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甜瓜视频app鈥檚 Office of Alumni Engagement has hit a homerun with its annual Ballparks and Brews Tour, as alumni and campus leaders in attendance agree that the series helps them stay connected in an informal, entertaining environment.

Now in its second year, the event is designed to bring together members of the university family for a series of gatherings at baseball stadiums across North Carolina and beyond. The 2026 season featured six stops in May and June, including visits to one Major League Baseball stadium, four Minor League Baseball parks and the Southern Conference Baseball Tournament.

Pat Kaemmerling, a 1971 graduate of WCU and former chair of the university鈥檚 Board of Trustees, and husband David joined fellow Catamounts at two ballparks during the tour.

From left, Stacey Miller, WCU senior director of alumni engagement, shares a moment with Pat and David Kaemmerling at an Atlanta Braves baseball game.

鈥淲e attended the Atlanta Braves game because it was local, and we are Braves fans,鈥� said Kaemmerling, who resides in Peachtree Corners, Georgia. 鈥淲e also attended the Hickory Crawdads game because it is near my hometown (Casar, in Cleveland County). We visited family for the weekend and took two cousins with us to the game.鈥�

Kaemmerling commended the Office of Alumni Engagement for hosting Ballparks and Brews and for holding other events off campus in places where the university鈥檚 alumni live.

鈥淚t gives alumni the opportunity to connect with each other and with Advancement staff close to home. These activities help keep alumni connected to WCU,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 thought they did an additional benefit this year by providing food at the ballparks.鈥�

Clemmons resident Mitch Treadaway, a 1983 graduate, also participated in two stops during the Ballparks and Brews tour, attending the Atlanta Braves and Greensboro Grasshopper games.

鈥淚 have been a longtime Braves fan, so it was great to see them play and connect with Georgia WCU alumni at the same time. The Greensboro game would be my 鈥榣ocal鈥� event,鈥� Treadaway said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 great to catch up with fellow alumni I have seen through the years and meet new alumni that came to the event.鈥�

A member of the WCU Alumni Association Board of Directors, Treadaway characterized the baseball games as great backdrops for a gathering of university alumni and friends.

鈥淚 tell everyone that you don鈥檛 have to love baseball to enjoy these events. With the help of the local alumni networks in coordination with the Office of Alumni Engagement, the number of participants is growing over the years. The benefits of attending are numerous depending on your stage in life. I have literally seen recent grads get jobs from attending these events with fellow alumni,鈥� he said.

鈥淚n addition, these events serve as a springboard for getting alumni involved who haven鈥檛 been in touch for some time. As a retired alumnus, I enjoy seeing alumni friends along with meeting new alumni,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hese events also educate all parties on what is happening at WCU, including updates on the 鈥楩ill the Western Sky鈥� fundraising campaign. They strengthen alumni ties. Having faculty, deans and other university personnel attend lets us know of new events happening in our particular schools.鈥�

Jennifer Cloughly, a 2008 graduate of WCU with a degree in music education, made the trip from her home in Rock Hill, South Carolina, to participate in Ballparks and Brews gatherings in Greensboro and Kannapolis.

鈥淚 think it is very important for the Office of Alumni Engagement to continue creating these types of awesome events throughout North Carolina and other nearby states because, while of course there's no substitute for getting home to Cullowhee, that's not always feasible for everyone, so being able to connect with other Catamounts at events like these is definitely the next best thing,鈥� said Cloughly, a member of the Pride of the Mountains Marching Band during her time at WCU.

鈥淎lumni benefit from activities like these because they provide incredible opportunities to reminisce with old friends, connect with alumni from other classes and interact with current faculty, staff and students to learn about 鈥� and hopefully find ways to support 鈥� all of the great things happening in Cullowhee,鈥� she said. 鈥淚'm incredibly grateful for all the work that the Office of Alumni Engagement is doing, because sharing these moments with so many of the incredible people in our extended Catamount family 鈥� and of course being surrounded by purple and gold 鈥� always reminds me of how proud I am to be a Catamount.鈥�

For some of the deans of WCU鈥檚 colleges, the tour provided an opportunity to not just make a pitch to alumni and friends about ways to support academic programs, but it also found them on the field literally throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.

鈥淓vents like this are critical for keeping alumni connected to the university community,鈥� said A.J. Grube, dean of the College of Business. 鈥淭hey keep university leadership connected to the alumni community and help foster personal relationships. Ultimately, the relationships built and maintained are the most important outcome for events like Ballparks and Brews.鈥�

Grube said she met about a dozen College of Business alumni for the first time when they attended a stop on the tour, and she invited them to attend an annual campuswide chili cookoff organized by the college and scheduled for this fall.

鈥淗opefully, they鈥檒l show up at the Chili Cookoff or email or call me when they鈥檙e making a trip to Cullowhee. Then, the relationships are off and running,鈥� she said. 鈥淭o my knowledge, this was the first 鈥榯our鈥� for academic leaders of the university. I think it鈥檚 an investment worth making 鈥� an investment that will pay off for the university community.鈥�

Randy Collins, dean of WCU鈥檚 College of Engineering and Technology, agreed with his colleague.

鈥淓vents like Ballparks and Brews are highly important because we don鈥檛 often have opportunities to engage with alumni in a fun, relaxed setting. Events like this bring alumni together and enable these high-value interactions to occur,鈥� Collins said.

鈥淚鈥檝e gotten to know several of our engineering and construction alumni as a result of these events, and I also met some very interesting alumni that are not from engineering,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n fact, it is a great opportunity for us to let folks outside of the college know what is going on at their university and that they might not have learned about them otherwise.鈥�

While 鈥減itching鈥� the programs of their respective colleges is part of the job description of a dean, delivering the first pitch in front of hundreds of spectators at a Minor League Baseball park is a little outside the usual definition of 鈥渙ther duties as assigned.鈥�

A.J. Grube, dean of the 甜瓜视频app College of Business, talks with a Kannapolis Cannon Baller after making the first pitch during a Ballparks and Brews stop.

鈥淚t was so much fun. While I didn鈥檛 throw a perfect strike, I got the ball across the plate, and the catcher didn鈥檛 have to move,鈥� said Grube, who said that she practiced repeatedly with associate dean Drew Carnes and bragged that she did a better job throwing the first pitch than some of her fellow campus leaders.

Collins admits that he intended to practice several weeks prior to the game in Asheville because had had not held a baseball for several years and probably had not thrown one in several decades, but his busy schedule got in the way.

鈥淢y wife said that throwing the tennis ball with our dog should have been enough practice, but I think she was just trying to make me feel better. A few minutes prior to the start, they asked me if I wanted to practice with the catcher. I said sure, and I threw one pass over to him at a relatively short distance, and he said, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e good,鈥欌�� he said.

鈥淚t all happened so fast, I didn鈥檛 get a chance to be nervous. I tried not to throw it too hard, since I didn鈥檛 want it to be wild and not even be close. I managed to get it to hit the dirt beside the plate where a batter would stand,鈥� Collins said. 鈥淪o I managed to get it the entire distance to the plate, and it was reasonably respectable, I guess.鈥�

The tour schedule featured games at the home stadiums of the Atlanta Braves, Greensboro Grasshoppers, Kannapolis Cannon Ballers, Asheville Tourists and Hickory Crawdads. In addition, the Office of Alumni Engagement and the Catamount Club hosted a WCU section when the Catamounts competed in the Southern Conference Baseball Tournament in Greenville, South Carolina.

For more information about upcoming WCU alumni events, call 828-227-7335 or email alumni@wcu.edu.