Student Life Category
05.15.2012
The 1920s were a rocky decade for students’ extracurricular activities at NC State. A study by a graduate sociology student unearthed rampant cheating at the university as well as a lax attitude toward the offense. Administrators feared wild behavior in the dorms. And something seemingly innocuous as a cap set the campus into chaos.
On this day in 1930, Dean of Students Edward Cloyd took a stand against an existing dress code that many saw as an early form of hazing.
Former NC State Chancellor John T. Caldwell shows off a Freshman Cap. (Photo from the NC State Alumni Association Archives)
The controversy dates back to 1916, when freshmen first began wearing a red hat with an “F” on it to denote their underclassmen status. And, as Alice Reagan points out in North Carolina State University: A Narrative History, the rites of passage did not stop with the caps.
“Freshmen also were to learn all college songs, attend class meetings, and show a deference to upperclassmen,” Reagan writes. “For violations of the code, especially failure to wear the freshman cap, students were forced to run a gauntlet.”
Over the next nine years, freshmen got fed up with the initiation. Reagan writes that in 1929, NC State’s students voted to abolish the gauntlet as a means of punishment. A student body group known as the Court of Customs ordered a freshman football player to wear a dress as punishment for not wearing his cap that fall.
“A large portion of the freshman class attempted to burn the offending caps,” Reagan writes. The student body voted to keep the dress code, and the freshmen pleaded to the administration.
But Cloyd said he supported eliminating the tradition in his end-of-the-year address to students in 1930. The State College Board of Trustees voted to abolish the dress code that June.
But, as Reagan writes, “freshmen were still obligated to provide matches to upper classmen on request, and also run errands for them.”
05.10.2012
Moore looks at the Free Expression Tunnel.
An exhibit in Withers Hall on display through the end of May celebrates the history of the Free Expression Tunnel, which has been an important part of NC State’s campus since 1967.
The exhibit depicts the tunnel’s legacy as a forum for free speech on campus. Students have used the tunnel to debate about controversial topics, sometimes blurring the lines between free speech and hate speech. Michael Moore, a first-year public history graduate student, came up with the idea for the exhibit in a history class about museums.
“I think the most fascinating thing about the Free Expression Tunnel is that even after 45 years, it is still generating intense discussions about the place of free expression on the college campus,” Moore says. “The fact that it remains a controversial landmark makes it a tough subject to represent, but I also think it provides a unique opportunity for us as students of museology to develop our skills as future professionals.”
Moore says he hopes the exhibit will continue the Free Expression Tunnel’s legacy by causing people to reflect and discuss ideas. “In creating an exhibit that is hopefully as respectful as it is challenging, we give voice to as many viewpoints as possible and in the process perhaps create some really constructive dialogue.”
Visit the Facebook event page the class set up for more information.
04.27.2012
Six years ago, the Alumni Association started placing student class rings in the Bell Tower the night before they were given out at the ring ceremony. That duty has always fallen to Thomas H. Stafford Jr., vice chancellor for student affairs, who would tuck the rings in at night in the historic landmark.
Today, students will experience a new twist on that already popular tradition.
For the first time ever, students receiving class rings at Sunday’s ring ceremony are invited to place the rings in the Bell Tower themselves. They can show up today at 4 p.m. at the Bell Tower’s base to receive their rings in the box — but remember, opening it and taking the ring out is bad luck — and listen as Stafford describes the significance of the tradition.
There are 330 students receiving rings, the most ever in a spring semester. On Sunday morning, the rings will be removed from the Bell Tower and taken to the Park Alumni Center for two afternoon ring ceremonies. One is at 2 p.m. and the other is at 4 p.m.
If you have any questions, please contact Meredith Craig, Alumni Association marketing coordinator, at (919) 515-0559, or by email at meredith_craig@ncsu.edu.
11.11.2011
It’s that time of year again where traditions are king and students and alumni alike relive their favorite Wolfpack memories. It’s Homecoming 2011 at NC State, and it all kicks off on Sunday at Harris Field from 4-6 p.m. The celebration that night is just the beginning of a week filled with student and service activities and spirit competitions.
All of the events lead up to NC State’s date with Clemson at Carter-Finley Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 19. So come and join us for a week of fun as we spend our week preparing to “Tame the Tigers.”
Here are some events to consider participating in:
Wear Red, Get Fed: This will be an ongoing activity Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. until food runs out. Come out to the Brickyard, wear your favorite red Wolfpack gear and let us treat you to lunch.
Blood and Canned Food Drives: Donating blood is always an easy way for students, faculty and staff to give back. Join us Wednesday in the Talley Ballroom from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. If you can’t make it then, please join us in the Bragaw Activity Room and the Playzone in Carmichael Gym from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. You can also bring cans of food to the Brickyard on Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for a food drive.
