News | Lenoir-Rhyne University

Brooks Higginbotham with Mauney-Schaeffer in the background

Meet the SGA Prez: Brooks Higginbotham ’27

Meet the student leader working to make LR's Student Government Association more accessible — and learn his strong opinions on Oreos, Darius Rucker and teleportation.

Four members of the spirit team raise their hands on the field

Lenoir-Rhyne celebrates Homecoming 2026, Oct. 16–17

Lenoir-Rhyne welcomes alumni and friends back to campus Oct. 16–17 for Homecoming 2026, featuring milestone reunions, favorite traditions, the Eastside Commons groundbreaking and Bears football.

Gray Stone passes a plate to a student on the cafeteria serving line

At home in hospitality: Gray Stone ’21 returns to LR

New director of food service Gray Stone ’21 returns to LR focused on providing a dining experience that responds to student needs and makes campus feel like home.

2026 Aerobears rocket team, 8 members, at IREC with their rocket

We do big things: AeroBears prepare for a new season

After a successful 2026 launch season, LR’s rocket team is building toward a new competition — and aiming even higher in 2027.

Two students compare written and laptop notes in the audience at an event

Bears Engage explores freedom and responsibility in America at 250

Bears Engage brings music, theater, scholarship and conversation together as Lenoir-Rhyne marks America’s 250th anniversary and considers where we'll go in the years ahead.

Helping the next Bear on the trail: scholarship honors Mike Hogewood ’76

A new scholarship honoring regional sportscaster Mike Hogewood ’76 extends his legacy of opportunity, helping future Bears pursue the possibilities that shaped his own life.

Loury Floyd, Ph.D., receives statewide award for teacher education

Loury Ollison Floyd, Ph.D., associate provost for faculty affairs, assessment and accreditation, received the 2026 NCACTE Outstanding Contributions to Teacher Education Award on September 23.

Cover of Emotionall Sober and Unimaginably Good and Megan DeMatteo

Back to the Well: A Writing Life Comes Full Circle

After a decade building a professional writing career, Megan DeMatteo returns to Lenoir-Rhyne with her first published book and a new goal: fiction.

Lenoir-Rhyne University ranked #1 private regional university in Western North Carolina

Lenoir-Rhyne ranks #1 among private universities in Western North Carolina and appears among the South’s Top 25 in the 2027 U.S. News Best Colleges rankings.

Members of two sororities pose for a photo in front of the graffiti wall

Lenoir-Rhyne plans new home for Greek Life

A new campus home for fraternities and sororities will provide a dedicated space for connection, leadership and community as Greek Life participation continues to grow.

Andrew McCarthy leans on a podium with the LR seal on front

Andrew McCarthy on nostalgia, friendship and showing up

Opening the 2026–27 season of the Visiting Writers Series, McCarthy talked about friends, writing, travel and the strange but beautiful afterlife of teen stardom.

Lenoir-Rhyne announces new residence hall, Eastside Commons

Construction will begin in September 2026 on the new living-learning community for first-year students.