UNCW Athletics History

University Archives serves as the repository for official records of all divisions of the University of North Carolina Wilmington as well as other items related to the history of the University. We collect, preserve, arrange, describe, and make available these materials in accordance with the Records Retention and Dispositions Schedule for Institutions of the University of North Carolina System.

The University of North Carolina Wilmington Board of Trustees is the governing body for the University of North Carolina Wilmington. The UNC Wilmingotn Board of Trustees began operation in 1972. It succeeded the 100-member Board of Trustees of the Consolidated University of North Carolina (1969-1972) and the Wilmington College Board of Trustees (1958-1969). Prior to 1958, the governing body for Wilmington College was the New Hanover County Board of Education. This collection include meeting minutes, committee files, correspondence, clippings, membership rosters, and photographs from 1958 to the present.

This collection consists of administrative files from the Presidents and Chancellors of the institution, including correspondence, reports, installation and inauguration programs, biographical information, and photographs.

The Academic Affairs Collection consists of administrative records pertaining to curricula, institutional research, and supporting academic services at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and its predecessor Wilmington College. A significant part of the collection is from institutional research, consisting of self-studies for accreditation and other reports prepared for planning or assessment.

This collection brings together color and black-and-white prints, slides and negatives, many of which were used in campus publications such as the yearbook, student newspaper, course catalogs, and alumni publications. Topics include athletics, the campus, student life, academics, presidents, and chancellors, from the 1940s through the early 2000s.

This collection contains materials pertaining to the career of Wayne Jackson, a broadcaster for southeastern North Carolina NBC television affiliate WECT (formerly WMFD). In particular, this collection documents three important events in Wilmington College history including the first televised basketball game in the region (that of the Virgina-Carolina Athletic Conference Junior College Basketball Tournament championship game), a dinner held for the Seahawks baseball team following their Junior College Baseball National Championship win, and the telecast of the first four-year graduation at the college.

The John Gunn Sports Collection primarily consists of media guides and game day programs collected by John Gunn for professional and college sports teams and military sports teams. Gunn's research and correspondence, as well as his personal collection of sports programs, statistics, information on teams and individual players, and photographs are also included.

Photos and objects displayed in a 2015 University Archives exhibit on the Seahawk Midnite Madness tradition.

Newspaper clippings about UNCW’s football club. During its first season (1977-1978), the UNCW football club enjoyed big wins against undefeated clubs from Appalachian State and and NC State.

Depicting the evolution of the Seahawk mascot