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In its annual "Year in Photos" feature, the Office of University Relations has collected some of the best ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ pictures from 2009 in a retrospective slide show.

The ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ Board of Trustees voted unanimously Dec. 14 to approve a $586 million strategic plan that will guide the university's development during the next decade. "The ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ Commitment: Engaged minds. Inspired leaders. Global citizens.," was created over the past 15 months, involving the entire community of students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents and friends in a discussion about ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ's future.

The Daily Beast, one of the leading new Web-based media outlets, has named ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ one of the decade's hottest colleges. The list of 15 colleges and universities ranks schools that make up a "whole new class of first-choice schools" that have "transformed the collegiate landscape" during the past 10 years.

With their ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ tutors in tow, 22 children made beelines Wednesday evening for such titles as “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” and “Just Grace and the Snack Attack,” books at a local retailer that would, hopefully, foster a deeper love of the written word while rewarding their progress in a reading program organized by an upper level education course.

The Office of University Advancement has launched a new online Honor Roll of Donors as a companion to the print version of the ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ Society Honor Roll that appeared in the fall issue of The Magazine of ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ. All donors who made a gift to ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ during the past fiscal year (June 1, 2008 – May 31, 2009) are included in the searchable database.

A Leisure and Sport Management class led by associate professor Hal Walker planned and hosted two events over the fall semester in which students raised $2,800 for philanthropic causes.

From participating in family talent shows to working at Flat Rock Playhouse in North Carolina, ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ senior Christopher Staskel has always bled theatre, whether acting, dancing or singing. The North Carolina native, the fourth student to be featured in a monthly series of E-net profiles on the inaugural class of the university's Lumen Scholars, is now at it again – this time as the mastermind behind an original stage production.

Luminarias bathed the ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ campus in a soft yellow glow Thursday evening as students, faculty, staff and community members filled Scott Plaza for the annual Holiday Celebration and lighting ceremony, which featured Christmas carols and a visit from – who else? – Mr. and Mrs. Kris Kringle.

ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ junior Kayla Hicken received a North Carolina Campus Compact Community Impact Student Award last month during the Compact’s student conference at Western Carolina University.

Two teams of ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ students have advanced to the final round of Stanford University’s Global Innovation Tournament, a contest where students around the world were challenged to make an impact on a global issue.