The campus covers 760 acres (310 ha), encompassing theMorehead Planetarium and the many stores and shops located onFranklin Street. Students can participate in over 550 officially recognized student organizations. UNC-Chapel Hill is a charter member of theAtlantic Coast Conference (ACC), which was founded on June 14, 1953. The university's athletic teams compete in 28 intercollegiate sports and are known as theTar Heels. They have won 51NCAA team championships in eight different sports which rankseighth all time, and 52 individual national championships.
University of North Carolina course catalog from June 1819Silent Sam, a statue of aConfederate soldier. The statue was toppled by a crowd in 2018, and the pedestal was ordered removed by ChancellorCarol Folt in the same letter in which she resigned. As of October 2020, it is in storage.
The University of North Carolina waschartered by theNorth Carolina General Assembly on December 11, 1789; its cornerstone was laid on October 12, 1793, at Chapel Hill, chosen because of its central location within the state.[21][22] It is one of three universities that claims to be theoldest public university in the United States, and the only such institution to confer degrees in the eighteenth century as a public institution.[23][24]
During theCivil War,North Carolina GovernorDavid Lowry Swain persuadedConfederate PresidentJefferson Davis to exempt some students from the draft, so the university was one of the few in theConfederacy that managed to stay open.[25] However,Chapel Hill suffered the loss of more of its population during the war than any village in the South, and when student numbers did not recover, the university was forced to close duringReconstruction from December 1, 1870, until September 6, 1875.[26] Following the reopening, enrollment was slow to increase and university administrators offered free tuition for the sons of teachers and ministers, as well as loans for those who could not afford attendance.[27]
Following the Civil War, the university began to modernize its programs and onboard faculty with prestigious degrees.[28] The creation of a new gymnasium, funding for a new chemistry laboratory, and organization of the Graduate Department were accomplishments touted by UNC presidentFrancis Venable at the 1905 "University Day" celebration.[29]
Despite initial skepticism from university PresidentFrank Porter Graham, on March 27, 1931, legislation was passed to group the University of North Carolina with theState College of Agriculture and Engineering andWoman's College of the University of North Carolina to form the Consolidated University of North Carolina.[30] In 1963, the consolidated university was made fullycoeducational, although most women still attended Woman's College for their first two years, transferring to Chapel Hill as juniors, since freshmen were required to live on campus and there was only one women's residence hall. As a result, Woman's College was renamed the "University of North Carolina at Greensboro", and the University of North Carolina became the "University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill".[31][32][33]
In 1951, a court ordered the university to admit the first Black students to the schools of law and medicine. The first students were Harvey Beech, James Lassiter, J. Kenneth Lee, Floyd McKissick, and James Robert Walker in law and Oscar Diggs in medicine.[35] In 1955 after the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed all forms of segregation in the public schools, federal courts ordered the admission of black undergraduates to the university. The first three Leroy Frasier, John Lewis Brandon and Ralph Frasier were from Hillside High School in Durham, North Carolina.Black enrollment remained low for many years. There were four black freshmen in 1960 and only eighteen in 1963.[36]
During the 1960s, the campus was the location of significant political protests. Prior to the passage of theCivil Rights Act of 1964, protests about localracial segregation which began quietly inFranklin Street restaurants led to mass demonstrations and disturbance.[37] The climate of civil unrest prompted the 1963Speaker Ban Law prohibiting speeches by communists on state campuses in North Carolina.[38] This stand towards the racial segregation on campus led up to theSit-in movement. TheSit-in movement started a new era in North Carolina, which challenged colleges across the south against racial segregation of public facilities. The law was immediately criticized by university ChancellorWilliam Brantley Aycock and university PresidentWilliam Friday, but was not reviewed by the North Carolina General Assembly until 1965.[39] Small amendments to allow "infrequent" visits failed to placate the student body, especially when the university's board of trustees overruled new Chancellor Paul Frederick Sharp's decision to allow speaking invitations toMarxist speakerHerbert Aptheker and civil liberties activistFrank Wilkinson; however, the two speakers came to Chapel Hill anyway. Wilkinson spoke off campus, while more than 1,500 students viewed Aptheker's speech across a low campus wall at the edge of campus, christened "Dan Moore's Wall" byThe Daily Tar Heel for GovernorDan K. Moore.[40] A group of UNC-Chapel Hill students, led by Student Body President Paul Dickson, filed a lawsuit inU.S. federal court, and on February 20, 1968, the Speaker Ban Law was struck down.[41] In 1969, campus food workers of Lenoir Hall went onstrike protesting perceived racial injustices that impacted their employment, garnering the support of student groups and members of the university and Chapel Hill community and leading to state troopers in riot gear being deployed on campus and the state national guard being held on standby in Durham.[42]
