Students had the opportunity to celebrate Founder’s Day with free pizza, cake and a photo opportunity with Walter Matthews.
Matthews was the first student to enroll in N.C. State after it was founded in 1887. Mitchell Abbott, a junior in civil engineering and a member of the Alumni Association Student Ambassador Program, dressed as Matthews for the event Tuesday in the brickyard.
According to Brittnee Rambo, a senior in psychology and a student ambassador, the event was a combination of recruitment efforts for AASAP and a celebration of the founding of N.C. State.
“Right now [AASAP] is going through recruitment,” Rambo said. “It’s a chance for students to be tradition keepers and ambassadors for the University.”
According to the AASAP website, student ambassadors serve as liaisons between alumni, administration and students.
“We’re involved in Students Today, Alumni Tomorrow, the traditions committee, homecoming, membership committee and senior class relations,” Rambo said.
Abbott said he got the idea to dress like Walter Matthews from other schools.
“I saw where other schools had done this and thought it was a good idea,” Abbott said. “This is the first year anyone has dressed up for Founder’s Day.”
According to Abbott, the response to him as Matthews was good.
“A lot of people have laughed, but it’s been good,” Abbott said. “I’ve taken a lot of pictures, but not as many as Mr. Wuf would have.”
Annie Linker, a junior in communications, said she was the vice-president of AASAP last year and was in charge of the Founder’s Day celebration.
“We think it’s important to celebrate Founder’s Day,” Linker said. “A lot of people don’t know when N.C. State was founded, so we’re raising awareness about that and it’s always good to have cake.”
The AASAP celebration on the Brickyard ties in with other Founder’s Day celebrations around campus, according to Linker.
“For one thing, there’s a Founder’s Day dinner every year,” Linker said.
Founder’s Day is actually March 7, 1887, however due to spring break, the group made the decision to celebrate early.
“It’s always good to have an early birthday celebration, but it doesn’t look good to have a belated birthday,” Linker said.
Abbott said he anticipates someone dressing up again for the celebration next year.
“I’d like to continue this tradition of someone dressing up. If someone else doesn’t do it, I will,” Abbott said. “I already have the outfit anyway.”
Sam Dennis, the director of the traditions committee and a senior in biological sciences, said this is the first year the Founder’s Day celebration has included pizza.
“We introduced pizza this year,” Dennis said. “We’re hoping to build this up as big as Homecoming is in the fall. Homecoming is our big fall event, so we’d like this to be our big event in the spring.”
