Elliott University Center

UNCG Class Ring

Wear the Tradition

Wearing a UNCG ring is symbolic of inherited patterns of guiding beliefs, thoughts, actions and behaviors that are shared by only those who have attended UNCG. The University is pleased to offer you one symbol that truly encompasses your memories and academic accomplishment – The University of North Carolina at Greensboro Official Class Ring.

There is only one class ring officially recognized by the University. The design of the official class ring does not change – it is the one common bond between those who have graduated in the past and those who will graduate this year and in years to come. It is reserved exclusively for alumni, graduate students and those undergraduate students who have completed at least 64 credit hours and have achieved junior or senior year standing.

Order your ring online or call the Office of Elliott University Center at 336-334-5800 for more information on how you can purchase a ring and show your pride in UNCG.

History of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro Official Class Ring

Class rings are a rich tradition at this University. Until 1935 ring styles varied since each class could make its own unique selection. In that year the first ring committee was formed. These Woman’s College students set out to standardize the class ring. The ring you will receive today bears a remarkable likeness to the one developed almost 70 years ago by the ring committee.

Graduates of the Woman’s College of the University of North Carolina and the graduates of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro wear with pride a ring that immediately ties them to this school. The black onyx with the university seal on its flat surface is in a gold or silver setting.

Students must attain junior standing before they may wear the ring. Tradition has it that the words on the University seal must be readable by the ring wearer until graduation when the ring is turned so the seal faces out towards the world. Thus Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom, watches over the student wearer as studies are pursued, and then presents the graduate wearer to the outside world.

Our University motto is Service. And while we are living that motto everyday, we also treasure the traditions and history of over 110 years. From this day forward, you will wear this ring as a symbol of your commitment to your University.

UNCG Official Class Ring Ceremony

Each semester the Office of Elliott University Center hosts a special presentation ceremony for all students who have ordered class rings. Invitations to these events are sent directly from the ring company to students who have purchased rings.

The Spring 2014 Ceremony is scheduled for Friday, April 25, 2014 at 4:00pm in the EUC Auditorium.

How is the UNCG Official Class Ring made?

Art – Is the process that helps a school define the detail and features of their ring. Completed Art will be an actual rendering of the future Ring.

CAD – Computer Aided Design is utilized to covert new customer de signs such as school seals, mascots and activities into 3D tool paths. These tool paths are then transferred to CNC machines that manufacture tools for production of rings.

Tooling – During the tooling process the CAD designs are transferred to a CNC milling machine that cuts a die that will be used to produce a wax pattern of the actual customer’s ring.

Wax – During the Wax process the dies that were created in tooling are injected with molten wax. After this wax hardens the wax pattern is removed from the tools and any excess flash is removed from the wax pattern. From this point the wax is sized to the customer’s finger size and a sprue is attached to allow for attachment to a tree of like rings at tree-up.

Cast – Casting involves investing, burnout, pour ing of metal, knock-out and cut-off. All rings are grouped at Tree-up by metal. These trees then have an investment refractory (high heat tolerant) type of plaster mix poured around the tree of rings. This flask of rings with the investment and tree of waxes then is allowed to harden for two hours. At this point it is loaded into an oven where the wax melts out of the investment creating negative cavities within the investment. After 10 hours at 1200 degrees in the oven the investment cures and is ready for metal pouring. Each flask is then pulled individually from and oven and molten gold is poured into the flask. This process is called the “Lost Wax Cast Method”. The rings are now ready to be knocked out of the flask. This is accomplished through water blasting at a high PSI and sand blasting. Once the rings are removed from the investment they are cut-off of the tree and sent to the Finish Line for grinding and polishing.

Finish – Finish involves sprue grind, air grind, oval, inside emery, plating, outside emery, hand emery, stone setting (bezel set, prong set, glue in), inside buff, pre-polish, lapping, final polish, QC and engraving. Each of these steps involves different methods for grinding, shaping, polishing and stone setting of the ring. After these steps are complete the rings is final inspected for manufacturing defects and customer specific specifications. The final step through the finish line is engraving the customer’s personalization on the inside of the ring.

Ship – At shipping each ring is checked again for quality and specifications. If good, it is then boxed with the proper materials and shipped to the customer using the predetermined shipping method.

The UNCG Class Ring Scholarship

Qualified candidates should meet the following requirements:

Be classified as a full-time traditional age undergraduate degree seeking student or as a full-time Adult undergraduate degree seeking student (24 years of age or older at the beginning of the fall semester of award) at UNCG
Have successfully completed a minimum of 64 credit hours from UNCG
If you are a transfer student, you must have completed at least one semester at UNCG and have no less than 12 hours of documented credit from UNCG
Have at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA
Have no current conduct issues through the Dean of Students Office

Applying for the Award: Students must complete UNCG Class Ring Scholarship Application (DOC), or picked up in person at the Elliott University Center – Room 262. Additionally, traditional age undergraduate students are required to write an essay of not more than three pages (doubled-spaced), addressing what a college degree means to them and how they will use this accomplishment to help others. Adult undergraduate students are required to write an essay of not more than three pages (doubled-spaced), discussing the effect pursuing a college degree as an adult student has had on his/her life. An unofficial copy of the student’s UNCG transcript and two letters of recommendation (one of which must be from a UNCG faculty or staff member) must accompany all applications.

Administration of the Awards: The UNCG Class Ring Scholarship will be administered through the Office of Elliott University Center in coordination with the Financial Aid Office. Scholarship funds will be disbursed directly through each recipient’s student account and split equally between the fall and spring semester. Students who complete their course work in December will receive one-half of the annual scholarship award. A selection committee led by the Director of the Elliott University Center will be actively engaged in the process of selecting scholarship recipients.

Scholarship Deadlines: The 2014 application deadline has been extended to Friday, March 28.