Students and professors on how the pandemic impacts education

Story co-produced with Kenneth Goode. Before the pandemic, all lecture classes were face-to-face instead of in front of a computer screen. Professors would work in their offices until it was time to walk to their designated classrooms and teach. Everything has changed. Everything has changed for students as well. Instead of walking to classes, they […]

World traveling college student during a pandemic

Traveling the world was easy, but becoming a freshman in college during a global pandemic was harder. Brenna Dunn, a 20-year-old out-of-state freshman at Western Carolina University is experiencing college in a different way than most normal freshmen have in years past. However, now she is living through a global pandemic. Before attending WCU, Dunn took […]

WCU students affected by COVID-19

Most students in college stress about grades and social life, however during a global pandemic, they are risking their lives to go to school. As of Nov. 23, 406 students have tested positive for COVID-19 at WCU since the start of testing on July 1 as reported by the university’ss COVID-19 Data Dashboard. However, this information […]

Jackson cases rise; death toll now stands at 8

By Dave Russell Story originally published in The Sylva Herald on Nov. 12, 2020 edition  Jackson County recorded its eighth death due to COVID-19 last Wednesday. The victim was between the ages of 25-49 years old and had underlying health conditions, according to Melissa McKnight of the Jackson County Department of Public Health. COVID-19 cases […]

Sorority recruitment at WCU adapts to pandemic

Many organizations at WCU changed their strategies during COVID-19, and so did the members of WCU Greek society. CPC day is the main recruitment event this semester for sororities at Western Carolina, and this fall semester, they do it via zoom. The day, under normal circumstances, would look like a sorority only party in the […]

COVID-19 cases see new jump across Jackson County

By Dave Russell Story published in The Sylva Herald in Oct. 15 edition.  Western Carolina University reported 30 new cases of COVID-19 over the last week. The bump contributed to a 7.6 % increase in Jackson County from last week. The county currently has 66 people isolating due to COVID-19 infection. That’s up from 50 […]