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As he came down from the stage and onto the floor Monday (Jan. 28) at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena for the New England Patriots’ portion of the 2019 Super Bowl’s Opening Night, former Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ defensive back Keion Crossen was all smiles.

Building connections with current and former Catamount student-athletes is key to the success of our athletics programs.

During her four years on the soccer field at Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ, Endye Frazier showed the kind of growth coaches love to see. Off the field, her work with the Special Olympics displayed the type of compassion everyone should seek to have.

Current Catamount Student-Athlete Onno Steger chats with former Student-Athlete Jake Robinson about how former Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵstudent-athletes who are now making an impact in the professional world and giving back to their alma mater.

Announced in conjunction with Western Carolina’s football home opener back on Labor Day weekend, the Catamount Club, the Athletics department fundraising arm, is celebrating a milestone this year with its 50th year of operation. Fifty years of supporting student-athletes; fifty years of celebrating successes both on and off the field. Fifty years of connecting and engaging with alumni and community friends; fifty years of investing in the unlimited potential of student-athletes to inspire the Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵcampus community.

Mike Wade, a former two-time Academic All-American at Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ, will tell you that football is the greatest metaphor for life: to survive you have to get back up every time you get knocked down — and you will get knocked down, he insists, many, many times.

In this edition of Cat Chats, current football student-athlete Mike Murphy talks with former player Dan Brooks '76. Dan went on to coach at Tennessee and Clemson. He is also a member of the Catamount Club Board of Directors.

Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ has faced many challenges over the past year: a historic storm, an ever-changing landscape in higher education, competition for enrollment, and budget uncertainty from the state and federal levels.

Randy Collins, dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ, has been selected as a member of the executive committee and director of the Engineering Deans Council of the American Society for Engineering Education.

Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ has changed in many ways since its founding in 1889, but one tradition has always stayed true: Catamounts give back, and they honor the land they’re standing on.