From the late 1990s and onward, UNC-Chapel Hill expanded rapidly with a 15% increase in total student population to more than 28,000 by 2007. This was accompanied by the construction of new facilities, funded in part by the "Carolina First" fundraising campaign and anendowment that increased fourfold to more than $2 billion within ten years.[43][44] ProfessorOliver Smithies was awarded theNobel Prize in Medicine in 2007 for his work in genetics.[45] Additionally, ProfessorAziz Sancar was awarded theNobel Prize in Chemistry in 2015 for his work in understanding the molecular repair mechanisms ofDNA.[46]
In 2011, the first of several investigations foundfraud and academic dishonesty at the university related to its athletic program.[47] Following alesser scandal that began in 2010 involving academic fraud and improper benefits with the university'sfootball program, two hundred questionable classes offered by the university's African and Afro-American Studies department came to light. As a result, the university was placed on probation by its accrediting agency in 2015.[48][49] It was removed from probation in 2016.[50]
That same year, thepublic universities in North Carolina had to share abudget cut of $414 million, of which the Chapel Hill campus lost more than $100 million in 2011.[51] This followed state budget cuts that trimmed university spending by $231 million since 2007; Provost Bruce Carney said more than 130 faculty members have left UNC since 2009.,[52] with poor staff retention.[53] TheBoard of Trustees for UNC-CH recommended a 15.6 percent increase intuition, a historically large increase.[52] The budget cuts in 2011 greatly affected the university and set this increased tuition plan in motion[51] and UNC students protested.[54] On February 10, 2012, theUNC Board of Governors approved tuition and fee increases of 8.8 percent for in-state undergraduates across all 16 campuses.[55]
In August 2018, the university came to national attention after the toppling ofSilent Sam, aConfederate monument which had been erected on campus in 1913 by theUnited Daughters of the Confederacy.[60] The statue had been dogged by controversy at various points since the 1960s, with critics claiming that the monument invokes memories of racism and slavery. Many critics cited the explicitly racist views espoused in the dedication speech that local industrialist and UNC TrusteeJulian Carr gave at the statue's unveiling on June 2, 1913, and the approval with which they had been met by the crowd at the dedication.[61] Shortly before the beginning of the 2018–2019 school year, the Silent Sam was toppled by protestors and damaged, and has been absent from campus ever since.[62] In July 2020, the University's Carr Hall, which was named afterJulian Carr, was renamed the "Student Affairs Building".[63] Carr had supported white supremacy and also the Ku Klux Klan.[63]
After reopening its campus in August 2020, UNC-Chapel Hill reported 135 newCOVID-19 cases and four infection clusters within a week of having started in-person classes for the Fall 2020 semester. On August 10, faculty and staff from several of UNC's constituent institutions filed acomplaint against its board of governors, asking the system to default to online-only instruction for the fall.[64] On August 17, UNC's management announced that the university would be moving allundergraduate classes online from August 19, becoming the first university to send students home after having reopened.[65]
In the early afternoon on August 28, 2023, the second week of the fall semester, a PhD studentshot and killed associate professor Zijie Yan in Caudill Labs, a laboratory building near the center of campus.[68][69]
In April 2024, UNC students joinedother campuses across the United States[70][71] in protests and establishing encampments against theGaza war and thegenocide of Palestinians inGaza. Students demanded transparency in investments and that UNCdivest from Israel.[72] With the administration coming down hard on the protesters,[72] the students called for the protection of theirfirst amendment rights. 36 arrests were made with police clearing out the encampment that was set up in Polk Place.[73] Palestine Legal filed a federal civil rights complaint alleging that there was preferential treatment of Israeli students by UNC, and targeting of pro-Palestine students.[74]
UNC-Chapel Hill's campus covers around 760 acres (310 ha), including about 125 acres (51 ha) of lawns and over 30 acres (12 ha) of shrub beds and other ground cover.[76] In 1999, UNC-Chapel Hill was one of sixteen recipients of theAmerican Society of Landscape Architects Medallion Awards and was identified (in the second tier) as one of 50 college or university "works of art" by T.A. Gaines in his bookThe Campus as a Work of Art.[77][78]
A representation of the university seal, located in front of South Building and dedicated by the class of 1989.
