{The Blue Banner}
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
UNC Asheville celebrates 83rd anniversary
Teresa Linn
TCL1NN@UNCA.EDU
STAFF WRITER
U NC Asheville celebrates the
83rd year of its small liberal
arts feel and sense of commu
nity despite the amazing growth it has
undergone, according to Associate
Vice Chancellor for alumni relations
Kevan Frazier.
“If I brought somebody back from
when I was here in the late ’80s and
early ’90s, or a decade before, or even
a decade before that, I don’t think
they’re going to find it unfamiliar,” he
said. “There will be new things, but
I think there’s still a really wonder
ful consistency and sense of place at
UNCA.”
According to Frazier, UNCA has
grown since the school’s founding on
Sept. 12,1927.
“There were 86 students in that first
class,” he said. “The first graduating
class was the class of 1929, and there
were 29 graduates that year. We now
have about 3,200.”
Professor of chemistry John Ste
vens said the school was quite differ
ent for him when he began teaching at
the university 42 years ago.
“It was a time when everybody knew
everybody,” he said. “It was really a
family. There was not much in the way
of buildings and not much in the way
of students. It was very experimental.
That’s what attracted me here.”
Shirley Browning, professor of
economics, joined the UNCA faculty
just one year after Stevens and said he
feared the growth in numbers because
he didn’t want to lose the connection
between students and faculty.
“I am afraid that the institution, in
fact, has run the risk of becoming so
large that the ability of faculty and
students to work closely together in
smaller groups, whether it’s in teach
ing or research or service, is becoming
endangered,” he said.
Browning said despite UNCA’s
growth in numbers, he enjoyed watch
ing opportunities grow for students
throughout the years.
“I have enjoyed seeing the academic
iiM/~ A f 1-1. .Photo courtesy UNC Asheville, Ramsey Library, Special Collections
^ 1°"^^ ^ featured a small number of buildings. Professor of chemis
try John Stevens said the school was much smaller when he began teaching 42 years ago.
programs improve in quality,” he said.
“It is a combination of having more
faculty that would allow more topic
subjects and issues within disciplines
to be explored by students. I think that
has been one of the nicer things I’ve
seen in our growth.”
According to Frazier, professors’ fo
cus on the success and development of
their students dates back to the univer
sity’s beginnings.
“In the first two years there was no
tuition,” Frazier said. “Once the Great
Depression was in full swing, they had
to start charging $100 a semester for
tuition. The faculty members were so
committed to their students that they
would accept butter, eggs, chickens or
whatever students might have at home
to be able to pay for their education.”
Stevens said chancellors introduced
the biggest changes in the institution,
specifically Chancellor David Brown
from 1984 to 1990.
“He identified three areas he wanted
to focus on,” Stevens said. “One was
the humanities program. We were go
ing to continue to focus on humanities
and move it along. The second one
was undergraduate research, and the
third one was health promotion.”
UNCA held the first national con
ference on undergraduate research in
1986, and its surprisingly positive re
sponse energized the campus, accord
ing to Stevens, who worked closely on
the project.
“We organized the first year of the
conference and we expected we were
going to have 50 to 100 people,” he
said. “We had 500. The campus real
ized there was something going on
nationally, and we were in the center
of it.”
Stevens said he is devoted to his stu
dents and their lives.
“I have enjoyed impacting society in
a number of different ways, like work
ing on the grand challenges of sustain
ability to help change and impact the
lives of students,” he said. “They’re
in a very informative stage. They’re
trying to figure out who they are and
where they’re going. I feel like that’s
part of where I make a difference in
society in terms of helping the students
in that way.”