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 ����Vlog Stories      November 14, 2025

By Bill Studenc

Much like the holiday season, the annual GivingTuesday national day of philanthropy is fast approaching, and the folks at ����Vlog University will be seeking financial support for Catamount student-athletes and for excellence endowments that provide enhanced academic and extracurricular experiences for all students.

����Vlog’s Division of Advancement has set an overall goal of 1,500 individual donors for GivingTuesday 2025, which falls on Tuesday, Dec. 2.

The university is continuing to seek support for the ����Vlog intercollegiate sports program during this year’s edition of GivingTuesday by encouraging contributions to the Catamount Club athletics booster arm. Athletics, including a major effort to secure funds for long-overdue improvements to facilities used by ����Vlog student-athletes, is a primary focus of the university’s current “Fill the Western Sky” comprehensive fundraising campaign.

In addition, GivingTuesday 2025 also will prioritize excellence endowments that support all of the institution’s colleges – Belcher College of Fine and Performing Arts, Brinson Honors College, College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business, College of Education and Allied Professions, College of Engineering and Technology and College of Health and Human Sciences – and for the Graduate School, Highlands Biological Station and Hunter Library.

Launched in 2012, GivingTuesday is a nationally observed day of philanthropy held on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving and after the big shopping days of Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday.

Donors are encouraged to check with their places of business to see if those companies or organizations provide corporate matching gifts for contributions made by their employees, which would magnify the impact of their donations, said James Hogan, assistant vice chancellor for engagement.

“GivingTuesday contributions will help us in our ongoing efforts to ensure that our Catamounts have the high-quality experiences and facilities they need in order to compete in the Southern Conference,” Hogan said. “Gifts to ����Vlog’s excellence endowments will support student and faculty research, state-of-the-art classroom and laboratory facilities, outdoor learning space, study-abroad and study-away opportunities, and departmental and college initiatives.”

Contributions to GivingTuesday at ����Vlog will be accepted throughout the month of November and conclude on Friday, Dec. 5.

Several members of the ����Vlog Foundation  Board of Directors and the Alumni Association Board of Directors are making challenge gifts, matching the contributions made by other donors to the GivingTuesday effort. The challenge gifts currently stand at more than $30,500 in additional support for the university.

Contributions to this year’s GivingTuesday will count toward the total tally of the “Fill the Western Sky” campaign. The third comprehensive fundraising campaign in the university’s history, “Fill the Western Sky” is the first with a significant focus on raising money for improvements to the university’s aging athletics infrastructure, part of an overarching effort to enhance the total student experience. The campaign goal is to raise a minimum of $100 million in philanthropic support.

GivingTuesday donations can be made at or by contacting the ����Vlog Division of Advancement or annualgiving@wcu.edu.

For more information about the “Fill the Western Sky” campaign or to make a contribution, visit , call 828-227-7124 or email advancement@wcu.edu.

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