The next year, the College's National Alumni Association was established. In 1928, the 27-year ban on female students was lifted as the college once again was granted co-educational status. By December 1931, female students are allowed, for the first time, to participate in the student government as members of the student council. In 1939, the college was authorized to grant the Master of Science degree in education and certain other fields. Two years later, the first Master of Science degree was awarded to Roy Elloy. The 1940s and 1950s saw the college expand its land holdings. In 1946, the college acquired 96 acres of land adjacent to the original 14-acre campus  In 1953, The School of Nursing was established, with the first class graduating four years later. 1955 saw more changes, as Dr. Warmoth T. Gibbs was selected as the fourth President of the College. Two years later, the college experienced another name change to the "Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina". In that same year, the college's first white student, Rodney Jaye Miller of Greensboro, was admitted. In 1959, the college was fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). The role that students of North Carolina A&T have played during the 1960s has been controversial at times. On February 1, 1960, four freshmen men helped spark the civil rights movement in the southern United States. Ezell Blair (Jibreel Khazan), Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, and David Richmond "sat-in" at an all white eating establishment (Woolworth's) and demanded equal service at the lunch counter. The actions of the four freshmen gained momentum as other students of the university joined them in their non-violent protest to desegregate Woolworth's lunch counter, which became known as the Greensboro sit-ins. By the end of July 1960, Blair, McNeil, McCain and Richmond were dubbed the Greensboro Four. In 1964, John A. Steinhauer, a science teacher, was the first white student to earn a degree from A&T, earning the Master of Science in Education with a concentration in Chemistry. The following year, the College acquired the land of the former Immanuel Lutheran College, a coeducational junior college located adjacent to the college campus. In 1967, The college was designated a Regional University by the NC General Assembly. The college was renamed "North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University," and two academic divisions were established: the Division of Industrial Education and Technology and the Division of Business and Economics.