Catawba College's annual awards convocation will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday, April 19 in Omwake-Dearborn Chapel. Held each spring, this is an opportunity for the campus community to celebrate the gifts and talents of students, and the strengths and abilities of a few faculty and staff members.

Author Jane Hamilton visited Catawba College for the 26th Annual Brady Author's Symposium. Hamilton is the author of "The Book of Ruth" and "A Map of the World" along with many other titles. View a gallery of photos from Hamilton's visit...

Thanks to the efforts of friends and fellow alumni of the late Henry C. Bernhardt '50, a fully funded scholarship has been established in his memory at Catawba. The fund-raising effort for the scholarship was led by two close friends of Bernhardt, Tuck Gudger '48 and Walt Ramseur '49. Preference for the scholarship will be given to student athletes and/or members of the marching band.

Dr. J. Michael Bitzer, Professor of Politics at Catawba College, was featured in an article on WRAL.com. The topic of the article was the importance of North Carolina in the marriage debate. Bitzer says the debate in North Carolina has a special resonance because of the prominence the presidential election will bring to the state.

By Sarah Campbell, salisburypost.com - When Bianca Stokes started brainstorming ideas for her senior project, the Catawba College student knew she wanted to combine her love of music and talking. It didn't take her long to land on an idea that does just that.

Catawba College, in conjunction with The Salisbury Post and the Rowan County Chamber of Commerce, will be hosting several Candidate Forums on Wednesday, April 11, and Thursday, April 12 on campus in Tom Smith Auditorium. These forums are offered as a public service to the Salisbury and Rowan County community.

The SNCAE Benefit Concert hosted on the Catawba College campus in Goodman Gymnasium on Saturday, March 24 was a successful event. According to Catawba's SNCAE advisor and director of Catawba's Curriculum Materials Center, Amanda Bosch, "The performers were excellent, booths were fun and best of all, we had a total of 387 school supplies donated."

The N.C. State Board of Education has granted final approval of Catawba College's Special Education Licensure Program. While special education teachers work with children and youth who have a variety of disabilities, Catawba's licensure program will prepare teachers to work with students with mild to moderate learning challenges.

On March 3, Catawba College hosted CAT-RUM-2012, a regional undergraduate mathematics conference, sponsored in part by the Mathematics Association of America and the National Science Foundation [DMS-0846477]. Catawba College Mathematics Professor, Dr. Paul Baker, served as the conference director for the second year. Math and science undergraduates from area colleges and universities came both to present their mathematical research and to hear about research at other schools.

The Mathematical Association of America held its Southeastern Regional Section Meeting at the Clayton State University in Morrow, Georgia, on March 8-10. At the conference, Catawba College Mathematics Professor, Dr. Paul Baker, made a presentation: Using Topology to Solve a Geometric Existence Question.

Dr. Sanford Silverburg, professor emeritus of political science at Catawba College, recently had a paper accepted for presentation at the International Organization of Social Sciences and Behavioral Research in Atlantic City, N.J., April 23-25. The paper is entitled "The Grotian Moment of Post-Intra-State Conflict: Accountability Process as a Normative Foundation of Jus Post Bellum."

In the April 2012 edition of "Music Alive!" two individuals — a student and a faculty member — from Catawba College's Music Department were featured in advertisements. Blakley Leonard, who will graduate May 12, 2012 from Catawba with a degree in Music and concentrations in Music Business and Popular Music, appears in an ad for Notion Music. The ad is about music notation for iPad.

U.S. Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (NC-5), whose new congressional district will include Catawba College and northern Rowan County in 2013, visited the Catawba campus on March 16. Accompanied by Todd Poole, her chief of staff, and Brad Langston, her constituent liaison, Congresswoman Foxx toured campus...

March is National Athletic Training Month. Catawba College's Athletic Training Program is responsible for the health care needs for the 18 varsity sports and the varsity cheerleaders. This includes practice and game coverage virtually seven days a week including holidays and both the Fall and Spring breaks. The certified athletic trainers supervise and educate the students enrolled in the Athletic Training Education Program.

"The Feather: Cat-U Radio" is now on the Internet, with some Catawba College students hosting and producing the broadcast and others performing during it. "The Feather" joins other virtual radio stations that can be tuned in via the Internet. The broadcast is recorded weekly and uploaded to the Internet. It showcases the talents of Catawba College students and provides another media outlet for students in addition to the online student newspaper...

Ralph W. Ketner was honored with the Wilson L. Smith Philanthropic Award during Rowan Regional Medical Center Foundation's Annual Donor Appreciation and Recognition Dinner held on March 15, 2012. Mr. Ketner was presented with this prestigious award by Dr. Thomas K. Carlton, Jr., Board Chairman of Rowan Regional Medical Center Foundation. Among the special family and friends witnessing the presentation were son Robert Ketner and fiancée Leslie Sadler and his sister Dot Swing.