A Magical Homecoming: On Tuesday, come and see Tim Dumas mix in motivation to his magic as he performs in the Talley Ballroom from 6-8 p.m. Dumas uses humor and magic to entertain and inspire.
Painting a New Picture: If you’re part of a student group, make sure you get involved in the “Paint the Town Red” competition on Monday. Your group will use its spirited art to decorate a Hillsborough Street business’s window with a message to the Clemson Tigers. All windows need to be painted by 7 p.m. And everyone is invited out on Thursday night for our “Paint the Tunnel” event at the Free Expression Tunnel from 10-11:30 p.m.
Parade and Pack Howl: Friday night will cap our week of celebration with the Homecoming Parade on Hillsborough Street from 6-7 p.m. Show how crazy you can be as the floats ride by, and you might just be crowned the winner of our Craziest Fan Contest. Students head over to Reynolds Coliseum after the parade for a pep rally and the PackHowl concert featuring the Wayans Brothers. Those events will run from 7-11 p.m. Then it’s off for a good night’s sleep so you’ll be ready to cheer on the Wolfpack as it tries to spoil the season for the Clemson Tigers on Saturday.
11.04.2011
Richard Golden had just come down to NC State from Mahanoy City, Pa. He swam and played golf in high school, but he was looking for a club sport he could join while going to school. So he went with the one thing he knew nothing about–rowing.
“They said there was no experience needed,” Golden says. “I had not had any experience with it before.”
Golden, a junior, is the president of NC State’s club rowing team. He and the men’s and women’s teams face their biggest regatta of the fall season this weekend in Chattanooga, Tenn., at the Head of the Hooch. But it’s not just the other national teams at the event NC State’s team has to worry about.
The team is not a varsity sport at the university, so the team receives money from NC State’s Club Sports department. But the team also relies on a self-sustaining model and flea-market fundraisers to simply be able to compete. Members have to pay $200 a semester. That money goes to rack fees at Lake Wheeler, where they have afternoon practices, funding for equipment, and travel money for the usual eight-hour van rides to a competition.
But it’s the camaraderie on those van rides that Golden points to as the reason for rowing and surviving the 6 a.m practices they also hold at Carmichael Gym. “We’re a smaller team,” he says. “We only have 20 people now. It’s a good thing to get involved with because we’re really close.”
Golden says that the fall season is comparable for track’s cross-country season in the fall. It sets up the team’s endurance for spring competition.
Though he knew nothing about it, Golden speaks enthusiastically of the sport he wishes would become a little more well-known on campus. It’s a sport, he says, unlike any other. “There’s something about when we’re on that water,” he says. “It takes so much more for rowing because it’s out on the water. There are no breaks and timeouts like in other sports. There’s nothing that doesn’t hurt when I’m done racing.”
10.03.2011
With the weather starting to turn a bit cooler, we want to tap your memories of your days as a student at NC State for the Memories section of the winter issue of NC State magazine.
Raleigh is generally known for mild winters, but the NC State campus occasionally gets socked with a snowstorm. Sometimes that means being snowed in with no classes for days — or slogging through the mess to get to chemistry lab.
Share your memories of snow days at NC State, from an unusual snowman on the Brickyard to your favorite sledding spot. Leave your comments below or drop us a line at ncstate_editor@ncsu.edu. We’ll publish some of the comments in the winter issue of NC State magazine.
09.02.2011
What would be so enticing that these students would stand in such a long line in the Brickyard today?
Well, those students who chose to wait and wore red were given “Beat Liberty” buttons by members of AASAP (Alumni Association Student Ambassador Program).
AASAP gave out 500 total buttons today. They saw 250 go in the first 20 minutes.
The button giveaway is an effort by AASAP to encourage school spirit during football season, which starts for the Wolfpack Saturday with a 6 p.m. kickoff against the Liberty Flames. The organization will be holding these giveaways on Fridays before each home game this year in the Brickyard from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“A lot of schools give away T-shirts,” says AASAP member Danielle Laundon. “The buttons are really simple. You don’t have to worry about running out of sizes. And you can collect them.”
08.31.2011
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.
08.26.2011
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.
08.18.2011
It’s time for the NC State community to give back.
Wolfpack Welcome Week is ending with a couple of chances for the Wolfpack family to play its part in the larger world family.
On Friday, NC State is hoping to give 1,000 pints of blood to the American Red Cross. The blood drive will be at Carmichael Gym from 8 am-7 pm on Friday. Visit this website for more information.
On Saturday, NC State’s Center for Student Leadership, Ethics and Public Service is teaming up with Stop Hunger Now to pack meals at Carmichael Gym to help feed the hungry in Haiti. Visit this website for more information.
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