1989-2018
The University's Second Century
By 1994, WCU’s enrollment had grown to 6,800 students, and in the decade that followed
enrollment skyrocketed to now more than 12,000 students. WCU’s Brinson Honors College,
the first in the UNC system, grew from 77 students in 1997 to more than 1,400 today.
A multi-purpose Recreation Center was opened. New stadiums were built for women’s
softball, soccer, and track and field. The Bardo Center for the Fine and Performing
Arts was added, and WCU established its 344-acre Millennial Campus west of NC 107
where it constructed a state-of-the-art Health and Human Science Building. Online
degree programs were launched and contributed to enrollment growth, and WCU renewed
its commitment to student success, innovation in education and engagement with the
region.
1967-1989
Two Decades of Transformation
In 1972 the state legislature merged Western and 16 other state campuses into the
University of North Carolina system. Several changes reshaped the student body in
the 1970s. Increases in out-of-state tuition meant that almost 90% of Western’s students
came from North Carolina. An emphasis on recruiting minority and international students
brought greater diversity to the student body. In the same decade, schools of Technology
and Applied Sciences and of Health Sciences and Services were established. New buildings
for the sciences, music, and English were constructed, along with a regional activities
center. Athletics also grew: Western Carolina joined the Southern Conference and undertook
compliance with Title IX in women’s sports. The athletic highlight of the period came
in 1983 when Coach Bob Waters led his football team to the NCAA Division I-AA national
championship game.
1947-1967
From Teachers College to University
In the aftermath of World War II, Western Carolina Teacher’s College underwent a dramatic
transformation. First on the list of challenges was enrollment growth, with enrollment
reaching 610 by 1950. The result was the largest building program in Western Carolina’s
history to date. A science building and library, a dining hall and dormitories, an
education and psychology building, and a new student union were all added to the campus.
In 1953 WCTC changed its name to Western Carolina College and added bachelor of arts
and bachelor of science degrees added to the original teacher education program as
well as the first graduate program, a master of arts in education. In 1967 the state
legislature elevated Western Carolina’s status to that of a university.
1912-1947
From High School to Teachers College
By 1918, the institution revised its curriculum to offer a more broadly appealing
six-year program: two years of preparatory classes (grades eight and nine) followed
by a four-year curriculum that resulted in a junior college degree. Three degree programs
-- in teaching, classics, and vocational agriculture -- were offered. In 1925 the
institution became a junior college teacher training institution, the Cullowhee State
Normal School. In addition to the change in its mission, the school also increased
in size with the addition of Dave Rogers’s 65-acre “Town House” farm in 1924. In 1929
a new name, Western Carolina Teachers College, reflected the institution’s expanded
mandate as a four-year college. New majors accompanied the growth of the baccalaureate
program. Accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools
in 1946 recognized the quality of the institution.
1888-1912
The Madison Era
In 1888 a group of families in the Cullowhee Valley undertook a community effort to
create a school for their children. In its second year a young teacher from Virginia,
Robert Lee Madison, was hired to teach some 100 students between the ages of six and
twenty. His mission, what he called the “Cullowhee Idea,” was to provide competent
teachers for rural classrooms. He succeeded in 1893 in obtaining an annual state appropriation
of $1,500 to support a normal, or teacher training, department for the new Cullowhee
Academy. By 1897 its enrollment was 234, and its state appropriations were increased
to include capital funds for construction. By 1910 the campus had expanded from its
first two-room building to include a classroom building (Old Madison) and a dormitory
(Davies Home).