UNC Asheville’s Drama Department took center stage recently at the annual North Carolina Theatre Conference. The department received the prestigious College/University Theatre Award, which recognizes excellence in education of theater students by a North Carolina college or university drama department. It has been presented just eight times since 1985.

UNC Asheville’s Drama Department was nominated for the prestigious award by the North Carolina Stage Company. The NCTC Board of Directors made the final choice from the pool of qualified nominees.

In his nomination speech, Charlie Flynn-McIver, artistic director of the North Carolina Stage Company in Asheville, recognized the close working ties that have developed between UNC Asheville’s Drama Department and this professional theater company. "North Carolina Stage Company is the true beneficiary of this relationship and it is my absolute pleasure to help recognize the tremendous program that the Drama Department at UNCA has built," McIver said.

Founded in 1970, UNC Asheville’s Drama Department is made up of four full-time faculty members and one visiting professor. Some 40 students are majors in the program. The department stages four productions a year and features student-directed one-act plays each semester. The UNC Asheville student chapter of the United States Institute of Theater Technology is the longest continuously running group in the United States and consistently wins top honors at the Tech Olympics, including the National Title in 2003, 2000 and 1996. More than 150 students have graduated from the department and are now working at universities and stage companies across the country as well as on Broadway and Disney on Ice.

For more information about UNC Asheville’s Drama Department, call 828/251-6610.