Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Dr. Tom Stafford is an NC State institution. He retires July 1 after nearly 30 years leading student affairs.
The senior class ring is a college rite. At NC State, class rings are also the only overnight tenants at the legendary Memorial Belltower.
No building evokes the feel of NC State like the Memorial Belltower.
Since its completion in 1937, the 115-foot monument to alumni killed in World War I has been the university’s most recognizable symbol and likely the least-explored building on campus. Students, alumni and supporters know it well, but few have been inside the granite belfry.
Lately, though, the club of Belltower insiders has grown, thanks to Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Tom Stafford.
How people learn of good or bad news tends to be etched forever in the minds of each individual, and every generation has a touchstone tragic event that transcends most other memories. The assassination of President John Kennedy. The space shuttle Challenger explosion. The terrorist attacks of 9/11. Each of these events links the masses in answering the commonly asked question: "Where were you?"