The oldest buildings on the campus, including the Old East building (built 1793–1795),[79] the South Building (built 1798–1814),[80] and the Old West building (built 1822–1823),[81] stand around aquadrangle that runs north to Chapel Hill.[79] This is named McCorkle Place afterSamuel Eusebius McCorkle, who campaigned for the foundation of the university and was the original author of thebill requesting the university'scharter.[82][83]
A second quadrangle, Polk Place, was built in the 1920s to the south of the original campus, with the South Building on its north side, and named after North Carolina native and university alumnus PresidentJames K. Polk. TheWilson Library is at the south end of Polk Place.[84][85]
Students walk past theOld Well, a symbol of UNC-Chapel Hill for yearsThe Morehead–Patterson Bell Tower was completed in 1931 and stands 172 feet tall.[87]
Located in McCorkle Place is theDavie Poplar tree under which a popular legend says the university's founder,William Richardson Davie, selected the location for the university. The legend of the Davie Poplar says that as long as the tree stands, so will the university.[88] However, the name was not associated with the tree until almost a century after the university's foundation.[89] A graft from the tree, named Davie Poplar Jr., was planted nearby in 1918 after the original tree was struck by lightning.[89] A second graft, Davie Poplar III, was planted in conjunction with the university'sbicentennial celebration in 1993.[90][91] The student members of the university'sDialectic and Philanthropic Societies are not allowed to walk on the grass of McCorkle Place out of respect for the unknown resting place ofJoseph Caldwell, the university's first president.[92]
A symbol of the university is theOld Well, a small neoclassicalrotunda at the south end of McCorkle Place based on the Temple of Love in theGardens of Versailles, in the same location as the original well that provided water for the school.[93] The well stands at the south end of McCorkle Place, the northern quad, between two of the campus's oldest buildings,Old East, and Old West.
The historicPlaymakers Theatre is located on Cameron Avenue between McCorkle Place and Polk Place. It was designed byAlexander Jackson Davis, the same architect who renovated the northern façade ofOld East in 1844.[94] The east-facing building was completed in 1851 and initially served as a library and as a ballroom. It was originally named Smith Hall after North Carolina GovernorGeneral Benjamin Smith, who was a special aide toGeorge Washington during theAmerican Revolutionary War and was an early benefactor to the university.[95] When the library moved to Hill Hall in 1907, the building was transferred between the school of law and the agricultural chemistry department until it was taken over by the university theater group, the Carolina Playmakers, in 1924. It was remodeled as a theater, opening in 1925 as Playmakers Theater.[96] Playmakers Theatre was declared aNational Historic Landmark in 1973.[97]
The Morehead–Patterson bell tower, south of the Wilson Library, was commissioned byJohn Motley Morehead III, the benefactor of theMorehead-Cain Scholarship.[98] The hedge and surrounding landscape was designed byWilliam C. Coker, botany professor and creator of thecampus arboretum. Traditionally, seniors have the opportunity to climb the tower a few days prior to May commencement.[87]
The university has a goal that all new buildings meet the requirements forLEED silver certification,[99] and the Allen Education Center at the university'sNorth Carolina Botanic Garden was the first building in North Carolina to receive LEED Platinum certification.[100]
UNC-Chapel Hill'scogeneration facility produced one-fourth of the electricity and all of the steam used on campus as of 2008.[101]In 2006, the university and theTown of Chapel Hill jointly agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 60% by 2050, becoming the first town-gown partnership in the country to make such an agreement.[102]Through these efforts, the university achieved an "A−" grade on the Sustainable Endowment Institute's College Sustainability Report Card 2010.[103]
The university was criticized in 2019 for abandoning a promise to shutter its coal-fired power plant by 2020.[104] Initially, the university has announced plans to become carbon neutral by 2050, but in 2021, the plan was changed to 2040.[105] In December 2019, the university was sued by theSierra Club and theCenter for Biological Diversity for violations of theClean Air Act.[106]
As of 2007,[update] UNC-Chapel Hill offered 71 bachelor's, 107 master's and 74doctoral degree programs.[107] The university enrolls students from all 100North Carolina counties and state law requires that the percentage of students from North Carolina in eachfreshman class meet or exceed 82%.[108] The student body consists of 17,981 undergraduate students and 10,935 graduate and professional students (as of Fall 2009).[109] Racial and ethnic minorities comprise 30.8% of UNC-Chapel Hill's undergraduate population as of 2010[110] and applications from international students more than doubled in five years from 702 in 2004 to 1,629 in 2009.[111] Eighty-nine percent of enrolling first year students in 2009 reported a GPA of 4.0 or higher on a weighted 4.0 scale.[112] The most popular majors at UNC-Chapel Hill in 2009 were biology, business administration, psychology, media and journalism, and political science.[112] UNC-Chapel Hill also offers 300 study abroad programs in 70 countries.[113]
