Katie Owens, a freshman in Biology, is no stranger to N.C. State. Five generations of her family attended the University reaching back to her great-great-grandfather, Charles Park, the valedictorian of the University’s first graduating class.

Owens said she remembers the University being a part of her life since she was about four or five years old.

Owens said she could not even count how many members of her family have gone to NCSU, but she said she would estimate the number to be about 26, not including her second cousins. Currently, her brother and cousin also attend N.C. State, and her sister is thinking about swimming for the University next year.

Though she still has many memories to make, Owens said her favorite university tradition is going to football games. Her grandparents have gotten season tickets every year since she was two or three.

Margie Lucas, Owens’ grandmother and volunteer at the alumni house, said she remembers the whole family piled into one car on the way to a football game and getting backed up in traffic.

Lucas’s father, a former N.C. State football, basketball and track player, had never missed kickoff at an N.C. State game before, so he got out of the car and walked to the game, according to Lucas.

Owens’ mother continued the legacy of sports fanaticism when she slept in a broom closet at Reynolds Coliseum one night to be the first one inside to win tickets for an N.C. State basketball game, according to Owens.

Reynolds Coliseum used to house an ice rink, which attracted many northerners, but dripping pipes, according to Lucas, caused it to close.

The Wolfpack spirit extends to Lucas’s house, where red and white paint bedeck the walls and N.C. State lampshades add to the ambiance, according to Owens.

A plate collection from 1946 sits in the den, depicting University landmarks such as the Bell Tower, Holladay Hall and “what used to be D.H. Hill Library,” according to Lucas, along with other iconic photos.

Frances Grant, Owens’ aunt, said she remembers the winter of 1986 or 1987.  

The University cancelled classes for the first time in ages due to inclement weather caused by snow and ice, according to Grant. The area between Lee and Sullivan Halls then erupted into an impromptu snowball fight with hundreds of students armed with snow, Grant said.

“I remember going past Tucker Hall and people would have the door pinned down with snowballs,” Grant said.

Both Grant and Lucas said they recall a gender barrier present during their time at N.C. State.

“Every time I walked into a lab, I was the only girl there,” Grant said.

Grant said she remembered reading the hostile body language of the males in the room, none of who wanted to work with her, though she ended up receiving the highest grade in the class.

Lucas said gender discrimination kept her from attending NCSU until she got accepted into a graduate program.

Grant said she had to sleep in the breezeway of Bragaw Hall, because someone would pull the fire alarm every Thursday night in Sullivan Hall.

When choosing to enroll at N.C. State, Owens said her family had “a pretty big influence” on the decision. Owens is from Cary originally, so she said she liked that she would be in proximity to her parents, and they could “help her out” when needed.

“They were worried,” Owens said. “I felt like I needed to go to State because everyone else in my family goes to State. My grandparents would always joke about, if I didn’t go to State, it would be a disgrace.”

Owens said she admits she applied to UNC-CH, as well, but said she fell in love with the NCSU after taking a tour.

“I just liked the student body a lot more, the whole atmosphere. I don’t think I’ve had a bad experience yet,” Owens said.