Source: NCSU Libraries State Timelines
1958 Irwin Holmes joins the tennis team, making it the first integrated athletic team at State College.
1965 Dorothy Williams becomes the first African-American instructor with faculty ranking, teaching in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology.
1971 Seven students found a local chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, making it NC State’s first African-American fraternity.
1975 A chapter of Delta Sigma Theta is established, becoming the first African-American sorority chapter on campus.
1970 Mary Evelyn Porterfield becomes the first African American Miss NCSU. In an interview following her selection, Porterfield stated, “If I had been the first black homecoming queen ever at a university of this size, I think it would have weighed much more heavily on my emotions, but to me, by this time, it seems as ordinary as would have been any selection. I think State is three years behind in the trend . . . I realize that this is a victory for the blacks on campus, and particularly for the black female.”
1987 Howell was the first African-American to serve as Student Body President. After graduation, he eventually became the university’s primary liaison with state and local governments.
1991 African American Cultural Center opened in the new Student Center Annex later renamed Witherspoon Student Center. In 1992, following months of student and faculty protests, NCSU administrators granted the African American Cultural Center an operating budget.
