“What is the history of Appalachian State University?” was the question posed last class that got me thinking; what is the history of ASU? So I took it upon myself to figure out and blog about it this week (this same information can be found at the website listed at the end of this blog, however).
Watauga Academy was founded in 1899 by brothers Blanford B. Dougherty and Dauphin D. Dougherty. It only had 53 students enrolled in 3 grades. It then became the Appalachian State Teachers College in 1929 with over 1,300 students enrolled in the Bachelor of Science degree programs.
Appalachian then grew into a university between 1955 and 1969, with Dr. William H. Plemmons as president. “Appalachian State Teachers College became Appalachian State University in 1967. Appalachian experienced a doubling of enrollment during the 1970s to about 9,500.”
In 1969, Dr. Herbert Wey succeeded Dr. Plemmons. He was president first, then chancellor in 1971. Dr. Wey started the student teacher program that is still here today, founded the College of Business, and allowed students to take more elective courses. Finally the Bachelor of Arts degree program was added.
Dr. John E. Thomas was the next chancellor. He was an engineer, a lawyer, and a manager. He was dedicated to expand growth to a maximum resident enrollment of 10,000 students. Chancellor Thomas then sought out a top-notch faculty. He supported international studies and education, seeing the rise of exchange programs with campuses in countries including China, Germany, and Costa Rica. Appalachian was the recognized by U.S. News & World Report, as “one of the outstanding comprehensive universities in the Southeast and nation.”
In 1993, Dr. Francis T. Borkowski became chancellor. He made partnerships with two-year colleges in the region and worked to better Appalachian’s affiliations with other universities in the world. Appalachian was also named Time Magazine’s “College of the Year in 2001”!
One thing I didn’t get to mention in class is that I used to work at the Appalachian Fund here on campus every night over at Raley Hall. “App Fund” is a student caller organization where students call Appalachian alumni and ask for donations for the university while we also fill them in on current events at ASU that may interest them and answer any questions they may have (I loathed that job; that’s why I only stayed there a year. I hated calling strangers asking for money, even though App Fund is a very good cause). However, what I want to mention is that we had different groups we would call; one group was the “Black and Gold” group that consisted of alumni that, get this, graduated between 1920 and 1940 (if I recall correctly)! I never reached any of them when we were calling but I hated to imagine trying to talk to such “decagenarians” (is that the polite term?) on the phone and get a donation from them without any trouble (some would not be able to hear you and many would be deceased).
http://www.appstate.edu/about/history.php
Interesting post, Jarrod! I knew that ASU used to be a Teachers' College, but I had no idea that they didn't add a BA program until after 1969. That's crazy!
ReplyDeleteOn a different note, I don't blame you about hating your cold-calling job. That would be very difficult.