Last Updated on September 18, 2026 4:33 pm
Friday, September 18, 2026
Each year, it is an honor to ring the Founders Bell alongside the newest members of App State’s Bell Ringers Society — a tradition signifying the beginning of another wonderful year at our beloved university. Pictured with me (center), from left to right, are Richard Sparks ’76 ’78, Judy James ’69, Barbara Freiman, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Ford, Winfield Beroth ’65, Duane Reese and Dr. Harold McKinney '70. We were also proud to posthumously recognize Harold’s wife, Dr. Cathy McKinney, professor emerita in the Hayes School of Music, as a society member, honoring her lasting legacy as a beloved educator, mentor, scholar and colleague. Thank you to Chase Reynolds in University Communications for capturing this lovely photo.
Earlier today, our campus community gathered at Founders Plaza to commemorate 127 years of educational leadership and service at Appalachian State University. We honored the vision of our founders — B.B., D.D., and Lillie Shull Dougherty — who established Watauga Academy in 1899 to expand access to education across the High Country. As part of our annual Founders Day tradition, we inducted eight extraordinary individuals into our Bell Ringers Society, recognizing their lasting impact on our institution:
- Winfield Beroth ’65, a graduate of the Walker College of Business and member emeritus of its Business Advisory Council, whose family leadership of the annual Beroth Scholarship Golf Tournament raised over $1 million to support scholarships, faculty research and professorships.
- Elizabeth “Lizzie” Ford, a senior political science-legal studies major and App State’s 60th student body president, who represents all Mountaineer students as the Student Government Association representative on the university’s Board of Trustees.
- Barbara Freiman, an 1899 Legacy Society member who has championed University Libraries, An Appalachian Summer Festival and the Hayes School of Music, whose nearly four decades of university support has established endowments for student scholarships and support, as well as guest artist residencies and programming.
- Judy James ’69, a former Guilford County teacher whose philanthropic vision helped establish the James Center for Student Success and Advising in the Reich College of Education and scholarships to support and prepare future North Carolina educators.
- Dr. Harold McKinney ’70 and the late Dr. Cathy McKinney, professor emeriti in the Hayes School of Music, who have devoted decades of distinguished teaching, mentorship and creative leadership to generations of Mountaineers.
- Duane Reese, App State’s facilities operations superintendent, whose nearly 40 years of service leading our skilled trade teams ensures our Boone campus operations run seamlessly every day.
- Richard Sparks ’76, former president and CEO of the Appalachian Regional Healthcare System (UNC Health Appalachian) who also served as a lecturer in App State’s Walker College of Business and as chair of Walker College’s Business Advisory Council.
You can read more about this year’s Bell Ringers and Founders Day events in this Appalachian Today story. And you can watch this video for highlights of the Founders Day ceremony.
It was wonderful to visit with our municipal leaders, county executives and proud App State alumni this morning during the annual Local Government Alumni Association conference in Boone. Marking 35 years of partnership, this dedicated network uplifts our region through their public service and supports our students by providing annual scholarships, as well as mentorship and essential internship opportunities. Through our accredited Master of Public Administration program — which we recently expanded to our Hickory campus — App State has built North Carolina’s largest public administration alumni network, with over 600 MPA graduates serving in local, state and federal roles. I am deeply grateful for their work, which is the foundation of thriving communities.
Earlier this week, I traveled to Raleigh for the UNC System Board of Governors meetings, where university leaders from across North Carolina gathered to advance strategic priorities for public higher education. I am pleased to share three key updates from the board’s sessions:
- As part of the Board’s Strategic Initiatives Committee meeting, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Neva Specht took part in a panel discussion on “Academic Rigor and the Value of a UNC System Degree,” sharing how App State ensures academic quality and aligns degree outcomes with the state’s workforce needs. She outlined our core quality assurance measures, including moving to a five-year review schedule for all academic units, leveraging Annual Assessment Grants to refine degree programs and maintaining programmatic accreditations across all our academic colleges. Addressing generative AI, she shared how our faculty are adapting instruction and assessment through our long-standing Course ReDesign Institute and annual Teaching Innovation Grants.
- The Board engaged in a forward-looking discussion regarding plans to refresh the UNC System’s strategic plan, Higher Expectations. Over the coming year, the Committee on Strategic Initiatives will guide this effort, focusing heavily on expanding access while adapting systemwide priorities to emerging technologies and shifting workforce demands. This update will ensure the System’s public higher education remains directly aligned with North Carolina’s evolving economic needs.
- The board authorized several capital improvement projects and project scope updates for our Boone campus:
- Authorization to proceed with Phase 3 of our Campus Dining Master Plan — supported by Dining Trust Funds — which includes transforming the existing Trivette Market into a modern dining destination and establishing a new Mountaineer Market in our Mountaineer Residence Hall, creating a modern automated retail market and student gathering space.
- Approval for project scope changes on three major campus builds, each of which, as I detailed in my July 17 newsletter, has received funding support through the latest state budget: demolishing East Hall to prepare the site for a future STEM facility; expanding infrastructure for the Innovation District’s STEM Academic Building, to include adding research greenhouses, a headhouse (an operational space for the greenhouses) and a teaching conservatory; and completing modifications for the fourth floor of the Peacock Hall addition project, including the integration of IT and audiovisual instructional support equipment and structural repairs.
- Authorization to proceed with Phase 3 of our Campus Dining Master Plan — supported by Dining Trust Funds — which includes transforming the existing Trivette Market into a modern dining destination and establishing a new Mountaineer Market in our Mountaineer Residence Hall, creating a modern automated retail market and student gathering space.
Earlier this month, the Reich College of Education, with leadership by Spangler Distinguished Professor of Early Childhood Literacy Dr. Kindel Turner Nash and support from the C.D. Spangler Foundation and the Mebane Charitable Foundation, hosted the inaugural “Rooted in Resilience: Appalachian Literacy Summit.” Bringing together 100 preservice and inservice educators, school administrators, librarians and literacy researchers and specialists from across Western North Carolina, the summit provided evidence-based instructional strategies and collaborative sessions designed to elevate literacy education across our region.
In the arts, the College of Fine and Applied Arts’ Department of Theatre and Dance is preparing to launch FLIGHT: A First Year Performance. Under the mentorship of faculty members Dr. Gina Grandi and Chris Yon, along with upper-level student leaders, this interdisciplinary production brings together incoming first-year and transfer students in both theater and dance to explore physical storytelling and movement. Performances are set to take place Sept. 24–26 in I.G. Greer Studio Theatre, offering a wonderful showcase of App State’s newest creative talent.
This evening, App State Athletics will celebrate five exceptional student-athletes and a dedicated staff leader as we induct the 51st class into the App State Athletics Hall of Fame. We are proud to honor Kyle Blevins ’12 (Wrestling), Hector Crespo ’13 (Baseball), John Fitch ’82 (Men’s Basketball), K.T. Stovall ’03 (Football), Maryah Sydnor ’15 (Women’s Basketball) and Special Service Award recipient Chip Sigmon, who served as App State’s head strength and conditioning coach from 1984-90, for their enduring impact on our athletics programs. The inductees will be formally recognized on the Kidd Brewer Stadium field during tomorrow's home football game, when the App State Mountaineers will take on the Charlotte 49ers. You can read more about the remarkable careers and contributions of this year's honorees in this App State Athletics story.
As we honor the traditions that define our institution and advance the vital work taking place across our campuses, I am deeply grateful for the dedication of our students, faculty, staff and alumni, who make the Mountaineer community so extraordinary.
Heather Norris
Chancellor
