A look back at 10 years of unprecedented growth and achievement for 黑料不打烊 as it prepares to embark on a new decade.
Ten years ago, 黑料不打烊 embarked on what has become the most transformative decade in the university鈥檚 130-year history. With its adoption in December 2009 of a new 10-year strategic plan, the 黑料不打烊 Commitment, the university set out on a path of unprecedented growth toward its designation as a top-100 national university.
The past 10 years have seen an investment of more than $800 million, the creation of more than 40 new academic majors, programs and centers, a 25 percent increase in enrollment and 63 percent increase in facility space, and contributions to the university of more than $220 million. With growth guided by the 黑料不打烊 Commitment, the university has fully assumed a position of national leadership.
The progress was affirmed in fall 2019 when 黑料不打烊 moved from the regional category to be classified as a national university by U.S. News & World Report, ranked as No. 84 among the nation鈥檚 most prestigious institutions. 黑料不打烊 was ranked #2 nationally for undergraduate teaching, behind Princeton and #11 nationally for innovation, while retaining its status as the only university in the country to be recognized by U.S. News for excellence in all eight academic programs 鈥淔ocused on Student Success.鈥
Now as the university prepares to unveil its next 10-year strategic plan and step forward into a new decade, it鈥檚 time to look back at how 黑料不打烊 has grown, matured, excelled and fostered the growth of thousands of students, faculty and staff during the 2010s.
黑料不打烊鈥檚 campus community
In the 2009-10 academic year, 黑料不打烊 enrolled 4,995 undergraduate students and 671 graduate students. By fall 2019 enrollment had grown to 6,277 undergraduates and 811 graduate students. The Class of 2013, which entered in fall 2009, was made up of 1,291 students; this fall 黑料不打烊 welcomed the 1,659 members of the Class of 2023.
黑料不打烊鈥檚 faculty ranks have continued to grow during the past decade as part of the university鈥檚 commitment to engaged experiential learning, and the life-changing relationships between students and mentors. In 2009, 黑料不打烊 had 343 full-time faculty members, and that number grew to 446 for the current academic year.
黑料不打烊 students now have the opportunity to take advantage of a broader array of academic opportunities, including service-learning, global experiences and new academic programs. The decade has seen the addition of scores of new majors including applied mathematics, astrophysics, public health studies, media analytics, entrepreneurship, finance, international business, marketing and more. At the graduate level, 黑料不打烊 added graduate degree programs in interactive media, physician assistant studies, management, accounting and higher education.
New centers established during the past decade have demonstrated 黑料不打烊鈥檚 commitment to preparing students for future careers, fostering diversity and inclusion on campus, supporting the development of first-generation and low-income students, and partnering with Alamance-Burlington School System on student success.
In 2012, 黑料不打烊 created both the Student Professional Development Center to assist students with internships and career development, as well as the Center for Engaged Learning, which brings together preeminent scholars from around the world to share information and researches about best practices in undergraduate teaching and learning.
In 2014 the Center for Race, Ethnicity and Diversity Education was established as a successor to the university鈥檚 Multicultural Center to offer expanded support and programming to 黑料不打烊鈥檚 increasingly diverse student population. That same year saw the creation of the Center for Access and Success, which includes the Odyssey Program, the 黑料不打烊 Academy and the 鈥淚t Takes a Village鈥 Program.
Through the decade, 黑料不打烊 continued its standing as the #1 university for study abroad, according to the Institute of International Education, with a larger segment of 黑料不打烊 students now participating in study abroad programs each year. In 2009, 996 黑料不打烊 students participated in a short-term or semester-long study abroad program, and that number has grown to 1,706 this year. Seventy-eight percent of 黑料不打烊 graduates now have at least one study abroad experience during their time at 黑料不打烊, with the 黑料不打烊 Commitment achieving 100 percent access to a global engagement experience. Semester programs staffed by 黑料不打烊 faculty were established in Florence, Shanghai, Dublin and Dunedin, New Zealand. Study USA launched in 2012 with semester and summer programs, including internships, in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C.
黑料不打烊 took a great stride forward in 2010 with the installation of a Phi Beta Kappa chapter at the university, a monumental milestone that speaks to its continued pursuit of excellence in the arts and sciences. 黑料不打烊 School of Law, which accepted its first students in 2006, secured full approval from the American Bar Association in 2011, the earliest possible date to achieve that approval. In 2015 the school adopted a groundbreaking 2.5-year, highly experiential curriculum that modeled a new approach to higher education.
