During the Civil War, North Carolina Governor David Lowry Swain persuaded Confederate President Jefferson Davis to exempt some students from the draft, so the university was one of the few in the Confederacy that managed to stay open.
Durante a Guerra Civil, o gobernador de Carolina do Norte, David Lowry Swain, persuadiu ó presidente confederado Jefferson Davis de eximir a algúns estudantes con respecto ó proxecto, polo que a universidade era un dos poucos da Confederación que logrou manterse aberta.