News for 2025

Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) is working to broaden awareness about the wide range of cancers affecting individuals worldwide. As part of this effort, the university will host its third annual two-day cancer awareness event, “Rams: Thriving Together Stronger than Ever,” on March 20-21.

Winston-Salem State University is set to host a series of impactful events throughout March, bringing together students, faculty, staff, and the community for discussions, performances, and educational initiatives.

Plant samples from Winston-Salem State University’s Astrobotany Lab will be on the first Blue Origin all-female mission to space this spring.

Dr. Michael Magruder, director of bands for Winston-Salem State University, has been appointed president of the HBCU National Band and Orchestra Directors’ Consortium (HBCU-NBODC). He will lead the only conference designed for HBCU band directors and students for a two-year term.

“I am thrilled to have gone from being an au pair in France in my youth to a Fulbright,” Merrills said. “Never in my wildest dreams did I foresee while I was scrubbing floors and changing diapers in France as an au pair that I would one day return as a Fulbright.”

Dr. Dawn Hicks Tafari, an associate professor of education at Winston-Salem State University, approaches life with purpose and passion. She believes that her intentional dedication to teaching has played a key role in her selection as recipient of the 2025 University of North Carolina Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) will host legendary hip-hop artist and producer Pete Rock as the featured guest speaker for its annual Black History Month celebration. The event, titled “The Miseducation of…”, will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, February 13, in Dillard Auditorium on the WSSU campus.

Winston-Salem State University and Salem Academy and College formalized a new partnership that will create a direct pathway for Salem College students to enroll in WSSU’s Division of Nursing Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program.

Winston-Salem State University has reached a historic milestone with the largest graduate student enrollment in its history, a significant achievement that comes nearly two years after the institution reinstated its graduate college.

A team of researchers, led by Dr. Muztaba Fuad, professor and interim chair of computer science at Winston-Salem State University, are pioneering the use of mobile apps to make healthcare work more efficient. WSSU students are helping with the research by tracking their own movements and postures.

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr., two members of the Ramily were recognized during a joint program of Winston-Salem State University and Wake Forest University on the official federal holiday honoring the civil rights icon. Student Nia James and faculty member Maestra D’Walla Simmons-Burke were the 2025 honorees.

Winston-Salem State University hosted a ribbon cutting and grand opening of its new Allegacy Federal Credit Union Student Resource Center on Jan. 23, addressing food insecurity and enabling a lifeline of extended support for student success.

Winston-Salem State University students will have access to more food and clothing resources thanks to the generosity of Allegacy Federal Credit Union. Allegacy donated $120,000 to WSSU in 2023 to repurpose a former game room on the campus into a new Student Resource Center.

Winston-Salem State University nursing alumnus Dr. Clifton Kenon Jr. is no stranger to being a trailblazer. At age 33, he won the highest honor given to a nurse from the American Academy of Nursing. Now, at age 37, he is making history again by becoming the first male and first millennial to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from AWHONN.