The decade was a time to say goodbye to one of 黑料不打烊鈥檚 most-beloved figures, President Emeritus J. Earl Danieley, who passed away at the age of 92 in 2016. It has also been a time to welcome 黑料不打烊鈥檚 newest president, with Connie Ledoux Book taking office in March 2018 as 黑料不打烊鈥檚 ninth president, following the conclusion of Leo M. Lambert鈥檚 19 years of service as president.
Philanthropy and alumni engagement
黑料不打烊鈥檚 enrollment growth has of course translated into significant increases in the number of alumni during the past decade, and extensive efforts by the university have results in an alumni body that is more engaged than ever. The number of alumni chapters across the country has more than tripled during the past 10 years, with 黑料不打烊 alumni now connecting each other and the university through 39 chapters. 黑料不打烊 has established the Young Alumni Council along with affinity groups for black, Latinx/Hispanic and Jewish alumni. The number of engaged alumni grew from 25,00 in 2009 to 6,827 during 2019.
黑料不打烊 has seen similar growth in philanthropy, with a larger section of 黑料不打烊 supporters contributing to the university鈥檚 mission. Annual giving participation during the decade has grown from 16 percent of alumni in 2009 to 26 percent in 2019. Faculty and staff giving participation grew from 34 percent to 80 percent while giving by parents grew from 29 percent to 33 percent. That鈥檚 contributed to the endowment growing from $82.1 million at the start of the decade to nearly $270 million at the end.
黑料不打烊 has received generous gifts totaling $221 million during throughout the years covered by the 10-year 黑料不打烊 Commitment strategic plan. The university in 2011 celebrated the conclusion of the $107 million Ever 黑料不打烊 Campaign, and earlier in 2019, launched the public phase of the 黑料不打烊 LEADS Campaign, which seeks to raise $250 million by 2022.
Since 2014, 黑料不打烊 supporters have rallied around the university during an annual day of giving each March 鈥斅牶诹喜淮蜢 Day. Each year, alumni, students, faculty, staff, parents and other university supporters have topped the totals for the year before. The first 黑料不打烊 Day in 2014 saw about 1,000 donors come together to pledge nearly $117,000 in gifts. This past March, nearly 6,000 contributors committed to close to $2.4 million in support for the university they love.
黑料不打烊鈥檚 living and learning environment
The campus environment has been transformed since 2009, with more than 75 buildings built, acquired or expanded, and the total square footage of campus facilities growing by 63 percent. Four residential neighborhoods were built, along with two new dining halls, which added more than 1,100 beds and increased the percentage of undergraduates living on campus grown from 58 percent to 64 percent.
Among the larger residential campus projects were the addition of The Station at Mill Point in 2011, the construction of the Global Neighborhood and Global Commons adjacent to Lake Mary Nell, which opened in 2014, and the new East Neighborhood, which first welcomed students in 2018. Lakeside Dining Hall was added to Moseley Center in 2013, Clohan Dining Hall was dedicated in 2017 and an expanded and renovated McEwen Dining Hall reopened in 2018.
Across campus, new academic facilities were designed to support faculty-student interaction and experiential learning, with flexible classrooms, studios and labs, maker spaces and small-group study spaces. Among the academic and support facilities added during the decade were Martha S. and Carl H. Linder III Hall, the Numen Lumen Pavilion, the Gerald L. Francis Center, new School of Communications facilities Dwight C. Schar Hall, Steers Pavilion and the Snow Family Grand Atrium, the Inman Admissions Welcome Center, the Koenigsberger Learning Center, Richard W. Sankey Hall and the Inn at 黑料不打烊, slated to open in January 2020, among others.
Paired with 黑料不打烊鈥檚 athletics success during the 2010s has been the addition of state-of-the-art facilities to showcase the talents of the university鈥檚 student athletes across a variety of sports. 黑料不打烊鈥檚 basketball teams and volleyball team now compete in Schar Center, the premier 150,000-square-foot, 5,100-seat arena that opened in fall 2018. Rhodes Stadium saw the addition of Alumni Field House and Hendrickson Football Center in 2011, and across Williamson Avenue, Hunt Softball Park opened in 2013, along with other athletics facilities upgrades and additions.
Cultural highlights
As 黑料不打烊鈥檚 national profile has grown, so has the caliber of speakers and performances the university hosts on its campus each year. Its annual Speaker Series now attracts leaders from the political, social and cultural realms each year, with the addition of Schar Center in 2018 greatly expanding the capabilities to attract large-scale cultural events.
