Students and alumni gathered outside Bragaw Residence Hall Tuesday afternoon to watch as alumni unearthed a time capsule buried 20 years ago at the rededication of Bragaw Hall on April 7, 1989. The event celebrated Bragaw’s 50th anniversary.
Tuesday’s ceremony began with opening remarks from Sherlonda Clarke, assistant director for Bragaw Hall. She welcomed the many alumni who had returned for the event.
Director of Housing Susan Grant recognized the presence of alumni, former RAs, and former Bragaw Board of Governors members at the ceremony. She remarked on how the Bragaw Activity Room has changed over the years from when it had a stage and a snack bar, but remained the major area for activities on West Campus.
“Nearly 40,000 students have lived in Bragaw since it was built,” she said. “That’s the size of a small city–it’s bigger than the population of Apex.”
The rededication ceremony in 1989 was intended to dedicate Bragaw Hall to students in the future. Since then, Bragaw has gone through various changes. In 1996 it became co-ed. The dorm had formerly housed only males, and the change to co-ed was not met with wide support. In 2005 new railings were installed. Starting last summer, major renovations of replacing the doors, dressers, closets, and lights began in the south side of Bragaw. The north side of Bragaw will be renovated next summer.
Grant said that the BBOG has always been very active in the IRC over the years. Though the decision to make Bragaw co-ed was not met with enthusiasm because residents wanted to keep the tradition of it being all male, changes have been positive for students.
Students in attendance had positive reactions to the 50th anniversary celebration.
“The idea of a time capsule is really cool,” Rachel McSwain, a sophomore in psychology, said. “I live in Metcalf, but I wanted to see what’s in the time capsule.”
Bill Royal, a former RA, BBOG president, and 1991 alumnus said that the central area (the Bragaw Activity Room) was a lot nicer than when he was on campus.
“Bragaw used to be all male with no air conditioning,” he said.
Tom Hinkle, a 1991 graduate in computer science, lived in Bragaw for four years.
“Living in Bragaw was great–you’ll never have the opportunity to live amongst your peers like this again,” he said. “We used a lot of box fans then. It was character building.”
Grant Sparks, an alumnus who lived in Bragaw for five years, spoke before the capsule was opened.
“This is a building with a great tradition and a lot of pride,” he said. “We used to beat the rails when we beat Carolina or Duke, but you can’t do that anymore because now they’re plastic.”
Sparks said people used to pull the fire alarm frequently.
“One time someone pulled it three times in one night, and each time we had to stand outside longer,” he said.
The program included remarks from current and past Bragaw employees and alumni.
For many students, the most exciting part of the ceremony was seeing the contents of the time capsule. Royal and Hinkle were involved in unpacking the time capsule, and explained why some items were included back in 1989.
“This is the Howl Towl, which originated in Bragaw,” Royal said. “We hoped it would catch on, but it never did. And yes, we did spell “towel” wrong on purpose.”
The “Carolina sucks” boxers were used for fundraising in Bragaw.
“We screenprinted them ourselves and dried them in the oven in the kitchen,” Royal said.
After the original time capsule was opened, Watterson and Weislak placed a new one inside the original capsule to be buried again and unearthed in 25 years.
The video from the 1989 dedication and 30th anniversary celebration was played, followed by a slide show of archive photos from the building of Bragaw.
Current residents of Bragaw also attended the anniversary celebration. Bo Trinh, a junior in biological sciences, said the opening of the old capsule showed how much college life at State hadn’t changed much over two decades.
“I thought the boxers were cool because they show that N.C. State’s attitude toward Carolina hasn’t changed.”
