Matt Canter made the choice to attend Western Carolina University in Cullowhee while ankle-deep in the Tuckaseegee River, fighting a hungry rainbow trout at the other end of his fly rod. 

He hadn’t seen campus or met his peers, but Canter didn’t need more convincing. For the future fly-fishing guide and owner of Brookings Fly Shop in Cashiers, the pristine waters surrounding Cullowhee had done the job well enough. 

Jackson County Board of Elections member Jay Pavey described his choice of two potential Cullowhee early voting sites to be a “no brainer.”

When compared to the “approximately 300 square foot” space at the Cullowhee Recreation Center, Pavey, a Republican, said the “1,100, 1,200 square feet” at Western Carolina University’s satellite Health and Human Sciences building — 1.7 miles from campus but accessible to students through WCU’s Cat-Tran transportation system — is substantially better for Jackson County residents. 

A Macon County husband and wife already providing financial support of the Western Carolina University Fine Art Museum in Cullowhee and its effort to expand the range of artists represented in its galleries are now backing the endeavor in a new way — through a gift of artwork from their personal collection. 

Franklin residents William Banks Hinshaw and Robin Markle Hinshaw recently donated a total of 18 artworks and artifacts to the holdings of WCU’s Fine Art Museum, Mountain Heritage Center and Tali Tsisgwayahi Archaeological Collections and Curation Facility.

Western Carolina University students are using emerging technology and design expertise to help expand a critical refuge for survivors of abuse in Western North Carolina. 

Construction management students from WCU’s College of Engineering recently used drones and 360-degree cameras to create detailed, interactive 3D models of the REACH of Haywood County shelter and property.

Western Carolina University is celebrating a milestone achievement that underscores its commitment to student success, interdisciplinary learning and hands-on research.

This spring, Asratun Sarmin Anjum, an international student from Bangladesh, became the first WCU graduate in 25 years to earn a degree rooted in physics — an accomplishment made possible through a customized, interdisciplinary academic pathway. 

Western Carolina University will launch a new Master of Science in engineering program in fall 2026, expanding graduate opportunities and responding to growing regional demand for engineers with advanced credentials. 

The in-person program, based at WCU’s Cullowhee campus, blends advanced coursework with applied research and interdisciplinary collaboration.

A Western Carolina University geochemistry professor is leading new research in Antarctica that could reshape scientists’ understanding of the mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs.

Shane Schoepfer recently returned from an expedition to Seymour Island near the Antarctic Peninsula, where he and a team of researchers collected fossil and sediment samples dating to the end-Cretaceous extinction about 66 million years ago. 

Like a baseball team’s manager gearing up for spring training, the folks in the Western  Carolina University Office of Alumni Engagement are sharpening their pencils and setting the starting lineup for the second annual Ballparks and Brews Tour.

Launched last year, the event is designed to bring together members of the WCU family for a series of gatherings at baseball stadiums across the Southeast.

On May 1, several dozen students, faculty and community members gathered beside Western Carolina University’s “Catafount” in Cullowhee for a May Day action celebrating the history of labor organizing — and demanding the rights workers have yet to be afforded. 

May Day, also known as International Workers’ Day, is an expression of worker solidarity in honor of those who lost their lives in the aftermath of Chicago’s Haymarket affair. 

Brian Byrd, Western Carolina University’s professor of environmental health sciences and resident “skeeter man,” was awarded the 2026 University of North Carolina System Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching. 

Byrd has been with WCU since 2008 and has taught thousands of Catamounts over his tenure. His most recent courses include “Epidemiological Methods,” “Vector-borne Disease Control,” “First Year Seminar” and “Global Health.”