August 2011
08.31.2011 | by Bill Krueger | Filed under Alumni Association News, Student Life, Student News | Comments: No responses |
Students of today were working on the Brickyard today to sign up the alumni of tomorrow for the Alumni Association.
The student ambassadors for the Alumni Association are actually part of a group known formally as Students Today Alumni Tomorrow (STAT) that seeks to get students involved in building the sort of networks that will help them once they become NC State alumni.
They signed up more than 30 new members during an organization fair on the Brickyard today. The new members will get to join existing members this evening for a dinner at Harris Field. The first 300 students there will get free burritos from Moe’s Southwest Grill.
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08.31.2011 | by Chris Saunders | Filed under Alumni Association News, Alumni News, NC State History, NC State People | Comments: No responses |
NC State is mourning the loss of two distinguished alumni who went above and beyond in their support of the university. William L. “Bill” Burns Jr. ‘50 of Durham died Sunday. Charlie Hoge Reynolds ‘39 of Hilton Head, S.C., died last Friday.
Burns, chairman emeritus of what was once Central Carolina Bank and a Durham civic leader, played a crucial role in
Bill Burns after receiving the Watauga Medal in 1999.
NC State’s growth. He led the NC State Board of Trustees and the NC State University Foundation. He served on the UNC Board of Governors, the Wolfpack Club board of directors, the Achieve Campaign steering committee and the board of the Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology and Science.
His dedication earned him the Watauga Medal (1999), NC State’s highest non-academic honor; the Menscer Cup (2000), awarded for exemplary leadership; and a special citation from the NC State Alumni Association (2005) for alumni stewardship.
Burns and his friend, William C. Friday ‘41, served as co-chairs of the Alumni Association Campaign for Excellence. They made a persuasive pair who convinced other graduates of NC State’s need for a “stately” alumni home reflective of the university’s size and stature. The resulting Dorothy and Roy Park Alumni Center on Centennial Campus became a place that draws graduates back for reunions and gatherings.
Dedicated to rethinking education around the state, Burns and his wife, Dottie, made contributions toward the construction of the William and Ida Friday Institute for Educational Innovation on NC State’s Centennial Campus. The institute aims to foster a collaborative environment where teachers from around the state can brainstorm effective teaching strategies while employing the latest technology in their classrooms.
“He was the kind of man who wanted to see NC State excel in everything,” says Friday. “He said the strength of higher education had to reside in the classroom with the teacher. …I’ve been watching alumni ever since I left NC State in 1941, and I have never known one more dedicated, more self-giving and more earnest about the institution than Bill.”
Charles Reynolds in State College News, July, 1962.
Charles Reynolds, president of the Alumni Association in the early 1960s, played a significant role in opposing NC State’s name change to the University of North Carolina at Raleigh. As reported in Alice Elizabeth Reagan’s North Carolina State: A Narrative History, faculty favored the idea of dropping the name of State College for North Carolina State University. There was even a push from the Alumni Association to add the designation of “university” to the name.
However, supporters of the consolidated university system and Gov. Terry Sanford wanted a change of their own. They believed the name “the University of North Carolina at Raleigh” would unify the schools. Reynolds led a charge to voice loud protest and reject the name of UNC-Raleigh. A battle ensued for two years, and in July 1965, NC State received its official name of North Carolina State University.
Reynolds’ efforts earned him the Alumni Association’s Meritorious Service Award in 1968 and the NC State’s Watauga Medal in 1980. Reynolds was a member of the L.L. Polk Lifetime Giving Society.
The Rutherfordton native was also president and CEO of Spindale Mills in Spindale and of Cherokee Mills in Sevierville, Tenn.
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08.29.2011 | by Chris Saunders | Filed under Alumni News, College of Design, Sports | Comments: No responses |
Charlotte Guice ‘09 was on a visit to Raleigh when she fell in love with tailgating at NC State. She was in high school and had come with her parents to visit her oldest brother on a parents weekend. “It was in the great days of Philip Rivers and all those great guys,” she says. “Just the energy, the football, the weather. That’s when it really started. And red is my favorite color.”
A couple of years later she again found herself on NC State’s campus again, helping her parents move in her other brother to his dorm. She sat at a desk and looked up a Wolfpack sticker he had on the wall. She then did a simple drawing of Mr. Wuf.
That rendering serves as the basis for a merchandise line the College of Design graduate rolled out in 2009, celebrating the tailgating tradition in the South. Olly Oxen features clothing, college apparel and furniture with that same design of Mr. Wuf. She first placed the design on a vintage skirt and wore it to her initial 2005 interview with the College of Design. Then she wore it to NC State tailgates for home football games. “People would kind of stare,” she says, “and some would have the nerve to ask where I got it.”
