Catawba students, staff and faculty banded together this week to take part in ONE.org's ONE Campus Challenge. Over 100 Catawbans have participated in the challenge this week, rocketing Catawba from 326th place to 40th in the nation in less than 72 hours. If the standings hold through the end of the week, it will make Catawba eligible to have a student representative sent by ONE.org to a three-day Power 100 Summit on activism and fighting poverty in Washington D.C. in the spring.

For the twentieth consecutive year, the Catawba College Department of Music will present its annual Service of Lessons and Carols, on Tuesday and Thursday, December 4 and December 6, in the Omwake-Dearborn Chapel on campus. This will be a premier event for Paul E. Oakley, Catawba College's new Director of Choral, Vocal and Sacred Music Studies, Associate Professor of Music, and also the College Organist.

The family of Robert "Bob" Miller III, a 1955 alumnus of Catawba College, has established a scholarship at the institution in his memory. Preference for the Robert B. Miller III Endowed Scholarship will be given to eligible members of the College's men's basketball team. This scholarship is being established by his wife, Tippie Miller, his son, Robert J. "Bobby" Miller, a 1985 Wake Forest University graduate, and his daughter, Sharon Miller Earnhardt, a 1987 graduate of Catawba College.

The goal of the Alumni Retreat is to promote the search for a meaningful, fulfilling vocation for all Catawba College Alumni. This Retreat will be held for all Alumni and spouses May 30th, 31st, and June 1st 2008. The retreat will cost $50 each for alumni and spouses who graduated before the year 2000, and $20 each for alumni and spouses who graduated between 2000-2008.

During the weekend of Nov. 17-18, 2007 at the North Carolina Theatre Conference in Fayetteville, Catawba College Theatre Arts student Nicole Durant, a junior from Fairview, N.C., was awarded The William Rackley Undergraduate Scholarship.

By Cindy Stranad, articulon.com. SALISBURY, N.C. (November 19, 2007) — Phil Kirk, vice president of external relations for Catawba College and Chairman Emeritus of the State Board of Education, has been elected chair-elect of the Public School Forum of North Carolina. Next July, Kirk will succeed Sen. Katie Dorsett of Guilford County as the chair of the Raleigh-based organization.

Charles Dickens as a character in his "A Christmas Carol," indebted to the miserly Scrooge? Catawba College's Blue Masque production of A Christmas Carol offers this for theatre-goers to consider, breaking with the standard Hollywood production of this work. "From the initial street side greeting of audience members trekking down the hill to the Florence Busby Corriher Theatre to Tiny Tim's now famous 'God Bless Us, Everyone,' this experience of A Christmas Carol is site specific, intimate...

By Katie Watkins, Catawba News Service (The Pioneer). For a lengthened period of time, multiple recycling containers purchased by Catawba College students sat in storage. However, a new focus has been placed on reusing Mother Earth's goods, and the containers are being dusted off and put to work.

Catawba College biology student, David J. Idol of Kernersville, recently received a Yarborough Grant from the North Carolina Academy of Science (NCAS) in the amount of $300 for his proposal "Resistance to glochidia larvae of freshwater mussels spread without physical contact in bluegill sunfish." In addition, Idol was also awarded an honorary membership to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) by the NCAS (an honor that they give to one male and one female each year).

Dr. James Beard, a Catawba College professor of chemistry, has signed a contract with the publishing house of Taylor and Francis and its CRC Press to publish the latest version of his book, "Environmental Chemistry in Society." The book is designed to teach environmental chemistry to non-science majors and should be available late in the summer of 2008.

Dr. Cyndi Osterhus, director of Catawba College's Shirley Peeler Ritchie Academy for Teaching and assistant professor of teacher education, recently made a presentation at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Regional Conference and Exposition held Oct. 11-12 in Richmond, Va.

Staff and collections of Catawba's Corriher-Linn-Black Library will move back to their renovated space over the College's Christmas holidays which begin December 17. The library will reopen January 7. The return of staff and collections comes after a yearlong renovation period in which library employees and collections were relocated to the second floor of Hoke Hall and four mobile units.

