The Cathy Sterling Papers include correspondence, texts of speeches, reports, clippings, photographs, and artifacts relating to Cathy Sterling's tenure, 1970-1971, as Student Body President at North Carolina State University. Many of the materials focus on Sterling's status as North Carolina State University's first female student ...
MoreThe Cathy Sterling Papers include correspondence, texts of speeches, reports, clippings, photographs, and artifacts relating to Cathy Sterling's tenure, 1970-1971, as Student Body President at North Carolina State University. Many of the materials focus on Sterling's status as North Carolina State University's first female student body president, as well as her involvement in protest movements against the Vietnam War, which included organizing a campus Peace Retreat. The materials range in date from 1966 to 1999, with the bulk of the materials being from 1970 to 1972. Cathy (now known as Kate) Sterling served as the first female student body president at North Carolina State University, 1970-1971. She conducted a successful write-in campaign with a platform that focused on students’ rights and the administration’s use of student fees. In the Spring of 1970, Sterling married Gene Messick, a graduate of the School (now College) of Design at NC State and director of the multimedia program at Stewart Theatre. Soon after, Messick accepted a teaching position at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and Sterling moved to Ithaca to join him after the conclusion of her term as Student Body President. However, Sterling remained active in NC State’s Student Government activities throughout the 1971-1972 academic year. Sterling later returned to NC State, where she graduated in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science degree in vocational industrial education.
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