July 31, 2025
Dear UNCW Community:
I started this month as the guest speaker at a special celebration in honor of our nation’s Independence Day. On July 3, I attended a naturalization ceremony in nearby Southport, N.C., for 55 people who took the oath to become U.S. citizens. I shared this honor with another member of the Seahawk family, Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Myers ’89, ’94M, who administered the oath. Both of us are naturalized U.S. citizens ourselves and recognize the event as the fulfillment of a journey of hope and determination for these new Americans.
Hope and determination also describe the approach many incoming Seahawks are bringing to campus this fall. I recently met many new families at a Parents Council Summer Social in Cary, N.C., and they are excited to start their Seahawk journeys. UNCW has seen a 10% increase in first-year applications and a 14% rise in transfer applications compared to last year. Applicants represent all 100 North Carolina counties, all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and 70 countries. Once students enroll at UNCW, we make every effort to help them succeed as our unofficial retention rate shows — estimated at an impressive 89.4% for last year’s first-year students.
The journey from new students to alumni goes by quickly, but the power of the relationships formed at UNCW lasts a lifetime. For many years, UNCW hosted special celebrations at the Wise Alumni House, which we recently reopened after its successful renovation. The 116-year-old building captures the spirit of UNCW, symbolizing the history, strong community ties, dedicated alumni, generous donors and resilience that define the Seahawk spirit. It’s wonderful to have this historic property back in use.
As North Carolina’s coastal university, UNCW works hard to maintain our role as a leader in marine science. We recently signed a partnership with the Town of Oak Island setting up a three-year project to study the use of living shorelines to mitigate erosion. This is in addition to 20 years of working to stabilize the Intracoastal Waterway shoreline with the nearby Town of St. James. Looking ahead, the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship will host its annual Ocean Innovation Conference in the fall.
Congratulations to Angie Wiggins on her election to chair of UNCW’s Staff Senate, and my sincere thanks to Susan Smith for her years of service as the outgoing chair. As an advisory board to my office, the senators play a key role as representatives and advocates for our outstanding staff.
UNCW’s sports teams have won a league-leading 14 CAA conference championships over the past three years. Our student-athletes consistently bring their “A game” to competition and their coursework. The CAA named 299 of them to the conference’s Spring 2025 Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll. This included 60 who earned high honors with distinction for maintaining a 4.0 grade point average for the semester. Five Seahawks were drafted during the Major League Baseball Draft, bringing UNCW Baseball’s total number of draftees to 92. UNCW guard Bo Montgomery played with the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies after signing a deal for the 2025 NBA Summer League.
As we prepare for the academic year ahead, I remain inspired by the dedication, excellence and spirit that define UNCW and the Seahawk community. I am eager to see what else we can accomplish as we continue to soar together!
Yours in Seahawk spirit,
Aswani K. Volety
Chancellor
