‘74 Throw-down close, but no “disco inferno”

June at WCU in the 70’s was more than just disco and Afros. On June 14th Jack K. Carlton was named Chancellor. In June of 1974, Life Packs were introduced to the campus. Life Packs are 20ft wide by 24ft in length and 9ft high. If a fire were to break out in one of the high rise resident halls, these packs would be placed under the building and each student would be urged to jump from their burning building onto these reinflatable mats. WCU was the first school in the nation to acquire Life Packs. A WCU record was set in June of 1976, 2,614 students enrolled for summer school. Also, in June of 1976 the first female in WCU history was named Dean of WCU’s School of Education and Psychology. In June of 1977, the Emergency Care Team received their very first fully loaded ambulance. Also, in June 1977 food service prices were like nothing we’ve ever seen at Western, the “Hot Buffet” cost a mere $2.50 and the “Salad Bar” was $1.75. June 1977 the North Carolina General Assembly passed a bill providing WCU with $5.2 million for constructing the additions to the Hunter Library. College students at Western went wild when in June of ’77 “Coke-a-Cola” machines were added to residence halls and a drink was only 25 cents, opposed to at the gas stations where they were 30 cents.