"NC State opened the door for me": Student leaders in their own words

Work continues on the Student Leadership Initiative , with the addition of several new oral histories over the last few months, as well as the roll-out of a new version of our Student Leader Biographies website on Historical State . Our new interviews include former student body presidents Edward Norris Tolson (1961-1962), John L. Atkins, III (1964-1965), Terry Carroll (1973-1974), and Ed Stack (1990-1992).

Highlights include Tolson’s memories of his 28 years working for DuPont. Tolson worked all over the world during this time. He recalls that he found himself "traveling in countries I’d only read about in the history books. But that would have never happened had NC State not opened the door for me.”

Tolson also speaks about his relationship with Chancellor John Caldwell . Tolson says of Caldwell, “for me as a student, he brought a worldly outlook on things, and again as a young, relatively green farm kid out of eastern North Carolina this man epitomized to me the rest of the world.” You can read Tolson’s biography and watch the interview here .

Highlights of the Atkins interview include an extensive discussion about the efforts undertaken by the North Carolina General Assembly in the early 1960s to change the name of NC State to UNC-Raleigh, a move that was widely opposed by student and alumni. The proposed change motivated Atkins, who had already served in the Student Senate, to run for Student Body President. “I wanted to do everything I could…to make sure that we didn’t lose the identity of North Carolina State,” he recalls.

Atkins also describes witnessing the fire that destroyed Pullen Hall in 1965 . Atkins and some classmates were working in the School of Design’s studio at around midnight (“We never left until three or four ‘o’clock in the morning.”) when the fire broke out.

Other highlights include discussions about student life in the School (now College) of Design and the School’s faculty, including Henry Kamphoefner and Brian Shawcroft . Atkins’ biography and interview can be viewed here .

An important topic of Carroll’s interview was the atmosphere at NC State during the Vietnam era , particularly the experience of students who, like him, were returning from military service .  Upon Carroll’s return to NC State after a three-year absence, he found himself in disagreement with the priorities of the student body. “But the thing that triggered my decision to get back involved in student politics,” he remembers, “is that I picked up the first Technician and the story was whether we were going to have Wilson or Slater sandwiches, that there had been mold on some things in the cafeteria. And I’m looking at the Technician and people are dying…and the world’s getting all crazy and we’re talking about…sandwiches…and I’m like, you know, shouldn’t there be something a little deeper here?”

You can read more about Terry Carroll and watch his interview here .

Among the topics discussed by Stack were his efforts to repair the rifts in the NC State University community created by the dismissal of head basketball coach Jim Valvano . Bridging this gap between students, faculty, and administration influenced Stack’s decision to run for Student Body President. “I felt like there were still some wounds to be healed and so I felt like that was something that I could help with,” he says.

Stack also described meeting with state legislators to express opposition to proposed budget cuts: “Legislators were actually welcoming students into their office and talking about the issues, and that’s what we wanted to achieve. We wanted at least our voice to be heard.”

Additional topics touched on during the interview include Greek life, the College of Textiles, and Stack’s current work with the Wolfpack Club. To learn more about Ed Stack and view his interview, click here .

Please continue to watch this blog in the coming weeks and months for more updates on this project, including the addition of many more interviews, as well as special events and other programming.

For more information about the Student Leadership Initiative, contact Genya O’Gara at genya_ogara@ncsu.edu or (919) 513-2605.

To learn more about the history of NC State University, please visit Historical State .