At the undergraduate level, all students must fulfill a number of general education requirements as part of the Making Connections curriculum, which was introduced in 2006.[114] English, social science, history, foreign language, mathematics, and natural science courses are required of all students, ensuring that they receive a broadliberal arts education.[115] Through the Carolina Center for Public Service’s APPLES Service-Learning, students in any major can take credit-bearing service-learning courses and internships that integrate academic goals with community partnerships.[116][117][118]The university also offers a wide range of first year seminars for incoming freshmen.[119] After their second year, students move on to the College of Arts and Sciences, or choose an undergraduate professional school program within the schools of medicine, nursing, business, education, pharmacy, information and library science, public health, or media and journalism.[120] Undergraduates are held to an eight-semester limit of study.[121]
UNC-Chapel Hill's admissions process is "most selective" according toU.S. News & World Report.[124] For the Class of 2025 (enrolled fall 2021), UNC-Chapel Hill received 53,776 applications and accepted 10,347 (19.2%). Of those accepted, 4,689 enrolled, ayield rate (the percentage of accepted students who choose to attend the university) of 45.3%. UNC-Chapel Hill's freshmanretention rate is 96.5%, with 91.9% going on to graduate within six years.[122][125]
Of the 60% of enrolled freshmen in 2021 who submittedACT scores; the middle 50 percent Composite score was between 29 and 33. Of the 15% of the incoming freshman class who submittedSAT scores; the middle 50 percent Composite scores were 1330-1500.[122] In the 2020–2021 academic year, 20 freshman students wereNational Merit Scholars.[126] The university isneed-blind for domestic applicants.[127]
The university has a longstandinghonor code known as the "Instrument of Student Judicial Governance", supplemented by a mostly student-run honor system to resolve issues with students accused of academic and conduct offenses against the university community.[128]
In 1974, the Judicial Reform Committee created theInstrument of Student Judicial Governance, which outlined the current honor code and its means for enforcement.[129] The creation of the instrument and the judicial reform committee was preceded by a list of "Demands by the Black Student Movement" (BSM) which stated that "[e]ither Black students have full jurisdiction over all offenses committed by Black students or duly elected Black Students from BSM who would represent our interests be on the present Judiciary Courts."[130] Until 2024, most academic and conduct violations were handled by a single, student-run honor system. Prior to the student-run honor system, theDialectic and Philanthropic Societies, along with other campus organizations such as the men's council, women's council, and student council supported student concerns.[131] In 2024, the university transitioned from the student-run honor system to a staff-run "hearing board".[132]
UNC-Chapel Hill's library system includes a number of individual libraries housed throughout the campus and holds more than 10 million combined print and electronic volumes.[134] As of 2025, there were 12 library locations in operation.[135] UNC-Chapel Hill'sNorth Carolina Collection (NCC) is the largest and most comprehensive collection of holdings about any single state nationwide.[136] The unparalleled assemblage of literary, visual, and artifactual materials documents four centuries of North Carolina history and culture.[137] The North Carolina Collection is housed inWilson Library, named afterLouis Round Wilson, along with theSouthern Historical Collection, the Rare Books Collection, and theSouthern Folklife Collection.[138] The university is home toibiblio, one of the world's largest collections of freely available information including software, music, literature, art, history, science, politics, and cultural studies.[139][140]
The Davis Library, situated near the Pit, is the main library and the largest academic facility and state-owned building in North Carolina.[91] It was named after North Carolina philanthropistWalter Royal Davis and opened on February 6, 1984. The first book checked out of Davis Library wasGeorge Orwell's1984.[141] The R.B. House Undergraduate Library is located between the Pit area and Wilson Library. It is named after Robert B. House, the Chancellor of UNC from 1945 to 1957, and opened in 1968.[142] In 2001, the R.B. House Undergraduate Library underwent a $9.9 million renovation that modernized the furnishings, equipment, and infrastructure of the building.[143] Prior to the construction of Davis, Wilson Library was the university's main library, but now Wilson hosts special events and houses special collections, rare books, and temporary exhibits.[144]
The library overseesDocumenting the American South, a free public access website of "digitized primary materials that offer Southern perspectives on American history and culture." The project began in 1996.[145] In 2009 the library launched the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center, a statewide digital library, in partnership with other organizations.[146]
For 2023,U.S. News & World Report ranked UNC-Chapel Hill 4th among the public universities and 22nd among national universities in the United States.[155] The Wall Street Journal ranked UNC-Chapel Hill 3rd best public university behindUniversity of Michigan andUCLA.[156]
The university was named aPublic Ivy by Richard Moll in his 1985 bookThe Public Ivies: A Guide to America's Best Public Undergraduate Colleges and Universities, and in later guides by Howard and Matthew Greene.[157][158]
