Encyclopedia of UNCG History
An online resource for exploring the history of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Author: Erin Lawrimore
Men’s Basketball
Basketball was one of the first sports played at the school now known as UNCG. The university, however, did not admit degree-seeking undergraduate male students until Fall 1964, but men’s basketball was played on campus in 1932. President Julius Foust decided that year to allow young men from the Greensboro area to enroll at Woman’s College due to […]
Tom Cats
During the 1932-1933 academic year, young men from the Greensboro area were allowed to enroll at Woman’s College (now UNCG) as non-degree seeking undergraduate students. Parents and the young men themselves petitioned for admittance, citing dire financial constraints due to the Great Depression. In total 80 men enrolled at WC that year (48 freshman, 21 sophomores, two juniors, […]
Genetic Counseling Program
UNCG’s Genetic Counseling Program, a graduate program, was approved in 1999 and was the first of its kind in North Carolina. Courses were first offered towards the master of science degree in Genetic Counseling in Fall 2000. The first class graduated in 2002. Nancy Callanan was named the founding director of the Genetic Counseling Program […]
Emily Harris Preyer (1919-1999)
Emily Irving Harris Preyer was born in Reidsville, NC in 1919 and grew up in Greensboro. Preyer attended Greensboro Senior High School (now Grimsley High School) and then went on to the Woman’s College (WC) of the University of North Carolina (now UNC Greensboro). While at the WC she double majored in English and French […]
Tom Martin
Originally from Burlington, North Carolina, Martin’s family moved to Greensboro and lived near campus in houses on Tate and Spring Garden streets. He attended the university-owned Curry School from grades 4-12. While he was at Curry School, he played on the Men’s Basketball team and set records for most rebounds (25) and points (50) in […]
Emmylou Harris
Born in Alabama and raised in North Carolina and Virginia, Emmylou Harris entered UNCG in the fall of 1965 on a drama scholarship. While on campus, she appeared in plays, such as Shakespeare’s The Tempest and a children’s theatre production of The Dancing Donkey, before deciding that she would rather pursue a musical career. It was […]
Raymond J. Gariglio (d. 2003)
Raymond J. Gariglio came to UNCG in 1966 as a Professor of Music and became the bandmaster for all UNCG performing band ensembles, many of which he founded himself. In 1969, he established the UNCG Jazz Ensemble, the first university-accredited jazz ensemble in North Carolina, and by 1983, his tireless work in the field had […]
Eloise Patricia Lewis (1920-1999)
Eloise Patricia “Patty” Rallings Lewis was born on April 22, 1920 in Pageland, South Carolina, the fourth daughter of Dr. and Mrs. J. Monroe Rallings, a country medical practitioner and a college speech teacher. She graduated from Pageland High School in 1936. Lewis attended Winthrop College (now Winthrop University) in Rock Hill, South Carolina, for […]
Department of Nursing Education
In February 1957, Woman’s College established the Department of Nursing Education to administer a two-year associates degree program. This program was a collaboration between the newly-built Moses Cone Hospital and Woman’s College. It was the first associates degree in nursing education program in North Carolina and one of the first in the United States. The Department […]
Class of 1907 Minerva Statue
The first statue on campus was a plaster statue of Minerva, the school’s patron goddess and symbol. That statue was a gift of the Class of 1907 and stood prominently in the entrance hall of the Students’ Building from 1908 to 1950, when the building was razed. The Class of 1907 Minerva statue was a type […]