page_title: North Carolina State University
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: North Carolina State University / History
context_page_description: North Carolina State University is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university forms one of the corners of the Research Triangle together with Duke University in Durham and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity".
  The North Carolina General Assembly established the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, now NC State, on March 7, 1887, originally as a land-grant college. Today, NC State has an enrollment of more than 35,000 students, making it among the largest in the country. NC State has historical strengths in engineering, statistics, agriculture, life sciences, textiles and design and offers bachelor's degrees in 106 fields of study. The graduate school offers master's degrees in 104 fields, doctoral degrees in 61 fields, and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.
context_section_description: The North Carolina General Assembly founded NC State on March 7, 1887 as a land-grant college under the name "North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts," or "North Carolina A&M" for short. In the segregated system, it was open only to white students. As a land-grant college, North Carolina A&M would provide a liberal and practical education while focusing on military tactics, agriculture and the mechanical arts without excluding classical studies. Since its founding, the university has maintained these objectives while building on them. After opening in 1889, North Carolina A&M saw its enrollment fluctuate and its mandate expand. In 1917, it changed its name to "North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering"—or "North Carolina State" for short. During the Great Depression, the North Carolina state government, under Governor O. Max Gardner, administratively combined the University of North Carolina, the Woman's College (now the University of North Carolina at Greensboro), and NC State. This conglomeration became the University of North Carolina in 1931. In 1937 Blake R Van Leer joined as Dean and started the graduate program for engineering. Following World War II, the university grew and developed. The G.I. Bill enabled thousands of veterans to attend college, and enrollment shot past the 5,000 mark in 1947.
  
  State College created new academic programs, including the School of Architecture and Landscape Design in 1947 (renamed as the School of Design in 1948), the School of Education in 1948, and the School of Forestry in 1950. In the summer of 1956, following the US Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) that segregated public education was unconstitutional, North Carolina State College enrolled its first African-American undergraduates, Ed Carson, Manuel Crockett, Irwin Holmes, and Walter Holmes. 
   In 1962, State College officials desired to change the institution's name to North Carolina State University. Consolidated university administrators approved a change to the University of North Carolina at Raleigh, frustrating many students and alumni who protested the change with letter writing campaigns. In 1963, State College officially became North Carolina State of the University of North Carolina. Students, faculty, and alumni continued to express dissatisfaction with this name, however, and after two additional years of protest, the name was changed to the current North Carolina State University at Raleigh.
  In 1966, single-year enrollment reached 10,000. In the 1970s enrollment surpassed 19,000 and the School of Humanities and Social Sciences was added.
  Celebrating its centennial in 1987, NC State reorganized its internal structure, renaming all its schools to colleges (e.g. School of Engineering to the College of Engineering). Also in this year, it gained 700 acres (2.8 km²) of land that was developed as Centennial Campus. Since then, NC State has focused on developing its new Centennial Campus. It has invested more than $620 million in facilities and infrastructure at the new campus, with 62 acres (0.3 km²) of space being constructed. sixty-one private and government agency partners are located on Centennial Campus.
  NC State has almost 8,000 employees, nearly 35,000 students, a $1.495 billion annual budget, and a $1.4 billion endowment. It is the largest university in the state and one of the anchors of North Carolina's Research Triangle, together with Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
  In 2009, NCSU canceled a planned appearance by the Dalai Lama to speak on its Raleigh campus, citing concerns about a Chinese backlash and a shortage of time and resources.
  NCSU Libraries Special Collections Research Center, located in D.H. Hill Library, maintains a website devoted to NC State history entitled Historical State.
caption: Panoramic photo of campus taken around 1909
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