CHARLOTTE — July 1 officially begins the 2021-22 academic year and also marks the first official day of Big South Conference membership for NC A&T, increasing the conference to 12 full member institutions.
The Aggies were first announced as a new member on Feb. 7, 2020, increasing the Big South to five full members from the state of North Carolina.
A&T is coming off a memorable 2020-21 season with co-regular-season Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championships in men’s basketball, women’s basketball, volleyball and softball, as well as conference titles in women’s basketball, volleyball, men’s outdoor track & field and women’s outdoor track & field.
At last month’s NCAA Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., Cambrea Sturgis won the women’s 100 meters and 200 meters, helping the Aggies to a fourth-place team finish. The Aggie men placed third at the national meet, while Randolph Ross won the national championship in the 400m and later helped teammates Daniel Stokes, Akeem Sirleaf and Trevor Stewart win the 4 x 400m relay.
Ross and Stewart also qualified for this month’s Tokyo Olympics as part of Team USA, while Sirleaf (Liberia) and Stokes (Mexico) will also compete in the Games from July 23-August 8.
As a public, high-research activity land-grant university, A&T is a research engine, education center and economic catalyst serving not only the state of North Carolina, but the nation. It is not only America’s top-rated historically black university (HBCU), but its largest for seven consecutive years, as well as its leading HBCU STEM institution.
The university produces more African American engineers and agricultural scientists than any university in the nation and is home to the top public HBCU business school in the country.
