Talley Student Center front view, circa 1973 to 1979
Fabulous 50: Talley Student Center Opens
August 15, 2022
Since its original doors opened in June of 1972, the Talley Student Union has been a central hub for the NC State University Community and visitors. The building was named after former vice-chancellor of student affairs Banks C. Talley (1926-2017). Banks Talley became assistant dean of students at North Carolina State College (later North Carolina State University) in 1951. During his career at NC State, Talley served as coordinator and director of student activities, associate dean and dean of student affairs, and vice chancellor for student affairs. He officially stepped down from NC State in 1984.
G. Milton Small (1916-1992) designed the original Talley Student Center. He is considered one of the foremost modernist architects working in the southeastern United States in the later half of the 20th century. He relocated to North Carolina in 1948 to head the architectural office of William Henley Deitrick, at that time Raleigh's most prominent architectural firm and the most committed to modernist design.
Before the Talley Student Union was built, other buildings on campus served the same purpose. In 1913, the King Religious Center became a de facto student union before the first college union was built. In 1954, the Erdahl-Cloyd Student Union officially opened. That building was eventually remodeled and is now the west wing of the D. H. Hill Jr. Library.
When the four-story Talley Student Center opened in 1972, it contained an 813-seat theatre (the first major theater on campus), the Music Department, 1940s-style ice cream parlor, cafeteria and restaurant, two-story ballroom, game room, and offices for the center, student organizations, and Technician, Agromeck, and WKNC. The Student Union director at the time, Henry Bowers, stated that the new center was designed to feed several thousand per day at a time when there was a shortage of campus food facilities.
The Talley Student Center eventually became home to the university’s Women’s Center and the GLBT Center, but the beginnings of new Talley began in the 2008 NC State Student Life Master Plan. The plan called for the renovation and expansion of Talley to serve an ever-increasing student population. The renovation did not come without controversy. While the design for the new Talley began in the fall of 2009, the student body voted on whether to increase student fees to support the construction. Even with 61% of the vote going against the fees, Student Senate recommended that the university fee committee approve the Talley fee anyway. The senate’s action led to the “Rally Against Talley.”
In September of 2015, the construction of the new Talley finished. The student center was completely re-imagined, with only Stewert Theatre remaining intact, but with an upgraded stage, seats, and lights. Occupants include Campus Activities, Center for Student Leadership, Ethics & Public Service, Multicultural Student Affairs, Arts NC State, Stewart theatre, Student Organization Resource Center, Student Government, Student Affairs administration, dining facilities on three floors, a 12,000-square-foot ballroom, 13 additional meeting rooms, and NC State Bookstores. The Talley Student Union continues to be a hub of student life on NC State University’s campus.
To learn more about campus history at NC State, visit the newly updated Historical State Timelines website, which includes a timeline of campus buildings, grounds, and landmarks. Additionally, the Special Collections Digital Collections website contains many images on student life on campus. Special Collections has numerous records related to student life, including University Archives Photograph Collection. Campus facilities and views (UA023.005), Technician (Raleigh, N.C.) (LH1 .N6 T4), Edward T. Funkhouser Photographs, 2001-2016 (MC00336), University Archives Photograph Collection. Student Life Photographs, 1893-1997 (UA023.025), and North Carolina State University, Division of Student Affairs, Department of Campus Activities Records.
If you have any questions or are interested in viewing Special Collections materials, please contact us at library_specialcollections@ncsu.edu or submit a request online. The Special Collections Research Center is open by appointment only. Appointments are available Monday–Friday, 9am–6pm and Saturday, 1pm–5pm. Requests for a Saturday appointment must be received no later than Tuesday of the same week.
Additional sources:
Holzman Moss Architecture. (2008). North Carolina State University Student Life: Master Plan. https://projects.ncsu.edu/facilities/files/Student-Life-Master-Plan-(2008).pdf
Peeler, T. (2022, August 8). The 50-Year Evolution of NC State’s Student Center. NC State University News. https://news.ncsu.edu/2022/08/student-center-50-anniversary/https://news.ncsu.edu/2022/08/student-center-50-anniversary/
Rain, C. (2015, September 9). Curtain rise on new era for ARTS NC STATE. Technician, Talley Student Union Grand Opening [Special Edition].