The university is a large recipient of National Institute of Health grants and funds. For fiscal year 2020, the university received $509.9 million in NIH funds for research. This amount makes Chapel Hill the 10th overall recipient of research funds in the nation by the NIH.[159]
For decades, UNC-Chapel Hill has offered an undergraduate merit scholarship known as theMorehead-Cain Scholarship. Recipients receive full tuition, room and board, books, and funds for summer study for four years. Since the inception of the Morehead, 29 alumni of the program have been namedRhodes Scholars.[160] Since 2001, North Carolina has also co-hosted theRobertson Scholars Leadership Program, a merit scholarship and leadership development program granting recipients full student privileges at both UNC-Chapel Hill and neighboringDuke University.[161] Additionally, the university provides scholarships based on merit and leadership qualities, including the Carolina, Colonel Robinson, Johnston and Pogue Scholars programs.[162]
In 2003, ChancellorJames Moeser announced the Carolina Covenant, wherein UNC offers a debt free education to low-income students who are accepted to the university. The program was the first of its kind at a public university and the second overall in the nation (followingPrinceton University). About 80 other universities have since followed suit.[163]
North Carolina's athletic teams are known as the Tar Heels. They compete as a member of theNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) sub-level for football), primarily competing in theAtlantic Coast Conference (ACC) for all sports since the 1953–54 season.[164] Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, fencing, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field andwrestling; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, fencing, field hockey, golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track & field and volleyball.[165]
Statue of the school's ram mascot on campusDuke University's "Blue Devil" mascot and UNC's Rameses face off at the 1957Victory Bell football game.
The university's teams are nicknamed the "Tar Heels", in reference to the state's eighteenth-century prominence as atar andpitch producer.[171] The nickname's cultural relevance, however, has a complex history that includes anecdotal tales from both theAmerican Civil War and theAmerican Revolution.[171] The mascot is a liveDorset ram namedRameses, a tradition that dates back to 1924, when the team manager brought a ram to the annual game againstVirginia Military Institute, inspired by the play of former football player Jack "The Battering Ram" Merrit. The kicker rubbed his head for good luck before a game-winning field goal, and the ram stayed.[172] There is also ananthropomorphic ram mascot who appears at games.[173] The modern Rameses is depicted in a sailor's hat, a reference to aUnited States Navy flight training program that was attached to the university during World War II.[174]
Basketball coachDean Smith was widely known for his idea of "The Carolina Way", in which he challenged his players to, "Play hard, play smart, play together."[175] "The Carolina Way" was an idea of excellence in the classroom, as well as on the court. In Coach Smith's book,The Carolina Way, former player Scott Williams said, regarding Dean Smith, "Winning was very important at Carolina, and there was much pressure to win, but Coach cared more about our getting a sound education and turning into good citizens than he did about winning."[176]
The October 22, 2014, release of the Wainstein Report[177] alleged institutionalized academic fraud that involved over 3,100 students and student athletes, over an 18-year period from 1993 to 2011 that began during the final years of the Dean Smith era, challenged "The Carolina Way" image.[178] The report alleged that at least 54 players during the Dean Smith era were enrolled in what came to be known as "paper classes". The report noted that the questionable classes began in the spring of 1993, the year of Smith's final championship, so those grades would not have been entered until after the championship game was played.[179] In response to the allegations of the Wainstein report, theNCAA launched their own investigation and on June 5, 2015[180] the NCAA accused the institution of five major violations including: "two instances of unethical conduct and failure to cooperate" as well as "unethical conduct and extra benefits related to student-athletes' access to and assistance in the paper courses; unethical conduct by the instructor/counselor for providing impermissible academic assistance to student-athletes; and a failure to monitor and lack of institutional control".[181] In October 2017, the NCAA issued its findings and concluded "that the only violations in this case are the department chair's and the secretary's failure to cooperate".[181]
TheSouth's Oldest Rivalry between North Carolina and its first opponent, theUniversity of Virginia, was prominent throughout the first third of the twentieth century.[182] The 119th meeting infootball between two of the top public universities inthe east occurred in October 2014.[183]
One of the fiercest rivalries is with Durham'sDuke University. Located only eight miles from each other, the schools regularly compete in both athletics and academics.[184] TheCarolina-Duke rivalry is most intense, however, inbasketball.[185] With a combined eleven national championships in men's basketball, both teams have been frequent contenders for the national championship for the past thirty years. The rivalry has been the focus of several books, including Will Blythe'sTo Hate Like This Is to Be Happy Forever and was the focus of the HBO documentaryBattle for Tobacco Road: Duke vs Carolina.[186]
