2025 UNCG News Stories Reflect University Leadership and Impact

2025 was a time of leadership, discovery, and engagement at
UNC Greensboro.

The year 2025 was a time of leadership, discovery, & engagement at UNC Greensboro.

Our best and most popular stories celebrated accolades for the University and the many ways our students, faculty, and alumni have impacted the world around us. Throughout the year, UNCG News provided a blueprint of life at the G while individual stories of opportunity, creative innovation, and community spirit added color and vibrancy to the scene.

Let’s take a look back at the voices and accomplishments that defined Spartan Nation in 2025.

UNCG Leads the Way

At UNCG, academic excellence doesn’t exist in and of itself. It’s a product of support, encouragement, mentorship, and opportunity. These quiet efforts were celebrated this year when UNCG was named the top performer in the UNC System. Appropriately, the UNCG News story with the most views in 2025 explained how we achieved this honor.

Big News:
UNCG is the Top Performer Across UNC System

More Bang for your Buck

Two students sit on a bench on UNCG's campus and high five each other.

The G is for Gains:

Graduate stands in cap and gown flanked by parents in UNCG t-shirts in front of the Reynolds American building.

The UNCG Effect

Spartans continue to drive social mobility in North Carolina in 2025.

First for Social Mobility

Students in Spartan t-shirts and daisies on the first day of classes.

Enrollment Soars

2025’s incoming freshman class brings numbers and a renewed school spirit.

Strength in Numbers

2025 RAnking Honors UNCG

Reputable sources give high marks to UNCG programs and impact.

Best Colleges Rankings

A Year of Innovation

Our most popular research story was the identification of a new squirrel species by a UNCG assistant professor of biology, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. Research with practical applications kept Spartan scholars busy throughout 2025. Teams made up of faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students in various fields of study worked to develop solutions for local and worldwide problems.

Big News:
UNCG Researcher Identifies New American Mammal

Hidden in Plain Sight

A Snake River Plains ground squirrel out in the wild.

The G is for Genius:

UNCG's Dr. Hemali Rathnayake works in the lab with a student.

The Bright Institute

Spartan scientists build next-gen energy workforce.

Sustainable Science

UNCG professor Dr. Eric Drollette gives his daughter a high five.

Exercise for Brain power

UNCG researcher proves that exercise enhances academic performance in children.

Big Impacts from Exercise

Help for Housing Crisis

UNCG center establishes tactics to lower eviction rates in Guilford County.

Real World Impact

Spartan Standouts

The UNCG campus is full of interesting personalities. Faculty, staff, and students inspire and motivate us to be our best. This year, the most popular profile of a Spartan on UNCG News was about a furry friend named Odin, but we were also introduced to other Spartans who would mold our community in ways we didn’t expect.

Big News:
Old Dog Teaches UNCG Officer New Tricks

Our Favorite Spartan

German shepherd sits in grass on a spring day on the UNCG campus.

The G is for Guide:

UNCG Dean Kelly Joyce sits on a bench beside a mill wheel.

2025’s New deans

Get to know the new deans that joined our faculty this year.

Advancing Excellence

Graduate with Spiro shield and arrow stands in front of the Spiro statue.

Spiro Mascot Reveal

Spartans met the student behind the Spiro suit when Tyler Toborg graduated in 2025

The Warrior Within

Spartan GRad Soars

Ashanti Evans uses UNCG resources to graduate with a starting salary that will change her family’s future.

Cashing in Resources

Learning with a Purpose

At UNCG, learning is active and built to serve. A story and video produced after a ride-along on Minerva’s Mobile Health Unit illustrated how nursing students bring health services to communities. Creative collaborations across campus connected students with service this year, and their stories painted pictures of what hands-on learning looks like at UNCG.

Big News:
Mobile Health Unit Serves Community

From Concept to Reality

The G is for Goals:

Children line up on a video set in front of an LED wall while a man holds a slate in front of them and a student with a UNCG media studies t-shirt stands with a camera to film them.

