App State archaeologist Dr. Alice Wright and her team of student researchers have unearthed dozens of artifacts at App State’s Blackburn Vannoy Estate and Farm in Ashe County that date back to prehistory — evidence that, 8,000 to 1,000 years ago, Native American peoples used the area as a campsite.

App State’s student-powered solar vehicle team, Team Sunergy, has secured yet another podium finish to add to its consistent wins in the annual Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix. This year, the team earned second place in its class and the event’s Teamwork Award. Team Sunergy is working to launch its next-generation solar vehicle.

App State’s Fred Webb Jr. Outdoor Geology Lab, also known as the “Rock Garden” — a resource for geology students, researchers and K–12 school groups — has been fully restored after the damage it sustained from Hurricane Helene. The garden now features more than 50 boulders, including several new specimens.

Ground-penetrating radar and App State interdisciplinary detective work have revealed 105 graves of enslaved people at Fort Defiance, adding new layers of history to the Lenoir-area landmark and confirming generations of family stories.

Over 40 local middle school student-athletes took part in App State’s Fuel Your Game Watauga program this spring, learning how proper nutrition can boost athletic performance. App State nutrition graduate students engaged the students in discussions on food groups and shared nutritional facts.

App State honored 20 future military leaders during a commissioning ceremony held May 8 on the Boone campus, during which the Mountaineer Battalion members and App State graduates took the Oath of Office and received the gold bars signifying their rank as second lieutenants in the U.S. Army.

App State student-athletes extended their streak to 26 consecutive semesters with a cumulative GPA over 3.0. All 17 athletic programs finished the spring 2025 semester above that mark, contributing to an overall GPA of 3.29.

At its May 15 meeting, the University of North Carolina System Board of Governors reappointed Joseph Jeffries Chesson to App State’s Board of Trustees and appointed Jamie Schaefer, Wayne Sumner and William Warren as new members of the board. The trustees will begin their four-year terms July 1.

App State’s 28th Annual Celebration of Student Research and Creative Endeavors featured 153 projects from Mountaineer students, with topics ranging from cancer research to the economic impacts of Hurricane Helene and gun violence during heat waves.