hall are suite-style residence halls that each house about 240 upper class undergraduate students.
The halls are connected by a courtyard, and each building offers study lounges, kitchens on every floor and a media room.
Huffman Residence Hall
As your tour returns to Hearn Plaza, you will see Huffman Residence Hall immediately to the left of Wait Chapel. Huffman is a hall style residence for juniors and seniors that houses about 85 students.
Poteat Residence Hall
Poteat Residence Hall is a coed, suite style residence hall. As with all of the halls on Hearn Plaza, the majority of the hall is reserved as housing for juniors and seniors.
On the quad level of Poteat is Zick’s, a restaurant specializing in pizza and wings. With pool tables and big screen TVs, it is a great place for students to unwind between studies.
The residence halls adjacent to Hearn Plaza were built in the 1950's when the school moved to Winston-Salem from Wake Forest, North Carolina. All are scheduled to undergo renovation over the next several years. Poteat Hall will be undergoing renovation in spring and summer of 2016, and again in summer of 2017.
Worrell Professional Center
Worrell Professional Center houses the graduate program of the Wake Forest School of Law. All of the graduate programs are located on the Reynolda Campus of Wake Forest with the exception of Wake Forest Baptist Medical School, which is located a few miles off campus near downtown Winston-Salem.
Kentner Stadium
A hub of activity for Wake Forest athletics and the campus community, Kentner Stadium primarily serves as the home of the three-time national champion Wake Forest field hockey team and the Demon Deacon men's and women's track and field teams. The facility seats 4,000 spectators and includes amenities such as a pressbox, upper level viewing area, lights, a state-of-the art scoreboard and concessions.
Wake Forest basketball, football and baseball teams play in facilities located on Deacon Boulevard, about a mile from campus. Wake Forest is in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Athletic tickets are free and guaranteed to all students.
Miller Athletic Center
The Miller Center is a 65,000 square-foot multi-use facility with two major recreational spaces for students, faculty and staff. The Fitness Center is located on the first floor of the Miller Center and two exercise studios are located on the 4th floor. The 4th floor also has a small stretch/cardio area outside the exercise studios. There are two locker rooms in the Miller Center. Each locker room has 12 day use only lockers and one shower for Fitness Center and 4th floor participants.
Reynolds Gymnasium
Reynolds Gymnasium houses the intramural sports offices along with more facilities available to students including basketball courts, a climbing wall, dance studio and Olympic distance swimming pool. Nearly 90% of students at Wake Forest play a sport at either the intramural, club, or varsity level.
Kitchen Residence Hall
Kitchin Residence Hall houses about 290 upperclassmen. On the quad level of Kitchin, you will find the Deacon Shop which sells Wake Forest themed clothing and keepsakes. Also located in Kitchin is the Campus Ministry office.
Davis Residence Hall
Davis Residence Hall is a co-ed upperclassman residence hall. Davis Hall also houses an office for the campus police, a full branch of Wells Fargo bank, and Subway sandwich shop.
Reynolda Hall
Reynolda Hall houses the University's main administrative offices, including the office of the registrar, the deans’ office, the president's office, financial aid, and the Center for International Studies (CIS). About 70% of WFU students study abroad at some point during their four years in college.
Reynolda Hall is also home to two popular cafeterias. On the basement level of the building is The Pit, an all-you-can-eat cafeteria with a wide variety of options. The Magnolia (Mag) Room, located on the second floor of Reynolda Hall, is a slightly more formal dining room.
On the south side of Reynolda Hall is Manchester Plaza, also known as the Magnolia Quad, which is flanked by the academic buildings. Directly south of Manchester Plaza are the first-year student residence halls.
Calloway Center
The Calloway Center, situated on the east side of Manchester Plaza, incorporates Manchester and Kirby Halls. Kirby Hall is home to the Economics and Political and International Affairs. The Mathematics and Computer Science departments are in Manchester Hall.
Greene Hall
The five-level Greene Hall is home to the departments of Spanish, Italian, French, German, Russian, and Psychology. If you have a moment, take some time to walk through the building; it is a showcase for the integration of technology into classrooms and marks an architectural transition toward more open and naturally lit spaces.
Carswell Hall
Carswell Hall is the final building on the south east side of Manchester Plaza. It houses the departments of, Sociology, Communication, and East Asian Languages. The Wake Forest Debate Team is also located in Carswell Hall. Debate is one of the University's most successful programs with dozens of final four appearances and two national championships.
South Residence Hall
South Hall is the newest first-year residence hall and is certified LEED Gold for environmental sustainability.
In general, residence halls are coeducational by floor, suite, or wing. All rooms are equipped with beds, closets, desks, cable television connections, Wi-Fi and Ethernet connections. As part of the standard university furniture, a Microfridge combination microwave-refrigerator/freezer unit is also included. The use of laundry facilities located in every residence hall is also free to residential students.
Wake Forest is a residential campus, meaning that most undergraduates live on campus just a short walk or bike ride away from their classes, the library, post office, bank, food, recreation, or a friend’s suite. Housing is guaranteed for all four years. Having a car on campus is generally not necessary though all students are allowed to bring a car to campus. Many choose to take advantage of the Zip Car program, a subscription service which allows students to “check out” one of the three cars stationed in front of Johnson Hall for personal use around town.
Tribble Hall
Tribble Hall is an academic building housing the departments, classrooms and offices of the History, English, Philosophy, Women’s & Gender Studies, Education, and the Masters in Counseling program.
Benson University Center
Located at the heart of campus, the Benson University Center is a five story building offering students a variety of informal places to eat, socialize, study and meet. In Benson, you will find Pugh Auditorium, a state-of-the-art movie theater, Shorty's (a tavern), and a food court (including Chick-fil-A). Also in Benson are several multi-purpose meeting rooms, student organization offices, a meditation room, a miniature grocery store and post office.
Z. Smith Reynolds Library
The Z. Smith Reynolds Library houses close to 1.8 million volumes and thousands of periodicals in its eight levels. The Bridge is also located in the atrium of the library. The Bridge provides information technology services including multimedia, filming, computer repair, and equipment loans and purchases. ZSR also houses a multimedia center, dvd library, a 24-hour study room and a Starbucks.
Olin Physical Library
Olin Physical Laboratory is home to the Department of Physics. Olin has an outdoor observatory, a state-of-the-art laser lab, and classrooms which facilitate extensive hands-on research.
Salem Hall
Salem Hall, home of the Chemistry Department, houses both classrooms and research facilities.
Winston Hall
Winston Hall is home to the Biology Department.