Appalachian Advocates is a group of alumni, friends, students, parents, and fans of Appalachian State University.

We speak up for the needs of Appalachian State and the University of North Carolina system. Higher education will play an important role in the future of North Carolina. We are here to give the support our university needs to acquire resources and attention.

We speak up for Appalachian.

The Advocates group started in 2005 when then Alumni Association President Damien Carper and future president Jon Parks saw a need for a grassroots movement to support Appalachian in the North Carolina Legislature.

The Appalachian story wasn't getting told often enough or loud enough in the hallways in Raleigh. It was time to make sure North Carolina's leaders knew the "Appalachian Effect" on North Carolina. Appalachian wasn't the small regional institution tucked away in northwest North Carolina. It was, and is today, a vibrant family of students, faculty, alumni and friends with programs and positive impact worldwide.

We support Appalachian by making sure constituents, leaders, and the public know about the great work that Appalachian Family members do around the world. We encourage our leaders to support the mission of Appalachian and the University of North Carolina System through proper attention and funding.

We are the voices that leaders in North Carolina need to hear when the quality of our higher education is an issue.

We make calls. We write letters. We talk to people. We pay attention.

Anyone who wants to see Appalachian and higher education succeed can be an Advocate. There are no dues. There are no fees. The only requirement is a committment to take action when it is needed.

The primary mission of an Advocate is to make sure your representatives in Raleigh know that you are in support of Appalachian. If topics arise that affect Appalachian and the UNC System you will take action and communicate with your representative.

Our leaders are busy people and sometimes a letter or phone call can make a world of difference in influencing the time they can devote to a topic. They handle a tough and many times thankless job and we want to make sure they understand how important they are to the future of education in North Carolina.