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One Day for Western is an opportunity for you to show your support and commitment to the College of Arts and Sciences. Your gifts will help provide critical funding to support a variety of initiatives within the College, including:
- College of Arts and Sciences Dean's Fund
- Forensic Osteology Research Station (FOREST)
- Cherokee Programs Advancement Fund
- Spring Literary Festival
Last year, we raised nearly $5,000 through 58 donors for these priorities... let's help even more Catamounts this year!
Join us on One Day for Western and make a direct impact on our students and their experience at WCU. Our goal is for 75 donors to make a gift on April 3 - but we can only get there with your help.
Donation Challenge
$500 if 100 donors give in the next 7 months
Challenge Complete!
Offered by Paul Drew Barefoot
Donation Challenge
$500 if 50 donors give in the next 7 months
Challenge Complete!
Offered by Zach Shatley
Donation Match
$10 per donor up to $500
Match Complete!
Offered by Mike and Gina Crawford
Donation Match
$10 per donor up to $500
Match Complete!
Offered by Dennis A. Fox & Susan Fox
Donation Match
$10 per donor up to $150
Match Complete!
Offered by Anonymous
Donation Match
$5 per $1 donated up to $500
Match Complete!
Offered by Robin Parton Pate
Donation Match
$5 per donor up to $50
Match Complete!
For Faculty/Staff
Offered by Rebekah Cheney
Donation Match
$5 per donor up to $50
Match Complete!
Offered by Dick Freeman
Donation Match
$5 per donor up to $50
Match Complete!
Offered by Edward J Burks
Donation Match
$1 per donor up to $250
Match Complete!
Offered by Allison M. Hinson
Donation Match
$1 per $1 donated up to $200
Match Complete!
Offered by Laura Rabb
Donation Match
$1 per donor up to $100
Match Complete!
Offered by Randy Shaw
Donation Match
$1 per donor up to $50
Match Complete!
For Classes between 2014 & 2023
Offered by Tenisea Higgins
Donation Match
$1 per $1 donated up to $50
Match Complete!
Offered by Elizabeth Thier & Jeff Thier
The results are in, Catamounts: we surpassed last year's totals! Your generosity will help make one day possible for so many students at Western.
We are blown away by your response and generosity (again) this year during One Day for Western! And you helped us Fill the Western Sky by turning the map purple: we secured gifts from 49 of 50 states!
Check out some highlights of our results below and visit oneday.wcu.edu for even more information about the impact of your giving. Go Cats!
205 days ago by Rebekah CheneyHey, Catamounts! You may have received an email from GiveCampus this morning that re-sent our "Wave the royal banner high" post featuring our Pride of the Mountains Marching Band and asking you to participate in One Day for Western. Our partners at GiveCampus let us know this was just a bug in the system that affected a few campaigns that have already ended, so no cause for alarm. We received your gift and appreciate your generosity! Our team is still working hard to share finalized totals in the coming days, so we'll provide a (real) update soon.
In the interim, we hope you're having a great week and send our gratitude to members of Catamount nation far and wide!
Gratefully,
Rebekah B. Cheney
Director of Annual Giving
212 days ago by Rebekah CheneyWhat a day (and then some), Catamounts! Thank you to every single person who helped make one day possible for our students. Whether you made a gift, shared our message, cheered us on, or did all three - your contributions matter and impacted our success this year.
We will be finalizing our totals in the coming days and are excited to report more on the impact of your generosity. Until then, please know that we are incredibly grateful for your support!
Go Cats!
Warmly,
Rebekah B. Cheney
Director of Annual Giving
218 days ago by Rebekah CheneyYou are still showing up, Catamounts!
With just a few hours left, we are nearly 90% to our goal. We are so close, and your advocacy is making a huge difference.
We are also making great progress on turning the map purple to Fill the Western Sky! We still are looking for gifts from:
- Arkansas
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Minnesota
- Oregon
- Rhode Island
- South Dakota
- Vermont
Do you know someone in any of these states? Consider asking them to make a gift before 5 p.m. to help us Fill the Western Sky.
Your generosity and advocacy are helping make one day possible. We're almost to the finish line... GO CATS!
218 days ago by Rebekah CheneyYesterday's special live edition of Western Wednesday focused on One Day for Western! Here's a clip of three current students who talk about their hopes for the future.
If you didn't catch our special LIVE Western Wednesday podcast, you can rewatch the whole show here! James, Ben and Stacey chat with students, donors, and staff about programs and dreams that are worth investing in.
218 days ago by Rebekah CheneyCatamounts: there's still time to make one day possible. We're still reaching for the biggest giving day goal we've ever aimed for, and we know we can accomplish it with your help! Beyond making a gift, the best way you can help is to share our message with your networks and remind your fellow Catamounts to give and share, too! We'll keep counting until 5 p.m. Thursday, so keep advocating for our incredible programs and students. GO CATS!
218 days ago by Rebekah CheneyHear directly from students, faculty and staff about One Day for Western and why it matters during this special broadcast. Watch the live podcast here!
219 days ago by Rebekah CheneyMeet Chris, another CAS student featured in our One Day for Western video. He hopes to change the emergency management industry to improve crisis and disaster response.
Your support of students like Chris today impacts future generations of Catamounts. Make your gift now!
219 days ago by Rebekah CheneyWith about nine hours left, we are over 40% to our goal. Let's keep going, Catamount nation!