Guice now sells that same skirt design at tailgates. They will be modeled and available for sale at this week’s home opener against Liberty. She also sells caps and visors. “The great thing is that it looks great on any age or anybody,” she says. “It’s simple, which is really important to me. You can wear it and go tailgating in the mud or go to an event at the Alumni Center.”
Eventually Guice says she would like to add more ACC and even SEC schools into her line. She’s already designed a UNC skirt but offers one caveat. “I can make one vow to myself and the business. I will happily model any school if I have to, but I’ll never model a Carolina product.”
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08.26.2011 | by Bill Krueger | Filed under Alumni Association News, College of Textiles, Faculty News | Comments: No responses |
Dr. David Hinks addresses the crowd.
Chancellor Randy Woodson hosted a group of NC State alumni in Greensboro last night for a dessert reception and a presentation on how textiles continue to evolve to meet the changing needs of society.
Woodson talked to the group about the new freshman class at NC State and other bits of news from campus. The reception, held at the Greensboro Woman’s Club, was the latest in a series of events with alumni that Woodson and the Alumni Association have hosted in North Carolina, across the country and internationally.
The Greensboro alumni also heard a presentation from Dr. David Hinks, Cone Mills Professor of Textile Chemistry at NC State. He talked to the group about how NC State is using textiles to, among other things, advance forensic science, increase battery energy efficiency and protect first responders and members of the armed services.
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08.26.2011 | by Chris Saunders | Filed under Alumni Association News, Student Life | Comments: No responses |
Price Ashe is one of NC State’s many great student leaders. He serves as an Alumni Association Student Ambassador and as director of STAT (Students Today, Alumni Tomorrow). Click here to hear Price and other students talk about the top ten reasons to join STAT.
A senior marketing major with a minor in film studies, Ashe dreams of directing movies one day. We asked him to reflect on his three years at NC State and on his work with the Alumni Association.
Hometown: Hendersonville
Class Year: 2012
Key to successfully kicking off the academic year: The key to starting the year off would be first of all to sit down and fill in my Google calendar. I fill it in for the whole semester, making sure I get up for my classes and making sure I study yesterday. It’s a routine you have to get back into after the summer. It’s very tempting at the beginning of the semester to sleep through your morning class, but you have to avoid that coming out of the summer.
Price Ashe
One thing you want to accomplish during your senior year: Really get to know my professors this year. I’ve known some in the past, but not as many as I wanted to. Sit in the front seats. Make sure they know who I am. That’s one of my goals, to have a good network.
NC State’s best asset: Academics. We have very strong academic programs in design and engineering. We’re really starting to get a strong business school.
Favorite spot on campus: The Brickyard. I kind of like to people watch. I like to sit in the Brickyard and do some homework and relax. It’s interesting that there’s so many different people at State and you get to see them there.
Best movie you saw this summer: Super 8 or Thor.
One thing that’s surprised you about NC State: How close-knit a lot of the students are. Students in one organization are spread across multiple organizations. It’s kind of like a big family. I’ve met a lot of other people. That’s not something I was expecting coming to a big school like this.
Why be involved with Student Ambassadors and STAT: It helps you get to know people. It helps you with time management. Before I joined these groups, I had too much free time. I didn’t know anyone. And it makes you feel good when you get involved.
Value of being Red &White for Life: You’ve always got this community. You’ve got this family you can rely on. If you want to mentor a student, you can mentor. You can always give back. I plan on giving annually so that I can make sure the Alumni Association Student Ambassador program is still going and so I can see students are finding new traditions.
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08.25.2011 | by Bill Krueger | Filed under Campus Landmarks, Community, NC State in the News | Comments: 7 responses |
Some veritable Hillsborough Street institutions are falling victim to progress as NC State and Raleigh leaders seek to bring new life to the recently spruced up thoroughfare.
A 125-room hotel will fill the block across from the Memorial Bell Tower, displacing longtime tenant Sadlack’s Heroes. Earlier this month, bulldozers took down The Brewery, a music venue that hosted many a rising star over the years. Its former spot west of campus will house a drug store and apartments.
The 1.3-acre hotel site is owned by the University Endowment Fund. NC State chose local developers Bell View Partners and The Bernstein Companies to complete the project, which will include street-level retail. “This is a big step forward in the continuing effort to make Hillsborough Street a destination for the greater community,” Ralph Recchie, NC State’s director of real estate, said in a statement earlier this month.
But the plans are bittersweet for patrons of Sadlock’s, which has served sandwiches and beer to generations of NC State students and locals.
“It’s like Cheers, where you come in and everyone knows your name, and you recognize everyone in the place,” says Jeff Burton, who eats lunch and drinks happy-hour beers there several times a week.
The Brewery was demolished earlier this month.
The changes come a year after the city completed a $10-million project to improve Hillsborough Street, adding roundabouts to calm traffic and improving parking and sidewalks.
