Larry Farmer, Catawba College's Director of Human Resources, has been elected as Southern Region Director to the National Board of Directors for the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA-HR). Farmer currently serves as the Past Chair of the Southern Region Board of Directors and will continue his service to the Southern Region and to the National CUPA-HR Board of Directors. Farmer, who joined the Catawba in 1998, has been active in CUPA-HR for a number of ye

The Catawba College Board of Trustees approved tenure for Theatre Arts Assistant Professor Erin B. Dougherty at its February meeting. Dougherty joined the Catawba faculty in 2007 as assistant professor of costume design and technology. She has served since 2008 as the faculty advisor to Catawba's Blue Masque, a student theatre organization, and served during the 2012-2013 academic year as a member of the Catawba faculty's curriculum committee.

The residential life experience at Catawba College and the many options and benefits of living on campus. Watch the video...

The Center for the Environment will offer a second Faith, Spirituality and Environmental Stewardship Workshop Thursday, March 14, at the Center facility on the Catawba College campus. This workshop, as well as those in February and April, is designed to offer people who have implemented green projects the opportunity to share their experience with others. Topics include Green Gardens, Green Food – starting a community garden; Go Green, Save Greenbacks – learning about inexpensive ways...

by Rachel Shelton (West Scholar Cohort '11). As part of its annual teacher of the year presentation, the Academy for Teaching at Catawba College welcomed the 2012-2013 Teacher of the Year, Darcy Grimes.

Beginning with the 2013-2014 academic year, all campus buildings at Catawba College will be tobacco-free, instead of just smoke-free. After substantial discussion and reflection on feedback from students, faculty and staff, college trustees approved this change to the college policy at their February meeting.

Members of the Catawba College campus will be drinking Starbucks espressos, frappuccinos, lattes, teas and coffees on campus this fall. This, thanks to a new program, Starbucks We Proudly Brew, to be offered by the college's food service provider, Chartwells, and approved by trustees at their February meeting.

Catawba College professor of politics and political expert Dr. J. Michael Bitzer was recently featured on The Daily Tarheel website discussing the City of Charlotte's dispute with the City of Raleigh over funding for transportation projects.

From the sage perspective of his 66 years, Dr. Kurt Corriher shared advice on how to live a joyful life with those gathered for Catawba College's 10th Annual Lilly Colloquium. Beginning his remarks with lines from Poet Mary Oliver's "The Summer Day," Corriher spoke in the college's Omwake-Dearborn Chapel on Feb. 19...

New York Times bestselling author Sena Jeter Naslund, who admits a contemporary, feminist sensibility, will be the featured speaker at Catawba College's 27th annual Brady Author's Symposium scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday, March 21. The symposium will take place in Hedrick Theatre of the Robertson College-Community Center on campus.

Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina, has launched a pilot program to make standardized tests optional in its admissions process. The program may have some positive effects for applicants who hope to enroll at the college in fall 2013. Under the new guidelines, applicants with a weighted grade point average (GPA) of 3.25 or higher will not be required to submit SAT or ACT test scores. In lieu of the standardized tests, students will need to submit supplemental materials...

by Leanna Hicks '16 - POP QUIZ! Okay people, this is a really important pop quiz question. Okay, ready? What is your favorite band/musician/group etc.? You have 5 seconds, GO! ... You all pass, huzzah here's your degree, you're ready for the world! If only it was that easy, but anyway back to the point. You may be wondering why I asked this specific question, knowing that I wouldn't hear your answer since I'm not psychic or anything, so why? WELL I'll tell you...

"Learn how to find the balance. Understand that this [college] is a stepping stone for the rest of your life," Elaine Pasqua, an advocate for right choices, told Catawba College students on Feb. 14. Speaking in Keppel Auditorium, she encouraged them "to learn to be comfortable with who you are" and to "put your goals first and your academics first."

Catawba College professor of politics and political expert Dr. J. Michael Bitzer was featured in the following recent articles about current political topics. Read the articles...

