2008 Woodie Awards
UNCG celebrates 116 years of change
Cynthia Marts
Issue date: 10/9/07 Section: Campus News
Students, faculty, and alumni gathered at the McIver statue on College Avenue last Friday to celebrate UNCG's birthday. The Founder's Day ceremony is an annual tradition for the university, and this year UNCG celebrated being 116 years old.
According to UNCG's website, the school opened for the first time on Oct. 5, 1892 as the State Normal and Industrial School. The student body consisted of 223 students and only 15 faculty members. Since then the school has gone through many changes and gained a much larger population. Today the university has more than 17,000 students and over 1,000 members of faculty.
At this year's event, the crowd watched as Becci Menghini, director of Alumni Affairs, spoke about the history of the UNCG. This was followed by the traditional placing of the wreath in front of the McIver Statue, a symbol of the school's community.
After a small speech about the school's history by Menghini, the university bell was rung in celebration. There was also a large birthday card presented, which had been left in the EUC lobby for students and faculty to sign since the first of the month.
Alumni member Fran Turner Ross, class president of 1956, agreed that commemorating the schools birthday was very important, considering all the changes it had gone through.
"Because the school has been through many different stages, I think you really need to look back and see where you've come from and where you are now," said Ross. "I think in today's world we tend to forget what's happened in the past, and sometimes the past really means something."
After speeches by Ellen Lloyd, vice president of the Alumni Association, and John Bryant, SGA president, the crowd was invited to have some punch and birthday cake to finish off the ceremony.
As students lingered by at the sight of cake, Steve Gilliam of University Relation's encouraged students to join in on more of the ceremony next year.
"We do hope more students will join us next year," commented Gilliam. "Nevertheless we think we had a great attendance this year."
According to UNCG's website, the school opened for the first time on Oct. 5, 1892 as the State Normal and Industrial School. The student body consisted of 223 students and only 15 faculty members. Since then the school has gone through many changes and gained a much larger population. Today the university has more than 17,000 students and over 1,000 members of faculty.
At this year's event, the crowd watched as Becci Menghini, director of Alumni Affairs, spoke about the history of the UNCG. This was followed by the traditional placing of the wreath in front of the McIver Statue, a symbol of the school's community.
After a small speech about the school's history by Menghini, the university bell was rung in celebration. There was also a large birthday card presented, which had been left in the EUC lobby for students and faculty to sign since the first of the month.
Alumni member Fran Turner Ross, class president of 1956, agreed that commemorating the schools birthday was very important, considering all the changes it had gone through.
"Because the school has been through many different stages, I think you really need to look back and see where you've come from and where you are now," said Ross. "I think in today's world we tend to forget what's happened in the past, and sometimes the past really means something."
After speeches by Ellen Lloyd, vice president of the Alumni Association, and John Bryant, SGA president, the crowd was invited to have some punch and birthday cake to finish off the ceremony.
As students lingered by at the sight of cake, Steve Gilliam of University Relation's encouraged students to join in on more of the ceremony next year.
"We do hope more students will join us next year," commented Gilliam. "Nevertheless we think we had a great attendance this year."
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