Cole Field House, the old home of the university of Maryland Basketball team, was built in 1955 as the student activities building, and renamed one year later after congressman and former board of Regents chairman William P Cole Jr. The 12,000 seat arena was renowned for its one of a kind design while being only second in size to Madison Square Garden for similar indoor facilities on the East Coast. The addition of nearly 3000 seats near the court in the 1960s would bring the atmosphere in Cole to a new ceiling, cementing its reputation as a loud and intimidating arena for opposing teams to visit. In 1966, Texas Western started the first all-black lineup in college basketball at Cole Field House in a historic game to defeat the Kentucky Wildcats all-white starting lineup for the national championship. The first ever sporting event between the United States and China was a ping-pong match, held at Cole in 1972, leading to a tradition of sports as a vital piece of international relations. Women’s basketball saw its first national airtime from Cole as Maryland’s Women’s basketball team played the defending champion Immaculata. After retiring as an active field house in 2002, Cole would continue to be used for recreation and sporting events until 2015 with the Maryland High School Wrestling State Championships being the final event on the floor of Cole. Democracy then and now: vote!