Carolina holds an in-state rivalry with fellowTobacco Road school,North Carolina State University. Since the mid-1970s, however, the Tar Heels have shifted their attention to Duke following a severe decline in NC State's basketball program (and the resurgence of Duke's basketball program) that reached rock bottom during Roy Williams' tenure as evidenced by their 4–36 record against the Tar Heels. The Wolfpack faithful still consider the rivalry the most bitter in the state despite the fact that it's been decades since Tar Heel supporters have acknowledged NC State as a rival. Combined, the two schools hold eight NCAA Championships and 27 ACC Championships in basketball. Students from each school often exchange pranks before basketball and football games.[187][188]
While students previously held "BeatDuke" parades onFranklin Street before sporting events,[189] today students and sports fans have been known to spill out of bars and residence halls upon the victory of one of Carolina's sportsteams.[190] In most cases, a Franklin Street "bonfire" celebration is due to avictory by themen's basketball team,[191][192] although other Franklin Street celebrations have stemmed from wins by thewomen's basketball team andwomen's soccer team. The first known student celebration on Franklin Street came after the1957 men's basketball team capped their perfect season with a national championship victory over theKansas Jayhawks.[193] From then on, students have flooded the street after important victories.[193] After aFinal Four victory in1981 and themen's basketball team won the1982 NCAA Championship, Franklin Street was painted blue by the fans who had rushed the street.[193]
Since the beginning of intercollegiate athletics at UNC in the late nineteenth century, the school's colors have been blue and white.[194] The colors were chosen years before by theDialectic (blue) and Philanthropic (white) Societies, the oldest student organization at the university. The school had required participation in one of the clubs, and traditionally the "Di"s were from the western part of North Carolina while the "Phi"s were from the eastern part of the state.[195]
Society members would wear a blue or white ribbon at university functions, and blue or white ribbons were attached to their diplomas at graduation.[195] On public occasions, both groups were equally represented, and eventually both colors were used by processional leaders to signify the unity of both groups as part of the university.[196] When football became a popular collegiate sport in the 1880s, theCarolina football team adopted the light blue and white of the Di-Phi Societies as the school colors.[197]
Notable among a number of songs commonly played and sung at various events such ascommencement,convocation, and athletic games are the universityfight songs "I'm a Tar Heel Born" and "Here Comes Carolina".[198] The fight songs are often played by the bell tower near the center of campus, as well as after major victories.[198] "I'm a Tar Heel Born" originated in the late 1920s as a tag to the school's alma mater, "Hark The Sound".[198]
TheDialectic and Philanthropic Societies of UNC were founded in 1795 and have debates each week in the New West building.[200]The Forest Theatre was first used for outdoor drama in 1916 to celebrate the tercentenary ofShakespeare's death.[201]
Most student organizations at UNC-Chapel Hill are officially recognized and provided with assistance by the Carolina Union, an administrative unit of the university.[202] Funding is derived from thestudent government student activity fee, which is allocated at the discretion of the Undergraduate Senate (UGS) or the Graduate and Professional Student Government Senate (GPSG Senate).[203]
The largest student fundraiser, the UNC Dance Marathon, involves thousands of students, faculty, and community members in raising funds for theNorth Carolina Children's Hospital. The organization conducts fundraising and volunteer activities throughout the year and, as of 2008[update], had donated $1.4 million since its inception in 1999.[204]
TheClef Hangers (also known as theClefs) are the university's oldesta cappella group, founded by Barry Saunders in 1977.[212][213] The group has since won several Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards (CARAs), including Best Soloist in the songEasy, featured on the 2003 albumBreeze. They have won two more CARAs for Best Male Collegiate Songs forMy Love on Time Out (2008),[214] and forAin't Nothing Wrong on Twist (2009).[215] Members have includedBrendan James, who graduated in 2002,[216] andAnoop Desai, who graduated in 2008.[213]
The Residence Hall Association, the school's third-largest student-run organization, is the representative organization for students living in residence halls. Its activities include social, educational, and philanthropic programs for residents; recognizing outstanding residents and members; and helping residents develop into successful leaders.[217] RHA is the affiliated to theNational Association of College and University Residence Halls.[218]
At the end of each semester, students organize aflash mob dance party in the library.[219]
UNC also has a biannualnaked run. On the day before final exams, students gather on the 8th floor of the Davis Library, strip naked, and streak down through the floors and back up. This is done to deal with exam stress and to increase body positivity.[220]
