Courtesy of Radford University

Radford University students help form the number 100 on campus to kick off celebration of the university's 100th year.

To celebrate 100 years of Radford University, the Student Government Association held a special event Friday with President Penelope Kyle and Radford Mayor Tom Starnes.

The officials gathered along with dozens of students on the campus' main lawn to assemble into the number 100.

Founded in 1910 by the Virginia General Assembly, the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Radford was established to produce teachers for the commonwealth's public school system, according to the university's Web site.

In 1924 it was renamed Radford State Teachers College. It changed its name again in 1943, when it became "the women's division" of what was then Virginia Polytechnic Institute. That partnership was discontinued in 1964 and men were admitted in 1972.

Kyle was named Radford's first female president in June 2005, and the university added its first Ph.D. programs under her leadership.

Officials plan a series of events to celebrate the school's 100th birthday.

-- Tonia Moxley