Did you know?

Did you know that NC State won the first-ever ACC Men's Basketball championship?

In 1953, the Atlantic Coast Conference was established. The NC State Men’s Basketball team went on to win the ACC championship the following year, 1954, the first year of competition in the new conference.

Did you know that athletic teams at NC State have not always worn red and white?

The NC State football team’s original colors were pink and blue (the colors of a popular campus literary society) when the team first took the field in 1892. In 1895, the students voted to change colors--to brown and white--which lasted for only one football game. After this, students chose the now familiar red and white.

Did you know that female students are relative new-comers to campus dorms?

NC State University admitted the first female students to take courses in 1901, but female students were not allowed to live on campus until 1964, when the first woman's dorm (Watauga Hall) opened. Just six years later (1970), Lee Hall became the first coed dorm at NC State.

Did you know that four North Carolina governors graduated from NC State?

They are O. Max Gardner, William Kerr Scott, Robert Walker Scott, and James Hunt, who served as Student Body President, 1957-1959. The James B. Hunt Jr. Library on Centennial Campus, named after Gov. Hunt, is scheduled for completion in 2012.

Did you know that less than half of the students in the first class to enroll at what was then the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts were able to graduate four years later?

Of the 45 students who began attending classes in 1889, only 19 graduated in 1893. In May 2009, nearly 4300 students graduated from N.C. State University.

Did you know that one of NC State's chancellors reported for active Army duty during his administrative term?

In 1943, John Harrelson (then Dean of Administration, a title that would be changed to Chancellor two years later) was called up to active duty in the Army, supporting the United States' efforts in World War II.

Did you know that seven United States presidents have given speeches at NC State?

Franklin Roosevelt, then Assistant Secretary of the Navy, addressed graduates during the 1913 commencement exercises. In 2008 and 2009, President Clinton and soon-to-be President Obama spoke on NC State’s campus, capping off a long line of presidential visitors that includes Nixon, Kennedy, Johnson, and Regan.

Did you know that the Bell Tower took over 30 years to build?

Construction began on the Memorial Bell Tower (built to honor NC State alumni who served in World War I) in the early 1920s, and was not completed until the 1950s. There is a current effort to have real bells installed in the Bell Tower.

Did you know that there's an active nuclear reactor on NC State's campus?

In 1953, a nuclear reactor went into operation in the Burlington Laboratories building. At the time, the nuclear reactor was the first and only non-government operated nuclear equipment in the world.