Park Scholars present William C. Friday Award to Walt Wolfram

NC State linguistics professor Walt Wolfram was recently named the recipient of the annual William C. Friday Award, named for the former president of the UNC System. The recognition is granted to members of the community who show exceptional dedication and scholarly achievement.

The award is presented on behalf of the entire Park Scholarships program, and the recipient is chosen by the senior class of Park Scholars.

Freddy Kelley, a fourth-year studying biochemistry and sociology and a member of the Park Scholars Class of 2025, introduced the ceremony.

“Each Park Scholarship class meets with the current UNC System President Peter Hans to select someone that embodies Friday's dedication to service, character, leadership and scholarship,” Kelley said.

Syna Sharma, a fourth-year studying middle grades English language arts and social studies education and a member of the Park Scholars Class of 2025, listed a few of Wolfram’s achievements before inviting him onto the stage.

“It is my extreme pleasure to present Dr. Walt Wolfram with the class of 2025, William C. Friday Award for his commitment to serving the community through the preservation and promotion of linguistic diversity in North Carolina and beyond,” Sharma said.

Wolfram, a professor of linguistics at NC State, has dedicated decades to studying American dialects, particularly those in North Carolina. His work has resulted in 15 documentaries, 24 published books, the construction of six museum exhibits and much more.

The documentaries he has worked on, two of which were awarded Emmy awards, cover linguistic research on a variety of communities, from Cherokee, Lumbee and Lebanese to African American Language. The most popular is a series called “Talking Black In America.”

Wolfram is also the director of the North Carolina Language and Life Project and has served as president for the Linguistic Society of America, the American Dialect Society and the Southeastern Conference on Linguistics.

After a brief admiration of his plaque, Wolfram jumped into a lively presentation about his work and the importance of linguistics.

“Everybody should have a little knowledge of linguistics to know how it is used,” Wolfram said.

Wolfram said many people have misconceptions about what linguistics actually is. He said it’s about analyzing language and connecting it with larger societal patterns, which often manifest as inequalities.

“Not only are universities compliant with data policy in language attitudes, they're actually agents that lead in the discrimination of students based on their language,” Wolfram said. “NC State is no different from other universities in that capacity, and we need to start getting the truth about dialect diversity.”

Wolfram said a core tenet of his research is giving back to the community. It’s a factor he coined as the “gratuity principle.”

“Part of the problem that social science researchers have in the United States today is simply the fact that they go into a community, they gain knowledge and the community never sees them again,” Wolfram said. “We don't do that. If we have knowledge, if we work with the community, then we have a responsibility to give back to that community.”

Wolfram's current work largely consists of classroom education. He said students who actually engage with the community during their studies are more successful.

Wolfram has taught a curriculum about the Ocracoke dialect, a version of American English unique to the Outer Banks, at Ocracoke School for the last 30 years.

“Every kid on that island in the last 30 years has been educated about their dialect, their unique dialect, about the role of language diversity in terms of social history,” Wolfram said.

Wolfram said he was surprised and honored to receive the award. 

“I could have retired, but it's the engagement that keeps me going because I feel like it makes a difference,” Wolfram said. “I'm not sure my research does, but the engagement does make a difference. So in that respect, it's an inspiration to be here today.”