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 is accompanied by the construction of new facilities, funded in part by the "Carolina First" fundraising campaign and an endowment that increased fourfold to more than $2 billion within ten years.[45][46] Professor Oliver Smithies was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2007 for his work in genetics.[47] Additionally, Professor Aziz Sancar was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2015 for his work in understanding the molecular repair mechanisms of DNA.[48]
The program's first recorded game took place in 1867, when the Tar Heels defeated a Raleigh all-star team, 34-17. Although baseball continued to be played at UNC, there exists a gap in record-keeping during Reconstruction, despite the noted existence of the UNC baseball team. The program's next recorded games were played in 1891. Thereafter, the University sponsored a varsity intercollegiate baseball program on a regular basis from that season onwards.
The University of North Carolina men's basketball team will begin Atlantic Coast Conference play December 5 at Georgia Tech in the first regular-season ACC game for first-year UNC head coach Hubert Davis. Carolina's ACC opener will come in its eighth regular-season game, four days after the Tar Heels host Michigan in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. (GoHeels.com)
Many fraternities and sororities on campus belong to the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC), Interfraternity Council (IFC), Greek Alliance Council, and National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC). As of spring 2010, eighteen percent of undergraduates were Greek (1146 men and 1693 women out of 17,160 total).[219] The total number of community service hours completed for the 2010 spring semester by fraternities and sororities was 51,819 hours (average of 31 hours/person). 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.[220]
Kiplinger's Personal Finance in 2015 ranked UNC-Chapel Hill as the number one "best value" public college in the country.[152] The university also topped The Princeton Review's list of the Best Value Colleges in 2014.[153] Similarly, the university is first among public universities and ninth overall in "Great Schools, Great Prices", on the basis of academic quality, net cost of attendance and average student debt.[154]
Carolina holds an in-state rivalry with fellow Tobacco 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.[183][184]
UNC took the field last Monday at Boshamer Stadium for its first baseball scrimmage of the fall. The Tar Heels followed that up with scrimmages Friday and Saturday. After going 2-for-4 with two RBI in UNC's first scrimmage, freshman Vance Honeycutt continued to show why the San Francisco Giants picked him in the 20th round of July’s MLB Draft. (Boshamer Bulletin)
Most players Brady Manek’s age move on from college basketball after four years. If this wasn’t the age of NCAA pandemic rules, he would have left with only frustrating March memories. The 23-year-old sharpshooter never got past the first weekend of the NCAA tournament at Oklahoma, and he saw the opportunity at UNC as a chance to change that. (Tar Heel Tribune)
