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WCU Stories

students sorting through relief supplies

Catamount Resiliency: Be the Helper

“When I was a boy and saw scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” This is a well-known quote by beloved television host Fred Rogers about looking for the people who spring into action when bad things happen.  

UP students

Catamount Resiliency: Buddying UP

The WCU University Participant program provides an inclusive, two-year, on-campus living and learning experience for college-aged persons with intellectual disability. The program aims to facilitate UP students' transition from secondary school to adult life with education, employment, and independent living.  

Richie cooking at his grill

Catamount Resiliency: Campus Response

In the hours and days after Hurricane Helene hit, students were asked to stay put as traveling outside of Jackson County was unsafe. The loss of internet and cell service made traveling hazardous, and the surrounding areas were unknown.  

catamounts fill the truck

Catamount Resiliency: Catamounts Fight On

WCU softball player Kennedy Stewman could tell you how special this community is. She’s lived in it her whole life. The Sylva native has seen her home rally together in times of celebration, excitement and, more recently, need.  

physical therapy students

Catamount Resiliency: Students and Professors Answer the Call

WCU students majoring in healthcare fields have to do clinicals, which give them real-world experience in their fields. Hurricane Helene gave many WCU students experiences they never thought they would see during college or even in their lifetime.  

Lauren and Kalila Dodgin

Catamount Resiliency: WCU Mother-Daughter Duo Lend a Hand

Lauren Dodgin, a university program specialist at WCU’s Biltmore Park instructional site in Asheville, woke up to her town torn to pieces.  

Cherokee basket weaving

WCU alumna records 100,000th person into craftsman database

Isabel Driver knows how important the work she does is. As an intern with the Mountain Heritage Center at Western Carolina University, Driver etched 224 craftspeople into the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts’ craftsman database.  

George Brown, the Hinshaws and Denise Drury Homewood

Macon County couple endows fund to diversify WCU Fine Art Museum collections

The Western Carolina University Fine Art Museum at the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center will be broadening the scope of artists represented in its holdings thanks to contributions from a Macon County couple.  

Matt Henley

Matt Henley appointed director of the Pride of the Mountains and Athletic Bands

Western Carolina University is excited to announce the appointment of Matt Henley as the next director of Athletic Bands and director of the Pride of the Mountains Marching Band.  

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