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From high school drum major to Duke Energy to owner of his own company and chair of the Western Carolina University Board of Trustees — plus a few stops in between — Bryant Kinney has led a life of sheer leadership, no ifs, ands or buts about it.

We successfully wrapped up one of the most difficult semesters in our university’s history and began a new one with many known and unknown challenges ahead. Our employees and students have worked harder than ever amid the challenging circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic to achieve their goals and to make a positive difference in the world.

A few years back, Western Carolina University’s Division of Information Technology added a project management office. Because IT employee Dawn Brown worked closely with the project office, she thought it might be beneficial to learn more about project management. She enrolled in WCU’s Master of Project Management (MPM) Program. Not only has it proven to be helpful in her IT role, but Brown said she now has a complete understanding of the entire project management process.

Charlene Leontine Francis McCormack married young, worked hard, loved her family and her church, and ultimately laid the groundwork for the success of her three children, especially her oldest, Western Carolina University Chancellor Kelli R. Brown.

Melissa Metcalf Le Roy believes her father, the late Oscar William Metcalf Jr., would have been the first to apply for membership in Western Carolina University’s new Veterans and Military Alumni Society. Metcalf, a decorated Vietnam War vet, died Oct. 18, at the age of 72 in Shelbyville, Tennessee. “He dearly loved Western,” said Le Roy. “He was proud of his alma mater, the opportunities it gave him. He went to college while working full time and raising a young family. The university supported him, and (his bachelor’s degree) really meant something.”

Engineering students find creative ways to distribute Halloween candy. The traditional ways to celebrate Halloween will be the next victim of the global pandemic, COVID-19.

Jake Robinson ’10 has come a long way from the days he got paid in honey buns for picking up aluminum cans in the auction ring after a sale at his grandfather’s stockyard.

As a forensic anthropologist, Western Carolina University assistant professor Nicholas Passalacqua has always believed he was doing important work through his teaching and his research.

Rivercane was once plentiful in Western North Carolina. The tall, slender plant, a member of the bamboo family, still grows in thick stands along some riverbanks, but not in an abundance as in years past. Increased development and intentional removal throughout the region have reduced its presence on the local landscape, in some instances quite dramatically.

Annie Vasquez, a graduating senior studying Spanish, was drawn to Western Carolina University by its close-knit community and the importance the university places on every student. She knew that becoming a Catamount would mean that she would be more than just a number in a system, rather she would be valued as a person.