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NC State Alumni •

Hooked on the Pack

At NC State, giving back reflects a shared commitment to community — a reflection of pride, Pack spirit and purpose. Through I Give Because, we share the stories behind the Wolfpack’s devotion — the people whose generosity keeps this red-and-white heartbeat strong.


This installment features Kelly Hook ’99 — former student body president, alumna volunteer, NC State Alumni board of directors member and lifelong Wolfpack advocate. Even after moving to San Francisco, New York and Montana, she say...
NC State Alumni •

An Account of Impact

At NC State, giving back reflects a shared commitment to community — a reflection of pride, Pack spirit and purpose. Through I Give Because, we share the stories behind the Wolfpack’s devotion — the people whose generosity keeps this red-and-white heartbeat strong.


This installment features alumna Sandy Barnes, who graduated in 1995 with a bachelor’s in accounting, followed by a master’s in accounting in 1996. Her husband, Danny, also earned his bachelor of science in zoology from NC State in...
NC State Alumni •

Pack Your Passport

NC State’s WolfTreks Young Alumni Travel Program has long encouraged alumni to engage with their curiosity, drive and willingness to learn. 


One young, 27-year-old alumnus encapsulates all of those values and will be headed out on his third journey this summer. John Wallace ’20, an electrical engineering graduate who has traveled with NC State Alumni for several years, has been to Greece, Peru and, this spring, will travel to Portugal. He continues coming back to travel with WolfTreks to see...
School of Social Work •

Lauren Clark: Spreading the Good News

At the end of December 2024, according to the North Carolina Department of Social Services, there were over 10,000 children and nearly a 1,000 young adults in the state’s foster care system. It has been reported by numerous news outlets that there is a critical shortage of foster families to provide these youth with loving and stable homes, something that NC State University alumna Lauren Clark ’20 had become painfully aware of during her college career.


“Starting off in college, I had no ide...
NC State Alumni •

The Foundation

In the fall of 1999, 18 men stepped onto the campus of NC State University. They didn’t arrive as a group, but through orientation, shared classes, the African American Symposium and the inevitable grind of freshman year, they found one another. What began as a handful of cliques — some bound by high school connections, others by dorm life or shared majors — slowly distilled into something stronger. Today, more than 20 years later, they call themselves The Foundation.


Their story is rare: the...
NC State Alumni •

From the Himalayas to Hillsborough Street

Note to readers: NC State is celebrating International Education Week November 17-21, 2025. IEW is an opportunity for the campus community to showcase and strengthen the commitment to Think and Do on a global scale. 


When Shubham Rawat left the rural mountains of India for the highways of Raleigh, North Carolina, he wasn’t chasing prestige — he was mostly chasing perspective. 


“I’ve always loved solving problems, whether they involve machines or people,” he said. “During my master’s at the...
NC State Alumni •

Feeding the Pack, Fueling Success

For nearly two decades, Kathy Ford has called North Carolina State University home. After 14 years with Poole College of Management and almost four years serving as executive assistant in the College of Engineering, Ford has witnessed the shared heartbeat of the Wolfpack community from many angles. 


There was one cause, she said, though, that stood out to her when considering giving back to the Pack that has supported her since 2007 – one that ensures the university stays sufficiently nourish...
Red and White Week •

Red and White Week 2025 Recap

Editor’s note: The work and impact of NC State Alumni Regional Networks and events like Red and White Week are made possible through generous donors who support the Alumni Impact Fund.


Every fall, Red and White Week brings to life a homecoming that resonates across the entire Wolfpack community. It’s a celebration of pride and connection — one that grows stronger each year.


That Pack spirit brought together alumni, students, staff, faculty, donors and friends from Raleigh to regions across...
NC State Alumni •

Red, White and Wolfpack

At NC State, giving back reflects a shared commitment to community — a reflection of pride, Pack spirit and purpose. Through the I Give Because series, we share the stories behind the Wolfpack’s devotion — the people whose generosity keeps this red-and-white heartbeat strong.


