Conclusion

North Carolina State vs. Appalachian State, 1932

Eventually, the Faculty Council decided to not renew coach Heartley Anderson’s contract. They chose Williams Newton, the former head coach at Davidson College and a North Carolina native, to replace him. The Technician reported that Newton was enthusiastically welcomed to campus by students, faculty, and administrators, but this did not resolve debates about the place of football at North Carolina State College. The 1936 Anderson-Sermon controversy illustrates that football’s importance extended far beyond the games played every fall weekend. The football program served as a symbol for the community to unite around and a way for the school to promote itself to outsiders. Alumni, faculty, and students debated the role football played in shaping a collective sense of identity at NC State and expressed their ideas about what role they believed it should play. Different opinions on these issues had the power to divide people as well as to bring them together. It was clear, however, that football's influence on the college campus was not limited to the athletic department. Rather, a college football team had the power to shape the development and identity of an entire institution.