WCU: GivingTuesday 2022

I said it once and I’ll say it again: wow, Catamounts. Your support on GivingTuesday was overwhelming, and the way you showed up for Western was inspiring. You shattered our original goal of 525 donors and our stretch goal of 600 donors!

The numbers are in, and we are thrilled to share that 995 donors contributed over $712,500 this GivingTuesday to support our faculty, students, and WCU community! Your generosity provides critical funding that supports our students and campus community directly.

Thank you to everyone who gave, shared, or elevated our message on GivingTuesday. Your support and advocacy mean the world to us. Go Cats!

Thankfully,

Rebekah B. Cheney | Director of Annual Giving

P.S. Check out these links to read more about our record-breaking GivingTuesday results and learn about our Chatty Cat Engagement Officers who connect with WCU donors year-round!

Thank you, Catamounts! Your response to our GivingTuesday campaign was overwhelming and we are incredibly grateful for your support. Because of you, so many funds – including The Fund for WCU – are able to provide much needed funding across our campus community! We are still finalizing our totals and hope to send out more details soon. Until then, we want to express our gratitude for your role in this record-breaking GivingTuesday. Go Cats!

Wow, Catamounts - thank you for your generosity! We've updated our official goal to 600 in hopes that we'll maximize the generous donor matches offered by members of the WCU Foundation Board and Advancement Leadership. Please continue to share why you're supporting WCU this #GivingTuesday. Go Cats!

Last Thanksgiving, a service project that fed nutritious meals to numerous residents of five Western North Carolina counties dealing with food insecurity was made possible by donations to The Fund for WCU and the Division of Advancement’s 1889 Impact Grants Program. The project was executed by Western Carolina University’s Pride of the Mountains (POTM) Marching Band members and the Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning (CCESL).

As part of a Day of Service organized by the CCESL, approximately 250 marching band members gathered to purchase, package and distribute 40,000 pounds of raw potatoes to 14 community partners and hunger relief groups in Buncombe, Haywood, Jackson, Swain and Transylvania counties.

“This service event ties directly into the WCU mission, as it provided an opportunity for both students and community members to improve the lives of individuals and communities across Western North Carolina,” Cassidy Campbell, assistant director of student community engagement at WCU said. “It was such a success that we will likely be reapplying for funding to hold a similar event.”

Check out this video to hear directly from students that participated in this project!

Western Carolina University’s Hunter Library provided free exhibitions of historical photographs to communities across Western North Carolina through a project made possible by donations to The Fund for WCU and awarded through the WCU Division of Advancement’s 1889 Impact Grants Program. The funds enabled library staff to purchase materials used to assemble the display.

Special Collections used this display for an oral history listening station at an international days event at Southwestern Community College. Staff also utilized the display at a presentation during Kephart Days, an annual event in Bryson City celebrating the life and works of Horace Kephart, an outdoorsman, author and advocate for establishing Great Smoky Mountains National Park who lived from 1862 to 1931.

Hear more about the project from Liz Harper, Hunter Library’s special and digital collections librarian by watching this video!

In an effort to improve engagement between Western Carolina University’s intercollegiate athletics program and its fan base, the Catamount Club leveraged student workers to formalize and boost its social media and online presence. Funding for this and several other projects was made possible by donors to The Fund for WCU through the WCU Division of Advancement’s 1889 Impact Grants Program.

The grant enabled the Catamount Club to hire student employees who used a system called ScoreShots to create digital graphics to share on social media and elsewhere online throughout the year. The students produced online content to highlight Catamount Club Board of Directors members, provide details of upcoming events and donor engagement opportunities, and post quotes from donors about their reasons for supporting the athletics program’s philanthropic mission, said Julie Miller, associate athletics director for development. You can read the whole story here!

Thanks to The Fund for WCU donors, the Center for Career and Professional Development (CCPD) is nearing completion of a survey of recent graduates and young alumni to determine where they landed after receiving their degrees from Western Carolina University.

“This program was aimed at helping to find an easier way to collect first destination information about our recent graduates and young alumni,” said Theresa Cruz Paul, director of the Center for Career and Professional Development. Data collected will be used to learn about what fields students enter upon obtaining their degrees and to build university connections with young alumni.

Check out this video to learn more from Theresa Cruz Paul about why this project matters to the WCU community!

Eighty-two students are working toward their degrees at Western Carolina University this semester after receiving financial assistance in the form of first-year access scholarships made possible by donors to The Fund for WCU. The inaugural year of the 1889 Fund Scholarship program has generated a total of nearly $40,000 in scholarship support for students this academic year.

Want to learn more? Watch this video to hear from one of the 82 students who received a first-year access scholarship, Mason Avillion!

Sponsored by the 1889 Impact Grant Program, the Office of Intercultural Affairs (ICA) held a trio of activities designed to help students achieve enhanced college success and academic excellence, in keeping with WCU’s emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion.

ICA recognized students who supported diverse student organizations as part of a leadership dinner, sponsored a parents’ group care package drive during finals week and held an alumni speaker series connecting past and current participants in WCU’s Project CARE. The initiatives were among several campus projects made possible by donors to The Fund for WCU. 

This video highlights two Project CARE mentors who share why the alumni speaker series was impactful. You can read more about the other initiatives here!

The Fund for WCU recently helped Western Carolina University’s Brinson Honors College launch 'Students and Alumni Intersections and Legacies' (SAIL), a new initiative designed to recognize current student leaders and build stronger connections with young alumni of the college. Funding from the 1889 Impact Grant Program enabled Brinson Honors College faculty and staff to bring five recent graduates back to campus for a weekend that included a leadership pinning ceremony and an alumni panel discussion.

Check out the video to hear from two students that participated in the event, and read more about the project and its impact here!

WCU Foundation and Advancement Leadership issue a $18.89 match to GivingTuesday donors! For each donor that gives during the GivingTuesday campaign between November 1st and December 2nd, the following individuals have agreed to match a total of $18.89 that will be allocated to The Fund for WCU. Make your gift go further this GivingTuesday!

• Chancellor Kelli Brown and Dennis Brown
• Doug Bailey '93
• Mike Crawford '87
• Dennis Fox '71
• Phil and Connie ('84) Haire 
• Beth Lofquist '78, '79 & '88
• Patrick and Jeanne McGuire
• Bruce ('82) and Denise Moore 
• Robin Pate '97
• Dale ('78) and Debbie Sims
• Randy White '89 & '91
• Debbie Wright '77

• James Hogan '03
• Ben Pendry '07
• Jamie Raynor