That same year, the public universities in North Carolina had to share a budget cut of $414 million, of which the Chapel Hill campus lost more than $100 million in 2011.[53] 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.,[54] with poor staff retention.[55] The Board of Trustees for UNC-CH recommended a 15.6 percent increase in tuition, a historically large increase.[54] The budget cuts in 2011 greatly affected the university and set this increased tuition plan in motion[53] and UNC students protested.[56] On February 10, 2012, the UNC Board of Governors approved tuition and fee increases of 8.8 percent for in-state undergraduates across all 16 campuses.[57]
Since the beginning of intercollegiate athletics at UNC in the late nineteenth century, the school's colors have been blue and white.[190] The colors were chosen years before by the Dialectic (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.[191]
For decades, UNC-Chapel Hill has offered an undergraduate merit scholarship known as the Morehead-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 named Rhodes Scholars.[158] Since 2001, North Carolina has also co-hosted the Robertson Scholars Leadership Program, a merit scholarship and leadership development program granting recipients full student privileges at both UNC-Chapel Hill and neighboring Duke University.[159] Additionally, the university provides scholarships based on merit and leadership qualities, including the Carolina, Colonel Robinson, Johnston and Pogue Scholars programs.[160]
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.[101] English, social science, history, foreign language, mathematics, and natural science courses are required of all students, ensuring that they receive a broad liberal arts education.[102] The university also offers a wide range of first year seminars for incoming freshmen.[103] 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.[104] Undergraduates are held to an eight-semester limit of study.[105]
UNC-Chapel Hill's 729-acre (3.0 km2) campus is dominated by two central quads: Polk Place and McCorkle Place.[69] Polk Place is named after North Carolina native and university alumnus President James K. Polk,[70] and McCorkle Place is named in honor of Samuel Eusebius McCorkle, the original author of the bill requesting the university's charter.[71] Adjacent to Polk Place is a sunken brick courtyard known as the Pit where students will gather, often engaging in lively debate with speakers such as the Pit Preacher. The Morehead–Patterson Bell Tower, located in the heart of campus, tolls the quarter-hour. In 1999, UNC-Chapel Hill was one of sixteen recipients of the American Society of Landscape Architects Medallion Awards and was identified as one of 50 college or university "works of art" by T.A. Gaines in his book The Campus as a Work of Art.[69][72]
UNC-Chapel Hill's admissions process is "most selective" according to U.S. News & World Report.[106] State law requires that the percentage of in-state students per freshman class be at least 82%, making out-of-state admissions particularly selective. For freshmen entering Fall 2019, 9,610 were accepted out of 44,859 applicants, a 21% acceptance rate, and 4,183 enrolled.[107] Women constituted 61% of the incoming class; men 39%.[107]
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC-Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina[10]) is a public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The flagship of the University of North Carolina system, it is considered to be a Public Ivy, or a public institution which offers an academic experience similar to that of an Ivy League university.[11] After being chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolling students in 1795, making it one of the oldest public universities in the United States. Among the claimants, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is the only one to have held classes and graduated students as a public university in the eighteenth century.[12]
The Davis Library, situated near the Pit, is the main library and the largest academic facility and state-owned building in North Carolina.[86] It was named after North Carolina philanthropist Walter Royal Davis and opened on February 6, 1984. The first book checked out of Davis Library was George Orwell's 1984.[116] 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.[117] In 2001, the R.B. House Undergraduate Library underwent a $9.9 million renovation that modernized the furnishings, equipment, and infrastructure of the building.[118] 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.[119]
The principles of sustainability have been integrated throughout much of UNC-Chapel Hill. In the area of green building, the university requires that all new projects meet the requirements for LEED Silver certification and is in the process of building the first building in North Carolina to receive LEED Platinum status.[76] UNC-Chapel Hill's award-winning co-generation facility produces one-fourth of the electricity and all of the steam used on campus.[77] In 2006, the university and the Town of Chapel Hill jointly agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 60% by 2050, becoming the first town-gown partnership in the country to do so.[78] Through these efforts, the university achieved a "A−" grade on the Sustainable Endowment Institute's College Sustainability Report Card 2010.[79] Only 14 out of 300 universities received a higher score than this.
North Carolina's athletic teams are known as the Tar Heels. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) sub-level for football), primarily competing in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) for all sports since the 1953–54 season.[162] Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, fencing, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field and wrestling; 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.
Imagine 80 percent of the people you worked with every day were fired. Then, imagine those people were replaced with strangers – albeit, ones who were better at their job. You wouldn’t quite know where you stand, right? Chicago Bulls 2019 NBA Draft pick Coby White is one of only three players who remain from last season's opening-night roster. (Bleacher Nation)
