Events
College Celebrates Inaugural Founders Day and Spirit Month
RALEIGH, N.C. (April 4, 2023) – Wake Tech is honoring its past and celebrating its future with a month-long schedule of events for students, faculty, staff, alumni and retirees.
Themed "Rallying the Past, Present and Future," Wake Tech's inaugural Founders Day and Spirit Month celebration will become an annual event to honor the establishment of the college and its service to the community. April is also national Community College Month, a time for saluting the value and impact of community colleges.
Spirit Month activities kicked off April 1 with Open House at Scott Northern Wake and Perry Health Sciences campuses and will continue through Spring Commencement ceremonies on May 6.
The April 2 baseball game featured the Wake Tech Eagles taking on Catawba Valley Community College at Ting Park in Holly Springs. The Eagles fell to the Red Hawks, 10-7, but fans were treated to an exciting game – along with free peanuts and CrackerJack! Janie Slaughter, retired department head of Criminal Justice and Forensic Science, threw the ceremonial first pitch.
A Founders Day Celebration was held April 3, the official anniversary of the college's charter. The fun included ice cream, cupcakes, T-shirts and stickers for students and employees, all organized by the Wake Tech Student Government Association and Student Activities. Retirees were honored at a special luncheon.
Other events, including the college's annual student, faculty and staff Excellence Awards ceremony, a blood drive and Strawberry Festival, are scheduled throughout the month to celebrate. Wake Tech's third president, Dr. Steve Scott, joined President Dr. Scott Ralls on the We Are Wake Tech podcast to reflect on the past, present and future of North Carolina's largest community college.
Wake Tech history
In the late 1950s, the North Carolina General Assembly approved funding for a new concept in higher education: industrial education centers to train adults in the vocational and technical skills needed by the region's emerging industries.
The Wake County Industrial Education Center was chartered in 1958, and officials began searching for a permanent site for the institution. While they looked, they started offering a few classes – blueprint reading, power sewing and technical secretary – at community sites. They also launched a licensed practical nursing program at Memorial Hospital – now WakeMed – in Raleigh.
Officials found land south of Raleigh as the home for the new institution, which adopted a new name that honored W.W. "Bill" Holding, a county commissioner and original steering committee member. The W.W. Holding Industrial Education Center opened on October 7, 1963, with 34 full-time students in Automobile Mechanics, Radio and TV Repair, Electrical Installation and Maintenance, and Drafting. An additional 270 students took classes at community sites and were enrolled in the Nursing program.
Today, Wake Tech has expanded to six campuses, and construction is underway on a seventh. The college also operates two training centers and partners with the Wake County Public School System to offer classes at four Cooperative Innovative High Schools. Enrollment at the college has grown to about 63,000 students a year.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Wake Tech's rebranding, which introduced its signature torch logo, now recognizable throughout the area.
