As the Wolfpack makes final preparations for its first game Saturday vs. Western Carolina, more than a dozen NC State football players can sit back, smile and think, "Well, this isn't the hardest thing I've done in the last three months." No matter what happens on the football field, it may not be as rewarding as the volunteer work they did this summer with Habitat for Humanity.
For six NC State students, including sophomore environmental design in architecture major and Park Scholar Brian Gaudio, the opportunity to help collect and redistribute shoes to needy schoolchildren in the Dominican Republic has sparked a plan to build upon their experiences here at NC State as well as beyond the borders of our campus.
As the leader of the only university with a presence in all 100 North Carolina counties, NC State chancellor Dr. Randy Woodson - along with his wife, Susan - hit the road this summer to gain a firsthand look at how NC State makes a difference from the mountains to the sea.
Members of the Wolfpack family gathered at the new Coaches' Corner on Tuesday afternoon to remember the late Kay Yow and dedicate a bronze sculpture in her honor. The idea to memorialize Yow - NC State's women's basketball coach for 34 years - grew out of a student suggestion during campus elections.
The recent re-launch of NC State's official Facebook page gives a big boost to the university's overall Web presence and an opportunity for social media-savvy students, staff, family and fans to connect with NC State on a whole new level.
Eighteen months into his stint as President Barack Obama's press secretary and confidante, former Wolfpack soccer goalie Robert Gibbs ('92) is one of the most recognizable faces in the administration. A lightning rod figure, Gibbs takes more shots today than he ever did at NC State - and is enjoying every minute of it.
A few months ago, the Oprah Winfrey network (OWN) and reality-TV producer Mark Burnett launched a national video campaign asking everyday people to share what they'd do with their own talk show. Entries poured in from around the world - including one from Kornelius Bascombe ('11), who has been named one of five "Your OWN Show" online finalists.
NC Cooperative Extension and 4-H - the nation's largest youth organization and the only one based at land-grant institutions like NC State - worked with Trading Spaces designer Edward Walker to develop a design contest for 4-H'ers interested in similar careers, encouraging their ambition while helping to change public perception of 4-H - a group that does so much more than livestock exhibitions.
Bob Larson is a man of many hats. A successful entrepreneur, renowned public-relations guru and a notoriously meticulous editor, it's his ability to cultivate an environment of creativity and mutual respect that most endears him to NC State communication students, who have voted him the department's top teacher eight times in the last decade.