In their words: WCU professor and alumnus nominated for Dublin Literary Award

Novels written by a Western Carolina University professor and by his former student are among the 147 titles in the running for the 2017 International Dublin Literary Award, widely acknowledged as one of the top — and most lucrative — honors in the publishing world.

Ron Rash, WCU’s Parris Distinguished Professor of Appalachian Culture, is nominated for his Above the Waterfall, while David Joy, who holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from WCU, is among the nominees for his Where All Light Tends to Go.

‘In the Soundless Awe’: Play co-written by Western Carolina University professor

The haunting final moments of the man at the helm of the worse naval disaster in U.S. history will be portrayed as Western Carolina University’s School of Stage and Screen presents “In the Soundless Awe,” a play co-written by Jayme McGhan, associate professor and director of the school.

The production, part of WCU’s Mainstage theater season, will be staged at Hoey Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16 through Saturday, Nov. 19, and at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 20.

NPR to migrate Waynesville broadcast

Haywood County listeners accustomed to tuning into 95.3 FM for their National Public Radio fix will have to look elsewhere on the dial after Asheville-based WCQS switches its Waynesville broadcast to 102.9 FM, beginning Friday, Nov. 18.

This must be the place

I’m entering hostile waters here, folks.

So, bear with me as I bring up this ideology I recently heard, which is that feminism and Islam are both “set on destroying the American way of life.” 

Contentious ‘Dangerous Faggot’ tour brings alt-right punditry to WCU

Feminism is cancer. Patriarchy is good for everyone. The wage gap is a myth. Islam is not a religion of peace. Fat shaming works.

Diversity officer discusses differences, exploration and the lost art of respectful debate

When Ricardo Nazario-Colon first stepped onto Western Carolina University’s campus to interview for the new chief diversity officer position, one thing stuck out to him above all else.

Liberty group protests campus speech restrictions; WCU says its policies are reasonable

It was a sunny Constitution Day at Western Carolina University, and the colors shone brightly on the giant beach ball — dubbed the “free speech ball” — that the campus chapter of Young Americans for Liberty rolled from spot to spot.

WCU’s handling of Koch gift a model for others

Western Carolina University’s faculty has wrestled through months of both tedium and spirited debate in devising how best to manage a controversial gift from a politically charged foundation, and in doing so has apparently succeeded in doing a better job than any university in this country in protecting academic freedoms and its own integrity.

It’s a lofty achievement, one that deserves praise (and emulation from other institutions) and one that should make its faculty and this region proud.

WCU seals the deal on $1.8 million Koch gift

A year in the making, Western Carolina University has sealed a deal with the Charles Koch Foundation for a $1.8 million gift to set up an economic research center on campus with a focus on economic development and free market ideas.

Between the lines: what WCU’s Koch gift says, and doesn’t say

Few if any universities have made the Charles Koch Foundation jump quite so many hurdles before opening its wallet as Western Carolina University has.

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