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Kara Jean Spindle is a musical theater major at WCU. Follow along to see what a day in the life of KJ looks like!

Western Carolina University is making plans for its inaugural all-in day of giving to the institution, a 24-hour fundraising event to be held March 29.

Abigail is a student at WCU in the interior design program. Tag along with her as she shares her experience as a student at WCU!

Manifestation is the conscious creation of circumstances and outcomes that make for a fulfilling life. Raised in a single-parent household of four out of inner-city Cleveland, Ohio, BaShaun Smith understood at a young age what hard work looked like. “I learned early on that I didn’t have to run through a brick wall to know it hurts,” Smith said.

Once referred to as a “campus fixture” by beloved late WCU Chancellor David Orr Belcher, Carol Burton, vice provost, has dedicated 33 years to learning and leading with compassion and obligation. Raised by Jamaican parents Reuben and Yvonne Burton, Burton’s journey to higher education was predestined by her matriarchal, fearless, powerful and entrepreneurial mother. “An American degree is the way of the future,” Yvonne Burton told her.

Named after her late father, John L. Brown, Johnnifer Patrice Brown, assistant professor of interior design at WCU, spent her childhood watching her father master the art of upholstery in Montgomery, Alabama. Completing her BS degree in mechanical engineering from Tuskegee University, and time spent working in both the automotive and commercial design industry, Patrice soon realized she was unfulfilled and needed a change.

Life in threes. That’s how Jeff Hughes, director of the Department of Campus Activities, patterned his decades-long career at Western Carolina University. Holding a master’s in public administration and a bachelor’s in sociology from Georgia Southern University, the native of Lake Hartwell, Georgia, set out with ambitions of becoming a city planner.

Research being conducted by a marketing professor in Western Carolina University’s College of Business may shed light on how students can improve their own emotional awareness and develop the so-called “soft skills” that many of today’s employers desire.

William Moultrie, associate vice chancellor for Student Success, carries a firm belief in never underestimating oneself. He holds true that the size of one’s problems is nothing compared to their ability to solve them. There is hard work to be done and the pressure of privilege challenges us to stay honest and engage in a more meaningful life.

The handbook is aimed at an audience including professors, doctoral students, graduate students and other research scholars in project management and related professions.