We still want to turn the map purple and Fill the Western Sky! If you know Catamounts in the following states, give them a shout:
- Alaska
- Arkansas
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Idaho
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Massachusetts
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Montana
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- North Dakota
- Oregon
- Rhode Island
- South Dakota
- Utah
- Vermont
- West Virginia
Check out some photos from our student event: One Day of Thankfulness... you may even receive a handwritten note from a student in the coming weeks!
We're 40% to our donor goal... let's keep it up! GO CATS!
219 days ago by Rebekah CheneyMeet Briana, a CAS student from Eastern North Carolina who hopes to be one of the few African American women in marine conservation one day. Will you help students like her realize their dreams? Make your gift today!
219 days ago by Rebekah CheneyMeet Zach, a WCU CAS student featured in our One Day for Western video.
"At Western Carolina, I've been able to flourish and find the person I'm supposed to be. I've been given opportunity after opportunity from this school, whether it be the Mathematics & Computer Science Department or Division of Advancement; these opportunities have allowed me to grow and work towards a successful career. On a day like One Day For Western, we have the chance to give more chances to students like me... it's the best chance to ensure help is given to programs you and I care about, and to continue providing more wonderful opportunities to the people at Western Carolina. If it wasn't for what Western Carolina has already provided for me, I wouldn't be the person I am today."
Will you make a gift today and help other students find who they're meant to be?
219 days ago by Rebekah CheneyCatamount nation, this is what happens when we come together...
Last year, One Day for Western donors supported countless projects and programs to make one day possible for Catamounts. Remember how the Pride of the Mountains Marching Band was preparing to travel to Dublin, Ireland for their first international trip? One Day for Western donors played a critical role in these students' experience.
What cause (or causes) will you support this year as we work to fill the Western sky? Help us turn the map purple by encouraging donors from every state to support WCU today.
Video courtsey of Dean George H. Brown; Kilkenny Castle, March 14, 2024.
One Day for Western 2023 marked a successful day for the College of Arts and Sciences, raising around ten thousand dollars for college priorities: the College’s Dean’s fund for travel support, and support for our outstanding programs in Cherokee Studies and Forensic Science. Additional funding went to the annual Spring Literary Festival. Contributions to programming are critical to support our commitment to offer essential experiences for students by offsetting costs and allowing more students to participate.
Donations from One Day for Western and the Dean’s fund supported nine different experiences which included student field trips, student conference attendance, and travel related to thesis research. Pictured above are several biology students who attended a conference thanks to your support.
Trips like these enhance the student experience and provide vital learning opportunities for students. Thank you for your generous support!
219 days ago by Rebekah CheneyOne Day for Western exists because of our AMAZING students... join the fun by making your gift or sharing on social media today!
219 days ago by Rebekah CheneyCatamounts, we want to turn the map purple on April 3. We need at least one donor from all 50 states to fill the Western sky, so reach out to Catamounts (and friends of Catamount nation) far and wide! After all, what's more beautiful than a sky full of purple?
States we've already received gifts from are North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia, Ohio, Texas, Indiana, Colorado, and Hawaii. Only 38 to go!
Through our range of academic programs, the Western Carolina University College of Arts and Sciences teaches students to think critically, to analyze information, and to communicate effectively. We prepare our students for a rapidly changing workforce and to be intellectually, socially, culturally, and professionally engaged citizens and leaders who contribute to and promote the sustainability of local and global communities.
As the largest college on campus, there are a wide variety of opportunities for support, including:
The College of Arts and Sciences Dean's Fund: No matter what academic program, the College of Arts and Sciences endeavors to equip our all students with a broad base of high-impact practices during their course of study at WCU. Some of these high-impact practices include field trips, trips to conferences, study away/abroad experiences, and engaged learning activities like Model UN. These travel-related experiences are designed not only to enhance student learning, confidence-building, and professional development, but they also allow students to have new experiences through travel.
Literary Festival: the annual Spring Literary Festival has a long tradition of bringing established and emerging literary talent to our campus and region that reflects WCU's commitment to providing the best humanities education possible to its students and to bringing the best of the arts to the mountains. The festival seeks to secure that heritage's place on the nation's literary stage by bringing local and national writers together.
Cherokee Programs Advancement Fund: Situated within the ancestral homelands of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, WCU seeks to embrace and connect to this Cherokee landscape by engaging our community with the extraordinary indigenous identity and culture of this special place, known as Two Sparrows Place (adapted from WCU’s Indigenous Land Acknowledgment). WCU’s College of Arts and Sciences honors this commitment in several ways. Our interdisciplinary Cherokee Studies program, which this fund supports, develops and coordinates initiatives and courses related to Native American and Cherokee culture, language, history, health, and environment, with the goal of promoting awareness and understanding of Cherokee and Indigenous issues. The program promotes long-term partnerships with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians for our mutual benefit in the spirit of gadugi. We also serve as resources for Native American students and Cherokee community development and revitalization.
Forensic Osteology Research Station (FOREST) / Forensic Anthropology: In addition to the classroom education they provide, the Forensic Anthropology program also administers the Forensic Osteology Research Station (FOREST). The FOREST is a willed-body human decomposition facility and is one of fewer than 10 such facilities in the world. The experiences and research generated by the FOREST is critical not just to the students and faculty at WCU, but also the broader forensic science community. Establishing an activity fund will ensure the long-term success of their experiential learning and research efforts at WCU. By investing in infrastructure and providing research funding for faculty and students alike, the FOREST will be able to further burnish its reputation as a leader in forensic anthropology.
Thank you for supporting the College of Arts and Sciences on One Day for Western and beyond!
220 days ago by Rebekah Cheney