Sadlock’s owner, Rose Schwetz, isn’t sure when the demolition will take place, or if her shop might find a home in the new building.
”It’s kind of sad,” says Schwetz, who took over the shop from Frank Sadlack in 1984. “But that’s just what progress is.”
– Marti Anne Maguire
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08.22.2011 | by Bill Krueger | Filed under Alumni Association News | Comments: No responses |
Alumni and art were on the menu on Sunday when about 15 alumni and guests joined us for brunch at The State Club and a tour of the newest portion of the NC Museum of Art.
Check out the the photos from the museum:
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08.22.2011 | by Chris Saunders | Filed under Alumni Association News | Comments: No responses |
A few years ago, budget cuts caused the Alumni Association to lose the greeter at the Park Alumni Center. But Randy Ham ‘82, associate executive director of the Alumni Association, says he’s had a solution brewing for about a year.
Earlier this month, Ham started the docents program at the Park Alumni Center. It consists of alumni volunteering
Bill Caldwell '55, Bill Collins '54 and Joyner Brooks '57 volunteer as docents.
their time to meet and greet visitors to the building. He says the idea really took shape during reunion weekend for the Class of ‘61 in spring. He then approached the Forever Club and says the response has been great.
“Who else but these guys would be a perfect fit for ambassadors?” Ham asks.
Guys like Bill Collins ‘54. Working the window and greeting guests, Collins says he feels like he’s giving back and addressing a great need for the Alumni Association. Instead of having guests come in with no one to direct them, he says being there sends the right message to visitors. “It gives a warm feeling,” he says.
Collins and Bill Caldwell ‘55 say being a docent offers the chance to stay connected. “When you return, you find what you can do for your school,” Caldwell says. “This was an opportunity to keep up with old friends.”
Ham says docents are now volunteering Tuesday through Friday. But he says the Alumni Association will eventually need 45-60 volunteers to have full coverage, and right now has about a third of that.
If you are interested in volunteering, you can sign up for half of a day or for a whole day. For more information, contact Ham at (919) 515-0507, or email him at randy_ham@ncsu.edu.
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08.22.2011 | by Bill Krueger | Filed under Alumni Association News | Comments: No responses |
Alumni gather at Raleigh Park in Beaverton, Oregon.
They may not live close to NC State anymore, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t plenty of Wolfpack spirit to go around when alumni groups gathered recently in Portland and Seattle.
About 40 alumni gathered last week at the aptly named Raleigh Park in Beaverton, Oregon for a picnic that featured barbecue flown in from Kings Barbecue in Kinston and biscuits provided by Pine State Biscuits. Attendees were even able to order extra barbecue to take home.
Melissa Shampine ‘07 of the Alumni Association staff talked with the group, led by Andy Oberhofer ‘95, ‘98 MS, ‘04 PhD., about serving as unofficial Wolfpack ambassadors by representing the university at local college fairs and telling Oregon high school students about all the good things happening at NC State.
Shampine reports, though, that some of the alumni seem to have forgotten what summers can be like in North Carolina. The temperature was in the 70s for the picnic at Raleigh Park. “I actually heard a few people say that it was hot,” she says.
Alumni gather in the Seattle area.
A group of about 25 NC State alumni in the Seattle area had their first officials meeting last week. The group, led by Ryan Hester ‘02, met at the Polar Bar in the historic Arctic Club Hotel in downtown Seattle.
The group is planning events to watch Wolfpack football games, get together to do volunteer work and have socials after work.
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08.18.2011 | by Bill Krueger | Filed under Campus Events, NCSU Libraries | Comments: No responses |
NCSU Libraries and Wake County Public Libraries are teaming up to give you the chance (as long as you live in or near Wake County) to talk about some wonderful books with some of NC State’s professors.
The libraries are hosting Read Smart, a series of book discussions led by NC State professors.
The sessions are free and open to the public. They will take place at the Cameron Village Regional Library, 1930 Clark Ave., Raleigh.
Here’s the lineup, as described in the latest university Bulletin:
- Thursday, Aug. 25, 7 p.m.
Interested in sampling a chef’s memoir? Join nutrition professor Sarah Ash for a discussion of Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton.
- Thursday, Sept. 15, 7 p.m.
Get a historian’s take on the latest from Pulitzer-prize winner Geraldine Brooks. Dr. Judy Kertész, a Lumbee tribe member, will lead the discussion of Caleb’s Crossing, the story of the first Native American to graduate from Harvard, set in 17th-century Martha’s Vineyard.
- Thursday, Oct. 27, 7 p.m.
For inspiration, check out Unbroken, the true story of a juvenile delinquent who becomes an Olympic runner and an Army hero. Dr. Joe Caddell, special faculty member in history, will guide discussion of the latest nonfiction by Laura Hillenbrand, bestselling author of Seabiscuit.
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