2019 in Review

From releasing Howling Cow ice cream in stores across North Carolina, to launching into space, to reaching our fundraising campaign goal more than two years early, 2019 was an extraordinary end to the decade. Watch the video and read below to take a look back at some of NC State’s biggest moments of the year.

Howling Cow was everywhere. We started the year on a sweet note by releasing Howling Cow ice cream in Triangle-area grocery stores. Now you can get your fix everywhere from Asheville to Wilmington. We also launched Coco Choco Cafe — a new flavor of Howling Cow concocted by Provost Warwick Arden. The Provost’s Pick is a coffee ice cream with chocolate chunks, a swirl of caramel and coconut flakes.

We took the challenge. 5 miles. 12 doughnuts. 1 hour. We raised $190,000 for the UNC Children’s Hospital at the 2019 Krispy Kreme Challenge.

We got sentimental when the class of 2019 graduated in May by visiting some of the places on campus that are most meaningful to them. Then in December, we walked the bricks with a few of our fall grads to share their Pathway to Graduation stories.

The Pack gave back. We held our first NC State Day of Giving, and you helped us raise more than $13.5 million in just 24 hours.

Our alumni are out of this world. We cheered on alumna and NASA astronaut Christina Koch as she launched into space in March. Then in August, we hosted a live Q&A to ask her about life on the International Space Station.

We poured one out to celebrate the launch of Old Tuffy Premium Lager. The partnership with New Belgium Brewing Company will provide annual support to student-success initiatives and research projects and help further develop NC State’s fermentation science program.

A rare plant known as the corpse flower bloomed in an NC State greenhouse for the first time since 2016 and attracted hundreds of visitors who wanted to see it — and smell it. This special plant, named for its strong stench that some describe as rotting flesh, is owned by horticultural science student Brandon Huber.

Tipping enrollment over 36,000, we welcomed the class of 2023 to the Pack with more than 100 Wolfpack Welcome Week events and activities.

Bells will be ringing. The Memorial Belltower construction and renovation project started in August. Thanks to the generous support of the Henry family, the Belltower’s speaker system will soon be replaced with real bells as originally intended.

We dug into the archives and reminisced about some of our favorite places on campus to kick off Red and White Week. Then, we celebrated with a week full of new and old homecoming traditions to welcome our alumni back to campus.

We reached the $1.6 billion goal of our Think and Do the Extraordinary Campaign more than two years early. Our next priority? To provide extraordinary opportunities by empowering more North Carolinians — of every family background and economic situation — to earn a college degree.

What was your favorite NC State moment of 2019? Tell us in the comments below.