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WCU Stories

Pat Kaemmerling

Former WCU board chair shares her experience as both a scholarship recipient and donor

Pat Kaemmerling, former chair of Western Carolina University’s Board of Trustees, has experienced life from both sides of higher education’s philanthropy equation – students who benefit from the contributions of strangers, and benefactors who make those contributions out of a desire to help others.  

Biltmore Park

Graduate School offers quality education, convenience through Asheville instructional site

The Graduate School has more than a commanding presence at its Biltmore Park Town Square instructional site in Asheville.  

Nicholas Fasanello

Nicholas Fasanello, Three-Minute Thesis Competition, People's Choice Award Winner

Nicholas Fasanello, current Communication Sciences and Disorders student, was selected by popular vote for the People’s Choice Award in the 2021 Three Minute Thesis Competition. Fasanello’s presentation on “Reviewing a framework for Concealable Stigma in Communication Disorders: Addressing Adverse Outcomes and Promoting Inclusion” highlights research on the various impacts of stigmatization that people with communication disorders experience  

Stephanie Cook

Stephanie Cook, Second Place in the Three-Minute Thesis Competition

Stephanie Cook, current student in the Master of Arts in English program, was awarded second place in the 2021 Three Minute Thesis Competition for her presentation on “H.D.’s Waves: A Modernist Confluence of Literature, Science, and Spirituality.”   

Emily Deem

Emily Deem, First Place in the Graduate Three-Minute Thesis Competition

Emily Deem, current Master of Science in Biology student, was awarded first place in the 2021 Three Minute Thesis Competition for her presentation on “Extraction Efficiency Testing of Degraded Bone Samples: Comparing Four Extraction Methods for Use in Downstream Massively Parallel Sequencing Applications.”   

Wide shot of the scholarship luncheon

COVID’s challenges do not deter WCU’s benefactors from their support of student scholarships

While much of the world came to a screeching halt over the past year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, benefactors of Western Carolina University did not allow a global health crisis to stand in the way of their ongoing philanthropic support of students in pursuit of higher education.  

Students

Exploration Leads to Career Connections

For almost a week this month, 29 students and five faculty members in Western Carolina University’s Geosciences and Natural Resources Department went camping and visiting sites across the mountains. It was fun, to be sure, but there was a specific purpose.   

edd faculty

Educational Leadership program wins national 2021 Program of the Year honor

The Educational Leadership program is being honored by the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate as its 2021 Program of the Year.  

cemetery with wooded background

Hallowed Grounds

Five mounded graves, the occupants unknown other than their status as enslaved people. Blair Tormey, a geologist with the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines at Western Carolina University, adjusted his ballcap and quickly assembled a ground penetrating radar unit, looking much like a robotic lawn mower, before pushing it up the hillside. The destination, an almost forgotten cemetery, is a long way from any coastal beachfront or tidal basin where he might otherwise be working on a day like today.  

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