Stories - Our First 70 Years
UNCW has achieved remarkable success in just 70 years thanks to the generations of students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends who define what it means to be a Seahawk. We’re honored to recognize many of them in the stories featured below, on the WE ARE UNCW website, and in UNCW Magazine.

Larry Usilton
Musings on the 70th Anniversary of UNCW
When I arrived on campus in 1971 as the newest member of the History Department, UNCW was a very young institution nestled among the pines adjacent to a not so-very-congested, two-lane South College Road. The old-timers affectionately referred to the school as “Wilmington College,” while the youngsters knew it as UNC by the Sea or UNC by K-Mart.
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Stephen Harper
40 Years of Teaching Excellence
Stephen Harper’s career at UNCW has spanned six chancellors, four deans and more than 40 years of teaching students the finer points of business and entrepreneurship. Coincidentally, Harper, the Duke Energy/Betty Cameron Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship in the Cameron School of Business, will celebrate his 70th birthday just two months after UNCW observes the 70th anniversary of the date it first opened its doors, Sept. 4, 1947.
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Ottillie Mensah '19
A Student Set to Soar
No stranger to leadership positions, Ottillie Mensah ’19 sees her new role as president of the Student Government Association as another way she can make a difference at UNCW.
“I think we as students sometimes don’t understand how much power we cultivate. Students are the reason this campus is here,” said Mensah. “The Student Government Association empowers students to use their voices and speak up. We may not see an immediate impact, but laying a foundation now is imperative for change to occur.”
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Carol Ellis
A Golden Seahawk
Carol Ellis’ journey at UNCW started when she was a student studying music and history at Wilmington College, a three-building campus, in 1961. In 2016, she celebrated her 50-year tenure as a UNCW employee.
“It’s been a privilege to be part of an institution that has grown in size and has maintained the quality,” Ellis said. “My family used to joke and ask, ‘Who stays at the same job anymore?’ I obviously have been very fortunate with the people I work with and the opportunities I’ve had. I call it a blessing.”
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A Look Back at the Class of 1965
From the Winter 2015 Issue of UNCW Magazine
The modern university that UNCW has become took root while the Class of 1963 was on campus, when the College Road location was new (the groundbreaking was held in 1961), and the traditions of a four-year university were just starting to take shape.
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