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PodcastsMedia Resources
    !
  • ĢƵalumna and former EBCI Chief Joyce Dugan stands at a podium speaking to a crowd at WCU

    ĢƵto honor Joyce Dugan for decades of service to education, EBCI, WNC

    Brooklyn Brown MA '22 and Julia Duvall '15
    April 23

    ĢƵ will award an honorary Doctor of Education to Joyce Conseen Dugan in recognition of her leadership, lifelong commitment to education and contributions to the Cherokee people and Western North Carolina.

  • Photo of Shalana Yates

    ĢƵalumna Shalana Yates named director of Cherokee Center

    Julia Duvall
    April 6

    ĢƵ has appointed Shalana Yates as director of the Cherokee Center, bringing to the role a strong background in nonprofit operations, tribal government, and leadership.

  • Ammon Hottensmith

    ĢƵbiology student tracks down fungus with a taste for nematodes

    Cam Adams
    March 31

    Ammon Hottensmith has always been interested in critters. Growing up on a small farm in Ohio, the ĢƵ junior has always been surrounded by them. Everyone is, whether you’re in the hills of the Midwest or the mountains of Appalachia.

  • Brian Byrd

    ĢƵprofessor Brian Byrd receives 2026 BOG Excellence in Teaching Award

    Shane Ryden
    March 10

    This February, Brian Byrd, ĢƵ’s professor of environmental health sciences and resident “skeeter man,” was awarded the 2026 University of North Carolina System Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching.

  • ĢƵstudents attend a campus FirstGen Week event

    OSR, OAR each earn $1.4 million TRIO Student Support Services grants

    Cam Adams
    October 15

    ĢƵ is home to students from many different backgrounds, boasting a high percentage of first-generation students and a number of learners with disabilities. Thanks to a pair of federal TRIO Student Support Services grants, ĢƵis now better set up to support them.

  • Sara Snyder Hopkins

    WCU's ECHT project receives $450K grant from NEH

    Cam Adams
    August 19

    Unearthing history is nothing new to Cherokee Language Program director and associate professor Sara Snyder Hopkins. Thanks to a federal grant, she and a group of colleagues will continue to do so.

  • The College of Engineering and Technology is launching a a new bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a new industrial engineering concentration.

    ĢƵlaunches mechanical engineering degree, industrial engineering concentration

    Teresa Tate
    August 15

    ĢƵ’s College of Engineering and Technology is expanding its engineering programs again this fall with the launch of a new bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a new industrial engineering concentration.

  • Heidi Von Dohlen (right) with Jess Weiler, associate professor in educational leadership

    NC Principal Fellows program expands with supplemental funding

    Matt Salerno
    July 3

    Heidi Von Dohlen was an educator and school principal for 27 years before becoming the director of the Principal Fellows program at ĢƵ.

  • Patricia Bricker

    Bricker gets new WNC Community of Practice off the ground

    Cam Adams
    May 1

    An ice storm shifted the first Western North Carolina Elementary STEM Community of Practice meeting to Zoom last minute, but Patricia Bricker’s project didn’t freeze up.

  • Stephen and Virginia Hodge

    Alumnus divides gift to create scholarship honoring educator wife, support athletics upgrades

    Bill Studenc
    April 30

    ĢƵ alumnus and Asheville resident Stephen Hodge had a bit of difficulty deciding whether to direct a recent financial contribution for his alma mater to support academics or athletics. So, the banking executive who grew up in Rutherfordton reached the conclusion to do both.

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