Nearly 50 individuals learned about everything from harnessing the sun's energy to engaging young people in eco-friendly efforts February 7 at the Center for the Environment's Faith, Spirituality and Environmental Stewardship Workshop. Participants drove as much as two hours to the Catawba College campus to gather information they could take back to their faith communities.

by Leanna Hicks '16 - *The phone rings* Leanna answers the phone anxiously. "Hello?" The Boss calls with a new mission for her." Leanna, it's The Boss ... I have a new mission for you. If you decide to accept, this mission requires you to go into a completely different world that you've never seen before ... do you accept?" There's a pause at the other end, but Leanna takes a deep breath and answers this very important question. "I accept."

Ask residents of Asheboro and Randolph County what they can tell you about the Black Lake Retreat Center and you will likely get an answer such as, "What is that?" Just across Highway 220 from the N.C. Zoological Park is what has been up to this point in time almost a "hidden treasure." Riding past rolling fields and pastures that flank New Hope Road, one suddenly comes upon a lighted, paved parking lot that serves a state of the art conference center.

Catawba College will launch a new Environmental Stewards and Scholars Scholarship Program this fall through the college's Center for the Environment. These scholarships are being offered in addition to the academic scholarships the college currently offers to students majoring in one of the four environmental degree programs: Environmental Education, Environmental Science, Environmental Studies or Sustainable Business and Community Development.

A dark comedy that deals with big issues, "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead," plays in Catawba College's Hedrick Little Theatre Feb. 19-23. The College Theatre Department offers performances at 6:55 p.m. Feb. 19 and 20, and at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 21-23. The play, written by Academy Award and Tony Award winner, Tom Stoppard, takes two small characters from Shakespeare's "Hamlet" and turns them into larger than life comics in his hysterical and absurdist piece.

The Center for the Environment at Catawba College recently posted an 8½ -minute video on its website about the 2012 National Environmental Summit, which brought high school students from across the country to the Catawba campus to learn how they could use their talents to effect positive change in the world. John Wear, executive director of the Center, taped a number of the summit activities and interviewed about a dozen of the participants near the end of the session last July.

Catawba College Environmental Science and Sustainable Business students greeted the cold and clear first day of February by assisting the N.C. Zoological Park in management of a significant tract of longleaf pine in the Uwharrie region of northern Montgomery County. The Nichols Tract, a 116-acre property containing one of the finest examples of a piedmont longleaf pine community in North Carolina, was recently purchased by the N.C. Zoological Park and Salisbury's Land Trust...

Catawba College freshman, Nathan Hatley, is one of the recipients of a 2013 Sacks for Cystic Fibrosis Scholarship, awarded by the Boomer Esiason Foundation. Nathan was one of the $10,000 scholarship recipients announced on Super Bowl Sunday. "This scholarship is going straight toward my tuition," Hatley said, noting that he had submitted his application materials for the scholarship to the Foundation in early January. "I'm just so grateful to have received it."

Catawba College student TyNia Rene' Brandon of Charlotte was crowned Miss Queen City 2013 on January 5 and is set to compete for the title of Miss North Carolina at the state pageant. The daughter of Tyrone and Sharon Brandon, she is a junior at Catawba, pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Musical Theatre. During the Miss Queen City Pageant, TyNia sang an Italian aria entitled "Star Vichino." She won the talent portion of the pageant with this moving operatic love song rendition.

by Leanna Hicks '16 -You know that moment when you're trying to think of that perfect topic to write about and then in a second you strike gold? That happened to me this morning folks, so here we go! Being here at Catawba, I have quickly built relationships that I know will last me a lifetime, but the one relationship in my life that has been constant and I cherish more than anything is the relationship I have with my sister. (Insert pause so you can grab a tissue)

When Gordon A. Kirkland, Jr. '70 of Clemmons retired as director of athletic development at Catawba College in December, he did so quietly, likely hoping for little or no fanfare. Instead, he received a tribute in the form of a new Endowed Scholarship, established in his honor by his fellow alumni, members of the Catawba Chiefs Club members with whom he had worked, and friends.