Creative Collab

Professors and students bring filmmaking to elementary students.

Creativity Ignites

Student with laptop stands in front of a campus building with a Lloyd International Honors College banner hanging on it. Student

Elementary Impact

Natalia Fagundez ’25 combines passions for special education and languages to reach ESL learners.

Immersed in Inspiration

Janae Wofford cuts branches in a UNCG lab.

Natural Remedies

Goldwater Scholar Janae Wofford seeks natural solutions for antibiotic resistance.

Future in Pharmaceuticals

Alumni Impact

We witnessed UNCG history this year when a record Light the Way gift resulted in the naming of the Marcus T. Johnson Alumni House, the first building on campus to be named for a person of color. Stories of alumni success were strong in 2025, from artists to business and educational leaders. Like Johnson, many credited the University for their success and pledged to light the way for future students.

Big News:
Built of Ourselves

Built for Belonging

UNCG Chancellor Gilliam and alumnus Marcus T. Johnson stand outside Alumni House.

The G is for Gratitude:

CVPA Actor on the Rise

Patrick Ball ’22 turns heads on The Pitt.

From UNCG to ‘The Pitt’

UnA Voz De Experiencia

Marisa Gonzalez ’16, ’19 M.A. uses her degree to give back to the growing Hispanic student population at UNCG.

Encontrando su Camino Aquí

Singer holds a mic on an NC Folk Fest stage.

SPartan Rocks Folk fest

Lora Mouna ’22 reflects on UNCG opportunities that molded her career as a vocalist.

Honing Her Craft

A Vibe Like No Other

UNCG’s campus life is unique. It’s an environment that celebrates diversity, creativity, and community. One of our most popular stories of the year documented the making of a Harry Potter parody by UNCG roommates. The filmmakers credited campus vibes for inspiring their creation of a viral masterpiece, with 3 million views and counting! Our unique campus life is evident in student organizations, athletics, artistic endeavors, and traditions like homecoming.

Big News:
UNCG Alumni’s ‘Harry Potter’ Remake and the House Where the Magic Happened

Feature-Length Ambition

Guests dance to an outdoor band performing at Doggie House.

The G is for enerG:

Something for Everyone

Campus life comes alive for the entire Spartan community at Homecoming 2025.

It Was Fire

Maximizing Engagement

The Esports Club combines social events with service and career prep to turn out leaders.

Beyond the Screen

UNCG women's basketball celebrates on the court after SoCon 2025 win.

Spartans Slay at SOCON

Fans old and new show their Spartan spirit at the 2025 SoCon basketball conference tourney.

Instant Replay

Honoring the Past, Inspiring the Future

Even as we review 2025’s best stories, we are reminded how UNCG advances by adapting to the world around us. In May of 2025, student artists who painted a mural honoring the first African American students at UNCG were celebrated at a reception where they met JoAnne Smart Drane, one of the subjects of their mural. It was a beautiful meeting of Spartan minds, generations apart but with much in common. As we look ahead to a new year, UNCG continues to adapt with the times to meet the needs of an ever-changing world.

Big News:
First African American Student Meets Artists Who Created Mural in Her Honor

Advice From a Trailblazer

Three African American students sit with an older African American lady on couches in a lounge with a mural painted on the wall behind them.

The G is for Growth:

Four students stand in an art gallery and talk about a painting.

Humanities @ Work

The first class of UNCG’s unique internship program reflect on their paid internships.

Putting Degrees to Work

Speaker crosses stage in front of a screen with career prep tips as students look on from the audience.

Workforce Prep

UNCG leverages partnerships to get students ready for a competitive job market.

Stronger Together

Access at the Ready

Chancellor Gilliam rallies faculty and staff to continue UNCG’s commitment to educational access and impact.

A History of Access

Story by Becky Deakins, University Communications.
Photography by Sean Norona, University Communications.

Three students looking and smiling at their cellphones

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