Appalachian State opens Hickory campus for first day of classes

Appalachian State University welcomed its first students to the Hickory campus on Monday.

Among the inaugural Hickory class was communication sciences and disorders major Ashlynn Caudill. Caudill is from Lincolnton. Caudill has wanted to attend Appalachian State University since she was 9 years old, she said during her speech at the ribbon-cutting for the Hickory campus.

Caudill said she did not apply to Appalachian State initially because she did not want to be 90 minutes away from home.

Caudill found out about the new Hickory campus through an email, which she said she originally thought was a hoax. When Caudill realized it was legitimate, she attended an open house and applied. Caudill said she cried when she got accepted. 

“One hundred twenty-four years ago, three founders had a dream and today their dream is helping me achieve my dream,” Caudill said. “My dream is to be a Mountaineer, not a Boone Mountaineer, but for me, even better, a Hickory Mountaineer.”

To celebrate the first day, Appalachian State University Chancellor Sheri Everts, Hickory Mayor Hank Guess and Caudill rang a bell. The bell is a long-standing tradition of the school. It rings on the first day of classes and at graduations, Everts said.

“In 1899, the Doughertys (the university’s founders) called students to classes with the ringing of a bell that was housed in a steeple of what was then the Watauga Academy,” Everts said. “Today, we honor our founders’ vision with a new founders’ bell that Hickory Mountaineers will ring as they take their place in App State history.” 

Before Appalachian State University opened the Hickory campus, the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metropolitan area was the largest in North Carolina without a public university, according to the university.

“App State’s founders B.B., D.D. and Lillie Shull Dougherty had an ambitious vision to increase access to higher education in the most rural mountain areas of western North Carolina,” Everts said. “I often wonder what would our founders think if they could see the App State of today with more than 20,000 students, top graduation rates and a national reputation for innovation and undergraduate teaching excellence. Today, we honor their vision and continue our trajectory of excellence by opening the App State Hickory campus.”