{"id":89841,"date":"2026-03-11T15:15:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T19:15:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/?p=89841"},"modified":"2026-03-11T15:15:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T19:15:24","slug":"history-feature-unc-asheville-and-the-making-of-a-mountain-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/lifestyle\/history-feature-unc-asheville-and-the-making-of-a-mountain-university\/","title":{"rendered":"<strong>History Feature:<\/strong> UNC Asheville and the Making  of a Mountain University"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_89845\" style=\"width: 1210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-89845\" class=\"size-full wp-image-89845\" src=\"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/History-UNCA-02-March-2026-History-Column-UNCA-D.H.-Ramsey-Library-Special-Collections-UNC-Asheville-28804-copy-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"665\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/History-UNCA-02-March-2026-History-Column-UNCA-D.H.-Ramsey-Library-Special-Collections-UNC-Asheville-28804-copy-2.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/History-UNCA-02-March-2026-History-Column-UNCA-D.H.-Ramsey-Library-Special-Collections-UNC-Asheville-28804-copy-2-300x166.jpg 300w, https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/History-UNCA-02-March-2026-History-Column-UNCA-D.H.-Ramsey-Library-Special-Collections-UNC-Asheville-28804-copy-2-1024x567.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/History-UNCA-02-March-2026-History-Column-UNCA-D.H.-Ramsey-Library-Special-Collections-UNC-Asheville-28804-copy-2-768x426.jpg 768w, https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/History-UNCA-02-March-2026-History-Column-UNCA-D.H.-Ramsey-Library-Special-Collections-UNC-Asheville-28804-copy-2-810x449.jpg 810w, https:\/\/thelaurelofasheville.com\/updatestage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/History-UNCA-02-March-2026-History-Column-UNCA-D.H.-Ramsey-Library-Special-Collections-UNC-Asheville-28804-copy-2-1140x632.jpg 1140w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-89845\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Overlook Castle. Photo courtesy of D.H. Ramsey Library Special Collections, UNC Asheville<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Asheville was growing fast in the years after World War I. As tourism surged and land deals multiplied, the city was beginning to see itself as a place of possibility rather than a remote outpost. That momentum brought opportunity, but it also brought challenges.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis population increase led to the expansion of its public school system, with two separate high schools bursting at the seams by the mid-1920s,\u201d says Ashley M. Whittle, director of special collections and university archivist at UNC Asheville. \u201cIncidentally, this also created a corresponding demand for higher education options that were accessible and affordable for residents of Western North Carolina.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That need was met in 1927, when Buncombe County Junior College opened in a basement classroom. Tuition was free for Asheville residents, and getting to class often meant walking, riding a streetcar or carpooling.<\/p>\n<p>Students quickly began shaping a campus culture of their own. Football and basketball teams took form, followed by a glee club and a student newspaper. \u201cThere was even a dean of women during this time, with Virginia Bryan joining the faculty in 1928,\u201d says Whittle.<\/p>\n<p>By the middle of the 20th century, enrollment had grown from 86 students to 280. That momentum carried the college from basement classrooms to a series of new locations, including\u2014briefly\u2014a castle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe campus was located in the 20,000-square-foot Seely\u2019s Castle\u2014also known as Overlook Castle\u2014on Sunset Mountain from 1949 to 1961,\u201d says Whittle. \u201cThis is also how UNC Asheville received the moniker, \u2018The College in the Sky.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In 1961, the institution moved to its present campus in North Asheville. In the years that followed, the college took on a more defined role within North Carolina\u2019s public higher education landscape, becoming a four-year state college in 1963, officially joining the University of North Carolina System in 1969 and being designated as the UNC System\u2019s liberal arts university in 1992.<\/p>\n<p>Through it all, the university has remained grounded in a commitment to liberal arts education.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo me, the most enduring aspect of UNC Asheville\u2019s history is its steadfast role as a publicly accessible institution of higher education with an emphasis on liberal arts,\u201d says Whittle.<\/p>\n<p>Today, nearly a century after its founding, UNC Asheville is facing shifting enrollment patterns, rising costs and increased competition for resources\u2014pressures confronting many smaller public universities nationwide. In response, the institution has launched Asheville 2030, a long-term planning effort aligning enrollment strategy, academic direction, financial planning and campus considerations.<\/p>\n<p>Work already underway ranges from expanding affordability through programs such as Access Asheville, to reviewing academic offerings to better match student demand, to the renovation of Lipinsky Hall into a state-of-the-art performance and learning hub with collaborative classrooms, modern music technology labs, acoustically optimized rehearsal spaces and private practice rooms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur past reminds us that UNC Asheville has always adapted while staying true to its mission,\u201d says UNC Asheville\u2019s chancellor, Kimberly van Noort. \u201cAs we look ahead, <em>Asheville 2030<\/em> is about thoughtfully planning to protect access, strengthen our academic foundation and prepare the university to serve WNC well into its next century.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>To learn more, visit <a href=\"http:\/\/go.UNCA.edu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">go.UNCA.edu<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Asheville was growing fast in the years after World War I. As tourism surged and land deals multiplied, the city was beginning to see itself as a place of possibility rather than a remote outpost. That momentum brought opportunity, but it also brought challenges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":89845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94,57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-heritage","category-lifestyle"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>History Feature: UNC Asheville and the Making of a Mountain University - The Laurel of Asheville<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Asheville was growing fast in the years after World War I. 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