UNC Pembroke’s unique history will be celebrated during a special Founders’ Day ceremony at 11 a.m., Thursday, March 14 in front of Old Main on campus.

Open to the public, the event will highlight the university’s heritage and the seven visionaries who founded Croatan Normal School, the forerunner institution to UNCP: Isaac Brayboy, James E. Dial Sr., Preston Locklear, W.L. Moore, James Oxendine, John J. Oxendine and Olin Oxendine. The celebration will feature music, a traditional blessing and honor song from the Lumbee Tribe Cultural Team, and a special presentation about the founders by UNCP students and Dr. Lawrence Locklear, director of the Office of Student Inclusion and Diversity and adjunct associate professor of American Indian Studies.

Established as Croatan Normal School on March 7, 1887, UNCP began as the only state-supported American Indian college in the nation.

Family members of UNCP’s founders can contact Dr. Rebekah Lowry, director of Alumni Affairs, at rebekah.lowry@uncp.edu or 910.521.6333 if they plan to attend the event.