Catawba College's Bookstore, now outsourced to and managed by Follett Higher Education Group, held its grand opening and ribbon cutting Thursday, Nov. 15. This past summer, the bookstore was renovated and expanded as part of the Cannon Student Center renovation, providing more display space for products.

Catawba College's Ketner School of Business Professor Al Carter had his Managerial Finance Class participate in Operation Christmas Child in an unusual way. One of the assignments the class has been working on throughout the semester is following the stock market as individuals and then seeing how their "trades" compared to that of their classmates.

The Catawba Chiefs Club honored Dr. Robert E. Knott and his wife, Brenda, at Tribal Treats Saturday, November 10th before the final home game of Dr. Knott's tenure as President of Catawba. Senior Vice President of the college, Tom Childress, told the crowd of nearly 400 of Dr. Knott's numerous accomplishments as President and Chiefs President, Tippie Miller, presented Dr.Knott and Brenda with gifts of gratitude from the club.

Just over 40 former cheerleaders returned to Catawba November 9th and 10th for a reunion. Friday evening, November 9th, featured a reception and dinner as well as several reminiscing of their time as a cheerleader and what an important role it played in their lives as students here. On Saturday they were recognized in front of a large home crowd at halftime of the 45-0 victory over arch-rival Lenoir-Rhyne. A gallery of photos follows.

Catawba College's football team is one of 24 in the nation slated to move on to the NCAA Division II Playoffs. This after Coach Chip Hester led his team to a 45-0 victory over Lenoir-Rhyne Saturday, Nov. 10, clinching the South Atlantic Conference Championship.

At 6 p.m. Sunday, November 18, 2007 the splendid acoustics of Catawba College's Omwake-Dearborn Chapel will resound with the sounds of hundreds of voices, brass, handbells, and the College's Casavant pipe organ. Members of the Salisbury community will be joining together to sing thanksgiving to God for the blessings received each day.

Catawba College Chiefs Club President Tippie Miller reports that Chiefs membership stands at a record high of 509 for 2007/08 as of November 7th, 2007, surpassing last year's previous best of 478. "We are most pleased to reach this level at this point in the year and it's a testament to the tremendous loyalty and support of our alumni as well as many types of non-alum that have adopted Catawba as their own," stated Miller.

Catawba College's Ralph W. Ketner School of Business inducted seven individuals into its new Business Hall of Fame on Saturday, Nov. 3, in the Peeler Crystal Lounge of the Robertson College-Community Center. Nearly 200 people attended the induction of the inaugural class.

At 7 p.m. Saturday at Mount Pleasant High School, five women ages 18 to 23 will compete for the title of Miss Cabarrus County 2007 and a $1,500 scholarship.The winner will advance to the Miss North Carolina Pageant in June in Raleigh. The Miss Cabarrus County pageant, a preliminary competition to the North Carolina and Miss America pageants, will culminate in the crowning of the winner by current titleholder Dusti Kempf.

(By Katie Scarvey, Salisbury Post) Catawba College theatre arts major Candace Neal says most auditions last for about 90 seconds. That's about the length of time it takes to talk to Candace to realize how smart and funny and down to earth she is. Complicated, too, especially for a 21-year-old. This is someone who likes both humorist David Sedaris and the metaphysical poet John Donne, someone who plays piano by ear and eats liver mush for breakfast ("I had some this morning," she said).

Phil Kirk, vice president for external relations at Catawba College, public speaker and consultant, was presented with a resolution from The Council of State Chambers at its semi-annual meeting at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia. The resolution commends Kirk for several notable accomplishments, including his career contributions to helping restore respect to public schools, elevating the political process, and forming professional stature among business lobbyists.

Is the belief that salvation requires a conscious, explicit faith in Jesus Christ essential to Christianity? Do other religious traditions offer different, yet equally valid paths to salvation? Is it even proper to apply Christian concepts like "salvation" to other religious traditions, which may have different ideas about the ultimate goal of human existence?

What happens when a rollicking band of pirates meets a family of beautiful maidens and a model of a modern Major-General? Disguise, intrigue, honor, love, humor, music — it's all a part of Catawba College's upcoming production, "Pirates of Penzance," which sets sail at 6:55 p.m. Wednesday, November 14, and at 7:30 p.m., Thursday through Saturday, November 15-17, in Keppel Auditorium.