Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ

OPENING NOTES

HUMBLE FIRST

In 1957, WCC enrolled its first African-American student; in 2019, Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵwill name a new residence hall in her honor.  

CATAMOUNT CARE

In 1969, on the eve of a new decade and with a newfound sense of promise on campus, Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ began what would become its School of Nursing.  

SUSTAINED AND SUPERB ACHIEVEMENT

David L. Westling is a nationally and internationally recognized leader in the field of special and inclusive education and, when he retires this coming June, will wrap up nearly 22 years as WCU’s Adelaide Worth Daniels Distinguished Professor of Special Education.   

DOUBLING DOWN

Thanks to the ongoing generosity of a husband and wife who divide their time between Highlands and Hilton Head Island in South Carolina, Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵis one step closer toward its goal of being able to provide scholarship assistance to every Honors College student with financial need.  

LASTING LEGACY

When former Highlands resident Curtis Meltzer died in 2017, he left a multimillion dollar estate gift to Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ to support students in the College of Arts and Sciences, increasing his and late wife Enid’s overall scholarship endowment to $3.3 million.   

GETTING PSYCHED UP

An alumnus of Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ who has directed doctoral programs in psychology at several higher education institutions in the Southeast has returned to Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵto oversee the university’s new Doctor of Psychology in Health Services Psychology Program.  

BIG REBOUND

A love of basketball has taken Ransford Brempong ’05 around the world. The 37-year-old father of three who played in professional leagues in Germany and the Netherlands and for Canada’s national team after his Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵcareer is back home in Canada, making a full-time career of teaching basketball skills to young people.  

ON THE ‘AVENUE FOR EXCELLENCE’

Thousands of undergraduates have passed through the classroom of Ä¢¹½¶ÌÊÓƵ sociology professor Tony Hickey during his 33 years on the faculty.