The athletic teams at the university are supported byThe Marching Tar Heels, the university'smarching band. The entire 275-member volunteer band is present at every home football game, and smallerpep bands play at all home basketball games. Each member of the band is also required to play in at least one of five pep bands that play at athletic events of the 26 other sports.[221]
UNC-Chapel Hill has aregional theater company in residence, thePlaymakers Repertory Company,[222] and hosts regular dance, drama, and music performances on campus.[223] The school has an outdoor stone amphitheatre known as Forest Theatre used for weddings and drama productions.[224] Forest Theatre is dedicated to Professor Frederick Koch, the founder of theCarolina Playmakers and the father American folk drama.[225]
Manyfraternities and sororities on campus belong to theNational Panhellenic Conference (NPC), Interfraternity Council (IFC), Greek Alliance Council, andNational Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC). As of spring 2023, sixteen percent of undergraduates were in fraternities or sororities (3131 out of 17,160 total).[226] UNC-Chapel Hill also offers professional and service fraternities that do not have houses but are still recognized by the school. Some of the campus honor societies include: the Order of the Golden Fleece, the Order of the Grail-Valkyries, the Order of the Old Well, the Order of the Bell Tower, and the Frank Porter Graham Honor Society.[227]
The student government at UNC–Chapel Hill is split into undergraduate student government and graduate and professional student government.[228] The undergraduate student government consists of an executive branch headed by the student body president[229] and a legislative branch, the undergraduate student senate.[230] The graduate and professional student government similarly consists of an executive (with its own president) and a legislative senate.[231] There is also a joint governance council that approves legislation affecting both undergraduate and graduate and professional students and advises the undergraduate and graduate and professional student governments.[232] The honor system is similarly split into two branches covering undergraduate students and graduate and professional students.[233] The Student Supreme Court, the other part of the judicial branch, consists of four associate justices and a chief justice, which are appointed by the student body president and confirmed by a two thirds vote of the senate for their part of the student body.[234]
Lenoir Dining Hall was completed in 1939 using funds from theNew Deal eraPublic Works Administration, and opened for service to students when they returned from Christmas holidays in January 1940. The building was named forGeneral William Lenoir, the first chairman of the Board of Trustees of the university in 1790. Since its inception, Lenoir Dining Hall has remained the flagship of Carolina Dining Services and the center of dining on campus. It has been renovated twice, in 1984 and 2011, to improve seating and ease mealtime rushes.[235]
Chase Hall was originally built in 1965 to offer South Campus dining options and honor former UNC President Harry Woodburn Chase, who served from 1919 to 1930. In 2005, the building was torn down to make way for the Student and Academic Services buildings, and was rebuilt north of the original location as the Rams Head Center (with the inner dining hall officially titled Chase Dining Hall). Due to students nicknaming the dining hall Rams Head, the university officially reinstated Chase Hall as the building name in March 2017. It includes the Chase Dining Hall, the Rams Head Market, and a conference room called the "Blue Zone".[236] Chase Dining Hall seats 1,300 people and has a capacity for serving 10,000 meals per day.[237] It continues to offer more food service options to the students living on south campus, and features extended hours including the 9 pm – 12 am period referred to as "Late Night".[238]
On campus, the Department of Housing and Residential Education manages thirty-two residence halls, grouped into thirteen communities. These communities range from Olde Campus Upper Quad Community which includesOld East Residence Hall, the oldest building of the university, to modern communities such as Manning West, completed in 2002.[239][240] First year students are required to live in one of the eight "First Year Experience" residence halls, most of which are located on South Campus.[241] In addition to residence halls, the university oversees an additional eight apartment complexes organized into three communities, Ram Village, Odum Village, and Baity Hill Student Family Housing. Along with themed housing focusing on foreign languages and substance-free living, there are also "living-learning communities" which have been formed for specific social, gender-related, or academic needs.[242] An example is UNITAS, sponsored by the Department of Anthropology, where residents are assigned roommates on the basis of cultural or racial differences rather than similarities.[243] Three apartment complexes offer housing for families, graduate students, and some upperclassmen.[244] Along with the rest of campus, all residence halls, apartments, and their surrounding grounds aresmoke-free.[245] As of 2008[update], 46% of all undergraduates live in university-provided housing.[246]
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^ab"North Carolina".NCAA Schools. NCAA.com: The Official Web Site of the NCAA. 2008. Archived fromthe original on December 28, 2010. RetrievedMay 21, 2008.
