Fit to a ‘T’
at the G

Fit to a ‘T’
at the G

Imagine a college campus without T-shirts. They are a standard part of every Spartan student’s wardrobe these days.

But take a glance through the Pine Needles yearbooks from the mid-1960s and earlier – that is, the Woman’s College era – and you’ll see none. Zero. What showed off your college affiliation? Your school spirit? Why, class jackets of course, each Woman’s College class year having its own color! Go WC! Go Class of 1961! Or 1958! Or whatever the class may be!

If you’re an alum of the past several decades, you know T-shirts tell a story. They present a patchwork of Spartan service events, of all-campus parties, of sports teams – fencing anyone? How about soccer or basketball championships?

UNCG Special Collections and University Archives is putting them on display, digitally, with the approximate year and a bit about the shirt’s history.

Let’s thread our way through some UNCG memories, one comfy T-shirt at a time…

Radio, Radio

1980s-2000s

18 watts is better than none, as a classic student radio station CD and poster once extolled. One T-shirt stated, “WUAG. The Music 103. Out of UNC Greensboro.” Jack Bonney ’02, ’06 MALS, WUAG general manager from 2003 to 2011 and current manager of Durham’s Carolina Soul record store, submitted that one, as well as the one you see here. It’s a multicolored adaptation of the WUAG logo first introduced in 1981, says David Gwynn ’09 MLS. Gwynn, who collected and posted the T-shirts this year for UNCG Archives, helped lead the station in 1983-84.

David Gwynn ’09 MLS

Student staff in the WUAG studios, 1984: Tim Clever, Donna Alderman, Meral Ozerengin, Mark Gentry, and Bonnie Davis. 

Hard Hat Cafe

1988

The Chancellor Bill Moran years were known for construction throughout campus. The Caf was one building – and it earned the name “Hard Hat Cafe.” Sharlene R. Forbes ’91 and Sam Logan ’22 MPA sent in samples. Forbes described her impression of campus during her years: “under construction.”

Students gathered near Jackson Library in late 1980s. Courtesy, Pine Needles.

Let’s Rawk

1980s

The campus’ best message board is The Rawk, donated by UNCG’s Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity in 1973. Truth is, there was no Greek system at UNCG until the 1970s. By fall 1981, there were seven fraternities and seven sororities officially recognized. Today, more than a dozen fraternities and sororities are active on campus. These members’ shirts show off their spirit at service events, at classes, and at ball games. Greek letters are a Spartan sign of school spirit.

3 sorority students at The Rawk

WAit! Is it UNC-G or UNCG?

1980s

The News & Record noted the hyphen’s demise with an article headlined “UNCG’s Hyphen Taking a Hike” on Jan. 22, 1986. Many couldn’t let it go. This Spartan appears to be in love with the hyphen, too.

Stitches and times

1990s–2000s

UNCG nursing professor Jacqueline Kayler DeBrew ’91, ’96 MSN, ’08 PhD cherishes her UNCG memories – many she shared with now-husband Clint Debrew ’91 when they were students … and they both continue to share through serving on campus and cheering on the basketball teams. Jacqueline took UNCG T-shirts that she and Clint had stored away and created a quilt. Each time they see it, it not only keeps them toasty, it reminds them of incredible times.

Jacqueline Kayler DeBrew ’91, MSN ’96, ’08 PhD

Great without gridiron

2015

UNCG now has a club football team, funded, coached, and led by students. But as for a Div. I team, with Saturday tailgating and marching band? Uhh no. At least we can take pride in our record. Zero losses. Contributor Sandra Bargamian Pace ’65 says, “Because it was WC when I started, I found the shirt very humorous.” Pace attended from 1961 to 1965 as Sandra Bargamian. We can enjoy some humor, as we watch the games on TV or our phones.

Happy Homecomings

1980s–2020s

Since the gone-but-not forgotten Falderal and the Fall Charlies gave way in the 1980s to the modern UNCG Homecoming, fall has been especially festive. In recent years, Chancellor Gilliam (below), has fired T-shirts into the Spartan crowd – if you’re lucky you’ll catch one. These shirts are in the collection of Emily Britt ’15, ’20 MBA, a former dance team member who submitted nearly a dozen shirts. “2016 was the first UNCG Homecoming I attended. I was invited to be on a Homecoming parade float,” she recalls. How many remember that parade every year?

Chancellor Gilliam fires T-shirts to students and alumni at a recent UNCG Homecoming.
A student shows off her T-shirt.