Spring of 2023 will mark 100 years of NC State’s Department of Physical Education, which has since been renamed the Department of Health and Exercise Studies (HES).
Over the past century, the HES program has grown from a simple graduation requirement for students to a full-fledged department with four minors, including coaching education, outdoor leadership, health, and sports science. To celebrate, Wolfpack Outfitters and the Health and Exercise Studies department have collaborated to reimagine the iconic NC State Physical Education t-shirt that students and alumni have coveted for years. The shirt will launch this semester for purchase in-store and online to celebrate a century of Physical Education at NC State.
The simple gray Physical Education design has remained in style with the Wolfpack community for decades, far surpassing its original purpose as the uniform for all health and exercise classes. Today, the shirts are a symbol of pride, both for the HES program and NC State as a whole. Online, you can see original NC State Physical Education shirts tagged as “vintage,” saved for decades by students who loved them. The gray t-shirts were one of the earliest vestiges of the Health and Exercise department, dating back probably as early as the program itself. Students were required to purchase the shirt for classes until 2015, when the requirements shifted to flexible clothing for exercise.
Wolfpack Outfitters’ newly reimagined design draws on the nostalgia for the original shirt, aiming to give students and alumni a new keepsake. The reimagined Physical Education shirt features the same font and wording on the front with the inaugural year, 1923, front and center. The new shirt also features a patch on the arm which notates its celebration of 100 years of the Department of Health and Exercise Studies and, more importantly, a hundred years of Wolfpack wellness as a result.
To purchase a commemorative 100 Years of PE Tee, visit https://shop.ncsu.edu/HES-100th-Anniversary-T-Shirt