
A rendering of the new Founders Plaza on Appalachian State University's campus. The university's sculpture of B.B. Dougherty will be relocated to the site, and the existing Appalachian sign off Hardin Street will also be featured in the plaza, with minor updates to its design. Alfred Benesch & Co. image
Founders Plaza dedication and ribbon-cutting
Appalachian State University will hold a dedication and ribbon-cutting for its new Founders Plaza. The event will feature musical performances by Hayes School of Music students and refreshments will be served. The public is invited to attend.
The refigured space will provide a new outdoor setting for studying, small gatherings and scheduled campus events, as well as a prominent home for the university’s sculpture of B.B. Dougherty.
The existing Appalachian State University sign, a favored backdrop for photographs, will be relocated on the site with minor updates to its design.
This Founders Day tradition will be celebrated each fall to honor Appalachian’s founders — B.B. and D.D. Dougherty and Lillie Shull Dougherty — and the first day of classes at Appalachian in 1899.
About Appalachian State University
As the premier public undergraduate institution in the Southeast, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives as global citizens who understand and engage their responsibilities in creating a sustainable future for all. The Appalachian Experience promotes a spirit of inclusion that brings people together in inspiring ways to acquire and create knowledge, to grow holistically, to act with passion and determination, and to embrace diversity and difference. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Appalachian is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System. Appalachian enrolls nearly 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate majors.