Long before artificial turf covered the playing surface inside North Carolina Central University's home football stadium, there was an area of land covered with rocks, trash and brush that became NCCU's first athletic field thanks to Cadd G. O'Kelly.

O'Kelly, born Feb. 14, 1865 in Raleigh, N.C., moved to Durham in 1910 to work with NCCU founder Dr. James E. Shepard. During his tenure at NCCU, which spanned some 25 years, O'Kelly served in a capacity similar to a Dean of Men. It was his custom to assign male students who transgressed the school's rules to tasks related to campus construction and beautification.

One of the more frequently assigned tasks was that of clearing rocks, trash and brush from a sight which was to become the first athletic field. The men students who worked on that project called it O'Kelly's Field. That name has been associated ever since with the university's principal athletic field, now O'Kelly-Riddick Stadium.

O'Kelly died May 26, 1939 in Moorestown, N.J. During his teaching career, he taught almost every college subject, including history, Latin and music.