The North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University community will celebrate the institution’s quasquicentennial at the annual Founders Day Convocation at 10 a.m. Thursday, March 24, in the Richard B. Harrison Auditorium.

For 125 years, N.C. A&T has maintained a rich tradition in academics, research, discovery and outreach. Established March 9, 1891, under the Second Morrill Act of 1890—which expanded the system of land-grant universities to include a historically black institution in those states where segregation denied minorities’ access to the land-grant institutions established by the First Morrill Act (1862) —the university has thrived in the traditional focus areas of teaching, research and extension. With an enrollment of nearly 11,000 students, A&T is the largest historically black university in the nation.

This academic year, university has been celebrating the visionaries who laid the cornerstones of this progressive university, honoring the accomplishments of our outstanding alumni and continuing on the path to preeminence.

Participation in the Founders Day Convocation is required for members of the faculty, who should wear their academic regalia. The lineup will begin at 9:30 a.m., and the processional will begin at 9:45 a.m.

Dr. Blannie E. Bowen, vice provost for academic affairs at The Pennsylvania State University, will deliver the keynote address. Bowen joined the central administration at Penn State as vice provost in July 2004. Prior to this appointment, he served as head of the university’s Department of Agriculture and Extension Education in the College of Agricultural Sciences (1998–2004) and held the C. Lee Rumberger and Family Chair of Agriculture. He has also served as associate dean and senior faculty mentor in Penn's graduate school.

Bowen received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from North Carolina A&T State University and his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University, all in agricultural education. He has been the editor of two journals and has contributed to the top journals in his profession. He has given many invited lectures, presentations and sessions that target faculty, staff and student development within an increasingly diverse society. Many of his former students now hold faculty appointments in premier research and land-grant universities.

The Joint Master of Social Work (JMSW) degree program at North Carolina A&T State University and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro has been ranked at No. 13 by Best Social Work Programs.com for its 50 Most Affordable Accredited MSW Programs in the East 2016.

With data from the National Center for Education Statistics, Best Social Work Programs.com selected schools and colleges from the New England, Mid-Atlantic and southeastern states that are accredited by the Council on Social Work Education. The schools and colleges with the lowest published graduate tuition and fees were selected.

The JMSW program at N.C. A&T and UNCG is one of 10 universities ranked from the University of North Carolina system. The program admitted the first graduate class in August 1997, and received initial accreditation in 2000 and has maintained accreditation since. Classes are held on both campuses with faculty from both universities teaching.

The program’s mission focuses on multiculturalism and diversity while understanding the specific needs of vulnerable populations and groups.

For more information about the Joint Master of Social Work Program at A&T and UNCG, visit http://hhs.uncg.edu/wordpress/jmsw or call 336-285-2298.

The Annual Gibbs Lecture and Student Conference will be held March 31–April 1. This year’s theme is “Honoring Aggie Veterans (Students, Alumni, Faculty and Staff) during the 125th Anniversary of North Carolina A&T State University.”

The student conference will be held 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Thursday, March 31. Retired Army Lt. Gen. Daniel P. Bolger and journalism historian Dr. Kenneth Campbell will give this year’s lecturers at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 31, and 6:45 p.m. Friday, April 1, respectively. Bolger will address the topic, “Recent U.S. Wars and Veteran Issues” and Campbell will discuss “The Sit-in Student Movement and Present Movements and News/Social Media.”

Bolger has completed 35 years of service in the U.S. Army, retiring as a lieutenant general in 2013. He received his commission from The Citadel and his master’s degree and doctorate, focused on Russian/Soviet military history, from the University of Chicago. His professional education included infantry officer basic and advanced courses, the Command and General Staff College, and the Army War College. 

Bolger has taught history at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and he has led soldiers at every echelon from platoon through division, to include command of the Coalition Military Assistance Training Team in Iraq, command of the 1st Cavalry Division in Baghdad and command of NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan. His military awards include five Bronze Star medals (one for valor) and the Combat Action Badge. 

The author of eight books and numerous articles on military and historical matters, Bolger is also a contributing editor and columnist for “Army” magazine and a former columnist for “Signal” magazine. His most recent book is “Why We Lost: A General’s Inside Account of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars.” He is presently an assistant professor in the Department of History and a distinguished visiting scholar in the School of Public and International Affairs at North Carolina State University.

Campbell is an associate professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of South Carolina, where he has taught the past 27 years. He began his teaching career in the mass communication program at North Carolina A&T State University where he also served as advisor to The A&T Register student newspaper. Campbell is a former journalist and copy editor for the Greensboro News & Record, Niagara Falls Gazette, Miami Herald, St. Petersburg Times, Boston Globe and Philadelphia Inquirer.

He is a founder and chair of the Media and Civil Rights Symposium and the Ron and Gayla Farrar Media and Civil Rights Award at the University of South Carolina.

Campbell holds a B.S. degree from East Carolina University, M.S. from Columbia and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina. His research, which addresses media history, First Amendment legal history, media coverage of lynchings in South Carolina and the representation of African Americans in the media, has been published in a number of national scholarly journals. Currently, he is researching media coverage of the June 2015 massacre at Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church.

The lectures and conference are sponsored by the Department of History. This year’s events are made possible by funding from the North Carolina Humanities Council, a statewide nonprofit and affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. For information, contact Dr. Conchita Ndege.