Givens Performing Arts Center.
It was the University's 123rd year, and University officials said
the event is a prelude to a far bigger 125th celebration.
Approximately 200 relatives of founders and early graduates
of the University attended the mid-morning event. Founder's Day
2010 honored the founding Board of Trustees and University
graduates up to the class of 1950.
Dr. Gilbert Sampson `58, retired chair of UNCP's Mathematics
and Computer Science Department, is related to four of the seven
founders, including one of the first students, O.R. Sampson.
"This was very informative and a great thing for the University
and the community," Dr. Sampson said. "This is a good day."
Wendy Moore is a descendant of W.L. Moore, the man who
was hailed as a "founder, erector, teacher."
"I thought I knew a lot about this University, but I learned a
lot today," Moore said. "I'm glad I came."
Magnolia Oxendine Lowry, a retired faculty member, is also
related to several of the founders.
"I never realized there was so much history here," Lowry said.
"I am ever grateful to the founders."
The University was founded in 1887, said Dr. Linda Oxendine
`68, the retired chair of the American Indian Studies Department
and co-author of the centennial history of the University.
"W.L. Moore and Hamilton McMillan shared a vision for this
University," she said. "The history of this institution is so unlike
any other.
"That this University had Indian control is what made it so
visionary," Dr. Oxendine said. "I think that having local control
was key."
State Representative McMillan authored a bill to appropriate
$500 to pay faculty of the school, but it was up to the local
American Indian community to purchase land and building
materials and erect the first buildings.
"The $500 appropriation was for salaries and came with the
the legislation would be repealed during the next session of the
legislature," Dr. Oxendine said.
Dr. Oxendine and Lawrence Locklear `05, a member of the
Founder's Day Planning Committee, discussed the early history.
Former Chancellor Charles Jenkins, who has worked 38 years at
the University, welcomed guests to the Founders Day celebration
of 123 years of the school's history.
"This is a seminal event that we hope will become an annual
event," former Chancellor Jenkins said. "We all have a great deal
to celebrate, and this event will lead up to a larger celebration of
the 125th year."
Former Chancellor Jenkins said the school's founding and
history speak to the "courage, tenacity and strength of our
founders.
"The founders of this University were men of good will," he
said. "The Lumbee Indian community, which built this University,
are people of good will."
Speakers offered their thoughts and shared their personal
histories with the University.
Dr. Cheryl Locklear `75, former trustee and member of the
UNC Board of Governors, said "there is no university in America
with a more unique history or a story so compelling."
"The founders may have lived in a place that people
considered poor, but their ideas were rich with possibilities," Dr.
Locklear said. "There is no limit to what can be done if we are
willing to do the hard work, fight the good fight and believe in
ourselves."
Dr. Locklear noted that her parents and daughter are
graduates also.
Dr. Freda Porter `78, a faculty member and chairwoman of
the Board of Trustees, called the founders' work an "unrelenting
personal sacrifice."
"The history of our University is a story of ordinary people