Members of the WCU community including faculty and staff members will be part of the welcome team that helps students on Freshman Move-In Day on Friday, Aug. 15.
Photo from WCU Office of Public Relations.
Western Carolina University’s new freshmen receive their official welcome to the university and all WCU students will have an opportunity to do some beginning-of-fall-semester celebrating during two annual events – Freshman Convocation and Valley Ballyhoo.
WCU’s entering students will be welcomed as the newest members of the university community during convocation that begins at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 15, at the Ramsey Regional Activity Center. Speakers will include Alison Morrison-Shetlar, provost; Garrett Whipkey, Student Government Association president; and Annette Debo, English professor and winner of the 2014 University of North Carolina Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Chancellor David O. Belcher will provide the convocation address and deliver his charge to members of the class. Music will be provided by WCU’s Pride of the Mountains Marching Band, and Susan Belcher, wife of the chancellor, will lead the audience in singing the national anthem. David Starnes, director of the Pride of the Mountains, will lead singing of WCU’s alma mater.
The Valley Ballyhoo celebration will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 16, on the A.K. Hinds University Center lawn and Central Plaza.
More than 5,000 WCU students typically attend Valley Ballyoo each year to browse for freebies among information tables set up by campus and community organizations and vendors. A total of about 175 organizations and vendors will be represented at the event this year, said Kim Corelli, an assistant director at the University Center. The event also will feature music by the local band Mangas Colorado from 4:15 to 5:15 p.m., inflatable yard toys, food vendors and other entertainment.
WCU director of student recruitment and transition, Phil Cauley, said that WCU expects another all-time high in student enrollment and we could even see an entering class of 1,700 or more.
The official fall enrollment will be established Friday, Aug. 29, which is the 10th class day and the census date as specified by the University of North Carolina General Administration.
For more information about Freshman Convocation and Valley Ballyhoo, contact A.K. Hinds University Center at 828-227-7206.
From the Office of Public Relations
