WCU is building up and losing commuter parking

Story originally published in The Sylva Herald, March 13 edition The Western Carolina University first Board of Trustees meeting this year on March 6 and 7 was an opportunity to brag on the university successes: high enrollment; increase in the retention of students (over 90%) and increased graduation rates (over 44%). The trustees received updates […]

DEI policy a ‘moving target’ for WCU

Story produced with Mackenzie Atkinson The University of North Carolina system sent out a memorandum on Feb. 5 about systemwide implementation of President Donald Trump’s Jan. 21 Executive Order “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” to all chancellors and provosts. The memo goes into detail about new requirements for working with federal agencies that […]

Anonymous donor encouraging students to look beyond the frame in a short story contest

Imagine that you win a short story contest, and you want to meet with the person who donated the money, but that person wants to stay anonymous. The English department of WCU has announced a short story contest called “Beyond The Frame” where students can submit short stories for a cash prize. The short stories […]

Bringing the Jedi life to WCU

You have probably seen lightsabers out by the Blue Ridge lawn around dinnertime on Wednesday and Saturday. The Catamount Saber Legion is sharing its love of Star Wars at WCU. The club has over 80 active members who regularly attend meetings. Club president, Gabriel Baker said that the Saber Legion started as a social experiment […]

Mental Health in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene

Hurricane Helene devastated the lives of many throughout Western North Carolina and as many are working on rebuilding, mental health is not a priority. But should it be that way? Helene caused the damage of more than 100,000 homes in WNC, affecting nearly 200,000 people total. Eighty community emergency response teams volunteered logging more than […]

WCU students react to potential end of Department of Education and impact to financial aid

President Trump just finished his first month in office and the news cycle has not stopped since. He passed over 65 executive orders ranging from immigration, drug trafficking, schools “indoctrinating” students, securing the border, DEI, exiting WHO and the Paris Climate Agreement, to declassification of records among some. He also froze the federal assistance money […]