The 18th Annual Catawba Football Golf Classic will be held on Friday, May 11, 2012 at 10:00am at the Warrior Golf Club in China Grove, NC. This will be a great day of fun and food for all fans and golfers. Prizes will be awarded for the longest drive, closest to the pin and for the tournament-wide putting contest.

Catawba College's School of Evening and Graduate Studies will partner with Central Piedmont Community College to offer an evening degree program that will allow CPCC graduates to earn their bachelor's degree from Catawba College on CPCC's Central Campus.

Catawba College students will take their meals in a renovated dining hall when they return to campus in August. This after College trustees approved a plan for Catawba's food service provider, Chartwells, to renovate the space in the Cannon Student Center on campus. View Renderings...

For the fourth consecutive year, Catawba College has been selected for the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. This year, Catawba was among 110 colleges and universities nationwide named to the Honor Roll with distinction. This designation was awarded to the college for demonstrating a strong institutional commitment to service, developing campus-community partnerships resulting in measurable impact, and engaging students in meaningful service.

The Catawba Singers and Chamber Singers will offer their next concert, entitled "Departures: A Tale of Two Lovers in a Time of War," at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, March 18 in the Omwake-Dearborn Chapel on campus. This free concert program seeks to illumine and honor the sacrifices made not only by those brave men and women serving in the American armed forces around the world, but also by those men and women who remain here on the home front.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Alumnus Dave Robbins '66 played football at Catawba and was inducted into the Catawba College Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.] Gastonia's Dave Robbins is hardly one to brag about his "other" sport, but most who know him recognize him as a talented golfer. So when he shot an uncharacteristic 95 three weeks ago at Lincoln Country Club, his friends were asking him why he was off his game. On Tuesday, the world knew as Robbins was announced as a member of...

When Robin Tynes wakes up, the music filters in immediately. It's with her as she walks between classes at Catawba College or hangs out at the student center. Every evening, she can't wait for another "Huck Finn" rehearsal and a chance to sing and hear the music again. Billy Burke composed the songs running through Tynes' head, as she prepares to play the lead role of Huck Finn in a musical comedy first produced on the campus in 1955, then again in 1958.

In a recent video interview with WSOC-TV, Catawba College Professor of Politics and political expert Dr. J. Michael Bitzer discussed President Obama's visit as part of his election strategy. With praise for a local company, local workers and a storied basketball rivalry, President Barack Obama's speech carried with it a healthy dose of political strategy, said Bitzer.

Food Lion Co-Founder Ralph Ketner, the keynote speaker at Catawba's ninth Distinguished CEO Lecture Series on March 1, likened himself to the turtle atop a fence post. "That turtle knows he didn't get there by himself – he had help. I'm only standing here today because of the help I have from the original investors in Food Town," the 91-year-old Ketner quipped.

By Sarah Robinson, Catawba College Student Intern. An air of excitement fills the student center. Dozens of students are lined up 20 minutes before the event begins. Sustainable Catawba hosted a successful kickoff Tuesday, February 21st, in the Cannon Student Center on the Catawba College campus. During the event, 193 students, faculty, and staff (including College President Dr. Joseph Oxendine) pledged to make sustainable behaviors a habit in their daily routines.

Brien Lewis, currently Vice President for University Development and Alumni Relations at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., will become Catawba College's next President, effective in April. The College Board of Trustees approved Lewis' selection in early March, following a recommendation by the College's Presidential Search Committee.

"When you have a sitting president — when you know who we're going to be re-nominating — it's a way to engage everyone in the process," Emmerling said. J. Michael Bitzer, a political science and history professor at Catawba College, called the approach smart and novel. "If you can sponsor, particularly here in North Carolina, a barbecue contest, that will create a lot of chatter on the street," Bitzer said.

In a recent interview with News 14 Carolina, Catawba College Professor of Politics and political expert Dr. J. Michael Bitzer discussed what candidate names will be on the NC ballot. Watch the video...

You might say that Catawba College senior, Christopher Williams of Charlotte, has the beat – and his is one that even rapper Neako wanted. For those not familiar with Neako – he is an American rapper, producer and songwriter whose debut album, "The Rubix Cube: Red Edition," was released on his own imprint, World Team Olympics, in 2007.

Can't believe college students would be interested in opera? Come witness for yourself. Hearing is believing! At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 31, Omwake-Dearborn Chapel will resound as Catawba College students wow with songs from various opera scenes, including Mozart's "Cosí Fan Tutte" and "The Magic Flute," Puccini's "Gianni Schicchi," and even Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess." This free performance will include several selections in English, along with Italian, French and German selections.

"The Facts: On October 6, 1998, a gay University of Wyoming student, Matthew Shepard, left the Fireside Bar with Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson. The following day, he was discovered at the edge of town. He was tied to a fence, brutally beaten, and close to death." (Kaufman et al). This is a quote from the opening lines of "The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later" to be offered by the Catawba College Theatre Arts Department March 20-24 in the Florence Busby Corriher Theatre on campus.