North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University celebrated the 135th anniversary of its founding on Monday.
N.C. A&T was the first public institution of higher education for African Americans in North Carolina, established in 1891.
The school’s first two presidents, John Oliver Crosby and James Benson Dudley, were born into slavery.
During the ceremony, current Chancellor James R. Martin II spoke about that history. He also referenced many other notable A&T figures, like Ronald McNair, who became one of the first Black Americans to travel to space in 1984.
“If we could rise from the bonds of slavery to beyond the bonds of the earth in less than a century, then there is no challenge too great," he said. "There is no frontier too distant. There is no future beyond our reach.”
Martin became chancellor in 2024. Looking ahead, he says the university plans to start a student emergency fund, expand online offerings and create a platform to support life-long learning for A&T graduates.
"We will prove for the world that access and excellence are not opposing forces," he said. "And while some elite universities are defined by who they exclude, North Carolina A&T is and always will be defined by the people we include."
A recording of the event can be found on N.C. A&T's website.