^"UNC Trustees in broad changes of all branches".The Daily Times-News. Burlington, NC. January 25, 1963. p. 1.
^Frost, Susan H.; Hearn, James C.; Marine, Ginger M. (1997). "State Policy and the Public Research University: A Case Study of Manifest and Latent Tensions".The Journal of Higher Education.68 (4). Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University Press:363–397.doi:10.2307/2960008.JSTOR2960008.
^"The History of UNCG". The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. 2005. Archived fromthe original on August 4, 2007. RetrievedMay 20, 2008.
^Allston v. The University of North Carolina System. No. 20 CvS. Superior Court of Wake County. August 20, 2020.[1]Archived August 17, 2020, at theWayback Machine
^Powell, William S. (1991). "Samuel Eusebius McCorkle".Dictionary of North Carolina Biography. Vol. 4. Chapel Hill, NC: UNC Press.ISBN978-0-8078-1918-0.
^"Common Data Set 2015–2016"(PDF). University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.Archived(PDF) from the original on March 18, 2022. RetrievedMarch 18, 2022.
^Black Student Movement Demands, December 1968 in the Black Student Movement of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Records #40400, University Archives, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
^"The Ram as Mascot".North Carolina Tar Heels Official Athletic Site. UNC Athletic Department. 2006. Archived fromthe original on April 13, 2008. RetrievedMay 18, 2008.
^U.S. News & World Report has ranked UC Berkeley, UVA, UCLA, Michigan, and UNC-Chapel Hill as the top five public universities in America for at least nine consecutive years as of 2014.
^Sumner, Jim L. (1990).A History of Sports in North Carolina. Raleigh, NC: Division of Archives and History, NC Department of Cultural Resources. p. 35.ISBN0-86526-241-1.
^"School Colors".North Carolina Tar Heels Official Athletic Site. UNC Athletic Department. 2008. Archived fromthe original on May 12, 2006. RetrievedApril 5, 2008.
^abc"UNC School Songs".North Carolina Tar Heels Official Athletic Site. UNC Athletic Department. 2006. Archived fromthe original on April 24, 2006. RetrievedJuly 9, 2008.
^Boss, Donna. "Rams Head Dining Center at the University of North Carolina." AllBusiness. December 1, 2005. Foodservice Equipment and Supplies, Web. November 10, 2009.AllBusiness.com[dead link]
^"North Campus Communities".Residence Halls. UNC Department of Housing and Residential Education. 2008. Archived fromthe original on June 6, 2008. RetrievedJune 18, 2008.
^"First Year Students".Residence Halls. UNC Department of Housing and Residential Education. 2017. Archived fromthe original on February 2, 2017. RetrievedJanuary 26, 2017.
^"Learning Communities". UNC Department of Housing and Residential Education. 2008. Archived fromthe original on June 6, 2008. RetrievedJune 19, 2008.
^"UNITAS".Living-Learning Communities. UNC Department of Housing and Residential Education. 2008. Archived fromthe original on December 7, 2008. RetrievedJune 18, 2008.
^"Apartment Communities". UNC Department of Housing and Residential Education. 2008. Archived fromthe original on June 7, 2008. RetrievedJune 18, 2008.
^"Housing and Campus Life".University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. College Board. 2008.Archived from the original on February 6, 2008. RetrievedJune 20, 2008.
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