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 Ģ������ƵStories      July 24, 2025

By Shane Ryden

Once more, the hills of Cullowhee are alive with the sound of music.

The furious beat of drums and the thunderous roar of brass echo across E.J. Whitmire Stadium as hundreds of music students fan across the field, their faces beaming with pride.

It’s time again for one of Ģ������Ƶ’s most cherished traditions: the Summer Symposium.

Held each July, the five-day camp invites students from middle school through college to come to campus for an unforgettable celebration of community and creativity.

Attendees choose from five specialized “tracks” tailored to their interests and experience level: drum major, wind, battery percussion, front ensemble or color guard.

Whether campers are first-time attendees or returning participants, each student receives hands-on instruction from leading technicians in the field. 

Their daily schedules are packed full of lessons, group games, rehearsals and big band performances. Older students serving in leadership roles affectionately referred to as “sleaders” guide and support their peers through the week.

The nationally-renowned Carolina Crown Drum and Bugle Corps served as this year’s artist-in-residence, inviting some of those on the wind track to join in their inspiring performance.

Beyond student instruction, the Symposium also invests in current educators. The DeMoulin Director’s Academy, a special collaboration between Ģ������Ƶand the DeMoulin Brothers Uniform Company, invites middle school and high school band directors to engage with top technicians from around the country in meaningful dialogues about the evolving world of music education. These teachers can attend at no cost. 

Jessica Davis ’12 MA ’21, a two-time Ģ������Ƶgraduate and Morganton native, has spent the past 12 years growing and developing the experience into what it is today as director of the Summer Symposium. Having spent five seasons in WCU’s Pride of the Mountains marching band herself, Davis brings plenty of experience and passion to the role.

“My job is to make sure that each of our campers have the best time of their life while they’re here and have a transformational experience,” Davis said.

That sense of transformation, Davis described, goes far and above learning notes and drills. It’s a matter of cultivating confidence. 

“My favorite part of my job is that I get to watch young people step into their power and live authentically,” Davis said. “When I am designing the curriculum for this camp, that is at the foundation.”

“We are always striving to create a space here where every student who comes in, regardless of their background, where they're coming in from, their life experience, they feel seen and valued here. And not only do they feel seen, but they are encouraged and empowered to stand, share their voice, be bold, be loud and just be who they are.

That inclusive spirit has helped shape the Symposium into one of WCU’s top recruitment tools. It’s at the heart of what Davis hopes students and potential Catamounts take away:

“You're going to come here and you're going to get better at what you do in band,” Davis said.

“We have the best professionals in the industry who come and work at this camp and serve the students. The things that you're going to walk away with seem invisible but are actually so profound. And that's what I mean when I say owning your identities, stepping into your authenticity, being a leader in your community, using your voice for the first time or maybe you're learning how to let other voices be in the room for the first time.

“You're learning how to hold space for one another, how to have vulnerable conversations in healthy ways and to connect with each other on deeper levels, and so it's this whole package, this gift basket of traits and qualities and strengths that they walk away with. And not only that, but we have so much fun. It's an educational camp for sure, but we have so much fun. We play. We laugh. We dance. We maximize joy here.”

That joy is evident everywhere, but most especially in the connections campers find.

Mallik Davis, a high schooler from Gastonia, first heard about the camp in band class. On his director’s recommendation, he took the leap and joined the conducting track, hesitant but open-minded.

“I was terrified,” Malik admitted. “I had a little bit of conducting knowledge because I’ve seen it before, and I had to do it for my drum major audition, but I didn’t really understand it super well.

“All of the technicians explained everything really well, and I think they did a really good job of explaining things in a way that everybody could understand. I feel like I walked away from this with a lot of knowledge I didn’t have five days ago.”

Statesville native Chase Dolan returned to the Summer Symposium for his second time this year. He remembers being anxious on his first go around, but described how his peers put him at ease.

“When I came here for the first time, I was really nervous about getting thrown into a group with random people, but your student leader will always make sure that you’re included in everything, and also, people that come here are like-minded. They love music, and I feel like being surrounded by people who love music is a great environment,” Dolan said.

To campers considering attending for the first time, Dolan offered his advice: “If you come here, you really have to make what you can of the experience. Talk to new people, talk to your clinicians, ask questions. This experience is what you make of it.”

The Summer Symposium continues to be a shining example of WCU’s constant commitment to fostering community and a point of pride for all who make the experience what it is.  

“I take a lot of pride in the way that Symposium has evolved into this space where everything else in the world stops for five days,” Davis said.  

“We just get to be in this magical bubble where we’re connecting, we're laughing, we're playing. We are treating each other with kindness and just being together for a shared love, a shared interest, which is music and band."