Western Carolina University

Carlos Dotson: Unlimited Potential

When Carlos Dotson found out that he had a chance to play Division 1 basketball, his entire life changed After being cut from his high school basketball team, Carlos focused in on his game and his studies so that he could have a chance to better his life by receiving a college degree.

Jason McMillan: Student-Athlete Overcomes Adversity

With each Western Carolina University commencement, the Cherokee Center honors the members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and those with close ties to the Qualla Boundary who earn a degree, with an occasion in the spirit of community and individual achievement.

Mary Hill Lewis speaking at Commencement

Distance Student Overcomes Obstacles and Achieves Education Dreams

Mary Hill Lewis, a distance student who majored in birth-to-kindergarten education, spoke at the 2019 commencement ceremony about her journey, the future and what she overcame to get to this moment.

Drive, Ambition and Entrepreneurship: How One Alumna Stayed Local to Apply Her Degree

Natalie Newman knew she had the drive and ambition to run her own business, but what she needed was direction and inspiration. She found both in Western Carolina University’s master’s degree program in innovation leadership and entrepreneurship through the College of Business.

Saving A Dying Language

Graduate History student working to translate Cherokee language from native newspapers. Constance Owl’s master’s degree thesis is more than a means to a graduate degree in American history. It’s a portal to understanding and perhaps saving, a disappearing language.

Freshman Cassidy Burns wins National Student Production Award

It was Halloween weekend and Western Carolina University freshman Cassidy Burns was visiting a friend at Clemson University when she got a phone call from her mother. Burns and her friend were in Starbucks when her phone rang. Her mom told her to check out Twitter where the Foundation of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences was live-streaming its 4th Annual National Student Production Awards.

Entrepreneurship Alumnus Makes Most of Confidence Starting a Business and Facing the Shark Tank

Garrett Ozar, a 2009 graduate with a degree in entrepreneurship, took managerial skills and confidence gained from the Innovation Leadership and Entrepreneurship Program in the College of Business, to start a success story. He is the co-founder of Eterneva, an Austin, Texas, based company started in 2017 that takes ashes from cremated remains, isolates the carbon and, with heat and pressure, creates diamonds as an everlasting keepsake.

Student Sees Parallels in Wilderness Experiences and Project Management

At age 23, Joseph Guseman is a bit of a paradox: old soul wonder kid. He graduated from Western Carolina University with a bachelor’s degree in parks and recreation management in December 2017, a semester early (of course). He’ll finish his master’s degree in project management through WCU’s College of Business in December, all the while working fulltime for WCU’s Facilities Management. He took the job for a few reasons: it would pay for his graduate degree...

Share the Stoke for Geology - How One Student Strives to Protect the World We Live In

John Morgan spends a lot of his time searching in the woods for tiny trickles of water. Why? Because John believes that the better we understand the world that we live in, the more we can do to protect it.

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