Originally published in The Sylva Herald on Feb. 7, 2019. Former Republican National Committee chairman and lieutenant governor of Maryland, Michael Steele, will be speaking at Western Carolina University on Tuesday, Feb. 12 in the Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center as part of the Distinguished Speaker Series. Steele will be speaking on the concept […]
“Stop The Bleed” to help save lives in Jackson County
Originally published in The Sylva Herald on Feb. 7, 2019. More than 500 teachers and school personnel in Jackson, Swain, and Graham counties will be trained to be immediate responders by the 2019-20 school year and will utilize small medical kits that will enable them to do so. Executive director of the Great Smokies Health […]
Creating Safe Zones at WCU
Story was co-written by Bonnie MacAlister. The Dogwood room was brimming with voices from those participating in stage 2 of the Safe Zone Training. The topic of the activity was on coming out and different scenarios – a green star is when all is good, and you are accepted for who you are while […]
Catamounts roar with laughter at comedy night in the UC
Western Carolina’s Last Minute Productions continued its Best of the West competition with the comedy event, “Last Catamount Standing” on Jan. 30. Performing for a crowd of around 50 people, students Casey Jowers and Alex Sapp competed for a spot in the series finale. Though neither had ever done stand-up comedy before, both were […]
MLK keynote speaker encourages students to turn ideas into action
Western Carolina’s Martin Luther King Jr. week long celebration continued with Dr. Aminata Cairo speaking to an audience of students and faculty about the importance of diversity and building a community. To a crowd of around 130 people in the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center, Cairo engaged with her audience in a native […]
Western Carolina ESAs: The good, the bad, the furry
Story co-written/produced with Natalie Ballard After a busy day of stressful classes and tests, senior Stephanie Powell returns to her dorm room visibly upset. She takes short quick breaths as she lays down on her couch. Soon she is comforted by the pressure of a small animal crawling over her stomach and laying on her […]