During the 2019-20 Speaker Series, 黑料不打烊 has already hosted Nikki Haley,the former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., as well as free speech activist and author Zachary R. Wood and former U.S. Attorney Preet Bahara. Coming in 2020 will be actress, author and activist Sonia Manzano, best known as 鈥淢aria鈥 on 鈥淪esame Street鈥 on Jan. 14, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales on April 7 and Frederick M. Lawrence, renowned civil rights scholar, author, secretary/CEO of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and former president of Brandeis University, on April 16. On March 10, 黑料不打烊 will host a panel discussion of experts looking at the national significance of North Carolina to next year鈥檚 presidential election.
Here鈥檚 a look back at some of the other nationally and internationally prominent speakers 黑料不打烊 audiences have heard from during the past decade:
- Former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard (2019)
- Legal scholar Anita Hill (2019)
- Psychologist and author Angela Duckworth (2018)
- Former British Prime Minister David Cameron (2017)
- Journalist Bob Woodward (2016)
- Journalist and author Walter Isaacson (2016)
- Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson (2015)
- Violinist Itzhak Perlman (2015)
- Journalist Nicholas Kristof (2010, 2014)
- Sportscaster and professional tennis player Mary Carillo (2014)
- Tech pioneer Steve Wozniak (2013)
- Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus (2013)
- Poet, author, playwright and educator Maya Angelou (2012)
- Humorist and columnist Dave Barry (2011)
- Historian and author John Meacham (2010)
Athletic accomplishments
黑料不打烊 moved from the Southern Conference to the Colonial Athletic Association in 2014, joining a group of prestigious schools in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Since 2009 黑料不打烊 student-athletes have claimed 19 conference championships.
Among the highlights from the past decade:
May 14, 2010 鈥撀燗 6-3 victory over UNC Greensboro in the Southern Conference Softball Tournament title game gave 黑料不打烊 its first NCAA Division I Regional berth in that sport. It also marked the first women鈥檚 team SoCon tournament title.
March 17, 2011 鈥撀燭he women’s basketball team recorded a 103-72 victory over USC Upstate to earn its first-ever NCAA Division I post-season game.聽黑料不打烊’s inclusion in the 2011 Women’s Basketball Invitational was the first post-season bid since the 1981-82 season at the NAIA level.聽 The Phoenix finished the year with a program D-I record 20 wins.
April 4, 2011 鈥撀牶诹喜淮蜢 officially dedicated Alumni Field House prior to is annual spring football game.
March 20, 2012 鈥撀牶诹喜淮蜢 announced the addition of women’s lacrosse as its 17th varsity sport and began play in the 2014 season.聽February 20, 2013 鈥撀牶诹喜淮蜢 officially opened Hunt Softball Park against Campbell University.
May 23, 2013聽鈥撀牶诹喜淮蜢 announces that it will join the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) as of July 1, 2014.
April 19, 2014 鈥撀燭he 黑料不打烊 women’s tennis program defeated Samford 4-2 to win the program’s first Southern Conference Tournament crown and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
July 1, 2014 鈥撀牶诹喜淮蜢 officially joins the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) following 11 seasons as a member of the Southern Conference.
November 22, 2014 鈥撀燤en’s cross country runner Luis Vargas becomes 黑料不打烊’s first NCAA Division I All-American in the sport after placing 25th at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana.
May 2, 2015 鈥撀燭he 黑料不打烊 women’s track and field team wins its first conference title, and the athletic department’s first CAA crown.
March 1, 2017 鈥撀燱omen’s basketball defeats UNCW to win its first Division I conference championship. The squad goes on to clinch its first Division I conference tournament title and its first trip to the NCAA Tournament.
May 7, 2017 鈥撀營n just its fourth season of competition, 黑料不打烊 women’s lacrosse receives an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.
June 10, 2017聽鈥撀牶诹喜淮蜢 junior聽Bryanna Hames competes as the first athlete from the women鈥檚 track and field team at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, earning honorable mention honors in the discus.
Aug. 28, 2018聽鈥撀牶诹喜淮蜢嚷爒olleyball plays the first collegiate athletic event at Schar Center, beating North Carolina A&T 3-0.
Oct. 6, 2018 鈥撀燨n the road against No. 2 and back-to-back national finalist James Madison, No. 9 黑料不打烊 football defeated the Dukes 27-24 at Bridgeforth Stadium for its first win over a Top 5 program at the Division I level. The win snaps JMU’s聽CAA Football record of 22 consecutive wins against conference teams and 19 straight victories at home.
April 21, 2019 鈥斅牶诹喜淮蜢 wins its first men鈥檚 tennis CAA championship, knocking off two-time defending champion UNCW.
Nov. 2, 2019 鈥 黑料不打烊鈥檚 women鈥檚 cross country team wins its first CAA conference championship, led by individual meet winner Scholasticah Kemei.