Staff

Wes Cogdill

Associate AD for Development, Director of the Catamount Club

Catamount Club
Office: 828-227-7338
Direct line: 828-227-3084 
Email: wcogdill@wcu.edu

Wesley "Wes" Cogdill comes to WCU from Garner-Webb University as the former executive director of the Bulldog Club. 

Executive director of the Bulldog Club since 2022, Cogdill previously served as a fundraiser for three years in Gardner-Webb’s Office of Advancement and as an undergraduate admissions counselor at GWU. He is a 2008 graduate of Gardner-Webb, where he majored in communications and was a four-year letterman on the Bulldogs baseball team, earning Academic All-Conference honors.

Cogdill completed his lateral entry teacher certification in 2013 and has five years of experience as a secondary school exceptional children’s teacher in Wilkes County, coaching high school golf and middle school baseball.

Cogdill and his wife, Kristen, have two children. He has served as a member of the Board of Directors for Cleveland County Partnership for Children, board member and treasurer for Jim Rice Ministries, and board member of the Foothills Junior Golf Association.

CJ Mitchell

Assistant Director of Development / Catamount Club

Catamount Club
Office: 828-227-7338
Email: mitchellc@email.wcu.edu

CJ Mitchell joined the Catamount Club athletics development staff in the summer of 2024 after graduating from Western Carolina University.
 
Possessing a solid background in leadership and cultivating meaningful relationships along with a passion for sports, Mitchell was heavily involved with on-campus student government while an undergraduate. He served as the WCU student body vice president for 2022-23 before taking over as the Student Government Association president in April 2023 where he served as an ex-officio member of WCU Board of Trustees.
 
Originally from Charlotte, Mitchell earned his BSBA in business management with double minors in hospitality and tourism management and in leadership in August 2024. He is also a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated.

Victoria Ladd

Assistant Director of Development-Events and Stewardship

Catamount Club
Office: 828-227-7338
Email: vladd@wmail.wcu.edu

A member of the Catamount women’s golf team for five seasons, Western Carolina graduate Victoria Ladd joined the Catamount Club development staff in June 2024. Ladd oversees the Club’s events and stewardship initiatives as part of the fundraising efforts.
 
While an undergraduate at WCU, Ladd gained experience with the marketing and promotions team for Catamount Athletics. She also served as an assistant director for the Peggy Kirk Bell Golf Tour during the summers of 2020 and 2021, facilitating various golf tournaments all along the East Coast.
 
Ladd was a five-time Spring Academic All-Southern Conference selection, was named to the SoCon’s Academic Honor Roll five times, and earned All-American Scholar plaudits from the Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) four times. Playing in over 40 career events for the Purple & Gold, she ranked 12th in program history for career scoring average.
 
Originally from Greensboro, N.C., Ladd is a dual graduate of Western Carolina, earning a bachelor of science in business administration in both sport management and marketing in May 2023. She is also pursuing her Master of Business Administration from WCU.