This Veterans Day installment highlights Krissy Goff ’99, an NC State alumna, Army ROTC graduate, veteran and member of both the Veterans Alumni Network and Wolfpack Women in Philanthropy. Her story is one of gratitude,...
School of Social Work •

Student Highlight: P. Thompson and B. Alvares Herrera

Two Master of Social Work (MSW) students at NC State, Piragio Thompson and Benicio Alvares Herrera, have been selected for the Council on Social Work Education’s (CSWE) Minority Fellowship Program (MFP), a nationally recognized initiative designed to prepare future leaders who can address mental health and substance use needs in historically underrepresented communities. For both Thompson and Herrera, the fellowship represents not just a professional milestone but a chance to live out their comm...
NC State Alumni •

New Members Join the NC State Board of Directors

Board service is one of the many ways alumni and friends continue to strengthen the Pack, because the Pack is always stronger together.


The NC State Alumni Association board of directors recently welcomed five new members. Board members provide input and guidance to the Alumni Engagement and Annual Giving team and are charged with creating an engaged and invested Wolfpack community for life. Currently, twenty-five alumni serve on the board, with a term of service that can last up to eight co...
NC State Alumni •

Career Coaching: Navigating Your Career

Editor’s note: Career coaching access for alumni is made possible through generous donors who support the Alumni Impact Fund.


For NC State alumni, graduation doesn’t mark the end of career support — in fact, for most, it’s just the beginning.


Barbara Efird, a career coach with NC State, has built her profession around helping Wolfpack alumni navigate career changes, job searches and professional growth long after they leave campus. Efird works with graduates at every stage: recent alumni s...
Red and White Week •

A Homecoming Homage

For NC State’s Student Alumni Association, balancing time-honored traditions while looking to the future is at the heart of Red and White Week, the university’s annual homecoming celebration.


Charlie Hurley, director of student engagement for homecoming for the SAA, has been working to lay out the framework for the events and line up loyal partners.“Honoring traditions is the main purpose of the Student Alumni Association,” Hurley said. “We host events every year, such as NC-SYNC and Homecomi...
NC State Alumni •

The Multiplier Effect

It can often seem like an overstatement, the impact that college has on a person’s future. For Ged King, however, that influence was undeniable. 


King hopes to replicate the impact he found at State that shaped his career and have a multiplier effect by hiring NC State students and alumni through his company, Sales Factory. 


Harrison Mehr is one of those students.


Mehr said part of what drew him to the company was the way Sales Factory approaches their work, “At Sales Factory, Love to W...
NC State Alumni •

Regional Volunteer Spotlight

Editor’s note: The work and impact of NC State Alumni Regional Networks is made possible through generous donors who support the Alumni Impact Fund.


NC State’s regional network volunteers instill Pack pride across the country, creating opportunities for alumni to connect, give back and celebrate what it means to be Red and White for life. 


These volunteers organize networking socials, service projects, student send-offs and game-day gatherings, creating and preserving spaces for alumni to...
School of Social Work •

Undergraduate Highlight: Kianna Redetzke, Cherished Fellowship

The State Employees’ Credit Union Foundation was laid upon a bed of humanism, magnanimity, and camaraderie when it was chartered back in 2004. In the two decades since its conception, the foundation has proven itself to be one of the most influential and philanthropic organizations in North Carolina. Annually since 2017, the SECU has been providing twenty promising students from each UNC system school the chance to participate in a paid summer internship program that connects them to government...
School of Social Work •

Alumni Highlight: Heather Palmateer, a Rock in the Storm

When Heather Palmateer graduated from NC State in the Spring of ‘21 with her MSW, she could have never anticipated that, three years later, she would be on the frontlines of Appalachian devastation. Face to face with the trauma inflicted on Western North Carolina by the deadliest Atlantic hurricane since Katrina, tragically claiming over two hundred lives in a once-in-1,000-year flood.


Ms. Palmateer, along with three other crisis counselors in the Chapel Hill Police Department, was tasked wit...