The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a leading global public research university, preparing a diverse student body to become creators, explorers, innovators, and leaders in NC, throughout the nation, and around the world. Carolina’s nationally recognized teaching, groundbreaking research, and dedication to public service continue a legacy that began when the University was chartered in 1789 and opened to students four years later. As the nation’s first public university, Carolina is committed to and is a leader in providing access to a high-quality, affordable education to students from all backgrounds.
Tar Heels have also made a mark on pop culture. Andy Griffith[248] and John Forsythe[249] became successful actors. Stuart Scott,[250] Woody Durham,[251] and Mick Mixon[252] have become sportscasters. Civil War historian and writer Shelby Foote,[253] sportswriter Peter Gammons,[254] Pulitzer Prize winner Lenoir Chambers[255] and comedian Lewis Black all graduated from North Carolina. Other notable writers who have attended UNC-Chapel Hill include Thomas Wolfe, who has a memorial on campus; National Book Award winners Walker Percy, Hayden Carruth, and Charles Frazier; Dos Passos Prize winner Russell Banks; National Book Critics Circle Award winner Ben Fountain; Pulitzer Prize finalist Lydia Millet; New Yorker columnist Joseph Mitchell; National Geographic writer John Patric; Armistead Maupin; and the notable poets Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Bollingen Prize winner Edgar Bowers.Television journalist Charles Kuralt, honored with three Peabody Awards, is a UNC-Chapel Hill graduate. Three-time Pulitzer Prize winner, political cartoonist Jeff MacNelly graduated from Carolina. Caleb Bradham,[256] the inventor of the popular soft drink Pepsi-Cola, was a member of the Philanthropic Society and the class of 1890. Actor Ken Jeong attended UNC's School of Medicine, joining the small group of performers and personalities who also possess doctorates. Brooke Baldwin anchors CNN's Newsroom and graduated from UNC in 2001.[257] Pamela Brown serves as CNN's Senior White House Correspondent.[258] Pulitzer Prize winner and creator of the 1619 Project, Nikole Hannah-Jones achieved her master's degree from UNC in 2003.[259]
Hubert Davis and the UNC Basketball coaching staff will be back on the road again this week, and two class of 2023 5-star recruits are set to get visits on Tuesday in New Jersey. Davis and assistant coach Jeff Lebo are expected to visit 5-star combo guard Simeon Wilcher (Roselle Catholic) and 5-star wing Mackenzie Mgbako (Gill St Bernard School). (Keeping It Heel)
Tar Heels have made their mark on the basketball court with Southern Methodist University head coach Larry Brown,[260] title winning coach Roy Williams,[261] Charlotte Hornets general manager Mitch Kupchak,[262] college player of the year award winners George Glamack,[263] Lennie Rosenbluth,[264] Antawn Jamison,[265] and Tyler Hansbrough,[266] Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Michael Jordan,[267] Billy Cunningham,[268] and Robert McAdoo,[269] great defender Bobby Jones,[270] and NBA All-Star Vince Carter.[271] Other notable Tar Heels include football players Lawrence Taylor,[272] Julius Peppers, Harris Barton, Hakeem Nicks and Dré Bly,[273] soccer stars Mia Hamm,[274] Ashlyn Harris, Heather O'Reilly, Meghan Klingenberg, Whitney Engen, Allie Long, Lori Chalupny, Crystal Dunn and Tobin Heath,[275] baseball standouts Dustin Ackley[276] and B.J. Surhoff,[277] and Olympians April Heinrichs[278] and Vikas Gowda.[278] Vic Seixas is a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and won 15 Majors.[279]
In 1921, the University of North Carolina became a founding member of the Southern Conference. Bunny Hearn became head coach of the Tar Heel baseball program in 1932, serving in that capacity for the next 15 years. The Tar Heels would win six Southern Conference baseball titles during the Hearn era, as well as two wartime Ration League titles in 1943 and 1945. In 1947, Hearn suffered a stroke and chose to relinquish his head coaching duties. Walter Rabb would thereafter take over as head coach of the Tar Heel baseball program, though Hearn remained as a coach at North Carolina for another ten years.
With over 300,000 living former students,[236] North Carolina has one of the largest and most active alumni groups in America. Many Tar Heels have attained local, national, and international prominence. James K. Polk served as President of the United States for a single term,[237] William R. King was the thirteenth Vice President of the United States.[238] North Carolina has produced many United States Senators including Paul Wellstone[239] and Thomas Lanier Clingman,[240] along with multiple House Representatives such as Virginia Foxx[241] and Ike Franklin Andrews.[242] Algenon L. Marbley[243] and Thomas Settle[244] have received positions of federal judgeship. Former Secretary of War and Secretary of the Army Kenneth Claiborne Royall[245] and the fifth White House Press Secretary Jonathan W. Daniels were graduates of North Carolina.[246] North Carolina has also produced 38 state governors, including Terry Sanford, Jim Hunt, and Roy Cooper, the current Governor of North Carolina. Peaches Golding was appointed by HM Queen Elizabeth II as High Sheriff of the City and County of Bristol 2010–2011, the first Black female High Sheriff and second only black High Sheriff in over 1,000 years. Stormie Forte was appointed as the first Black woman and openly LGBTQ female member of the Raleigh City Council. Carolyn Hunt served as the Second Lady of North Carolina and twice served as the First Lady of North Carolina. Margaret Rose Sanford served as First Lady of North Carolina. James E. Webb, the 2nd Administrator of NASA and an architect of the Apollo program during the Kennedy administration, was a Tar Heel. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, the next generation successor of Hubble scheduled to launch in 2019, was named in honor of Webb.[247]
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.
During the 1960s, the campus was the location of significant political protest. Prior to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, protests about local racial segregation which began quietly in Franklin Street restaurants led to mass demonstrations and disturbance.[40] The climate of civil unrest prompted the 1963 Speaker Ban Law prohibiting speeches by communists on state campuses in North Carolina.[41] The law was immediately criticized by university Chancellor William Brantley Aycock and university President William Friday, but was not reviewed by the North Carolina General Assembly until 1965.[42] 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 to Marxist speaker Herbert Aptheker and civil liberties activist Frank 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" by The Daily Tar Heel for Governor Dan K. Moore.[43] A group of UNC-Chapel Hill students, led by Student Body President Paul Dickson, filed a lawsuit in U.S. federal court, and on February 20, 1968, the Speaker Ban Law was struck down.[44] In 1969, campus food workers of Lenoir Hall went on strike protesting perceived racial injustices that impacted their employment, garnering the support of student groups and members of the University and Chapel Hill community.
The university's teams are nicknamed the "Tar Heels," in reference to the state's eighteenth century prominence as a tar and pitch producer.[168] The nickname's cultural relevance, however, has a complex history that includes anecdotal tales from both the American Civil War and the American Revolution.[168] The mascot is a live Dorset ram named Rameses, a tradition that dates back to 1924, when the team manager brought a ram to the annual game against Virginia 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.[169] There is also an anthropomorphic ram mascot who appears at games.[170] The modern Rameses is depicted in a sailor's hat, a reference to a United States Navy flight training program that was attached to the university during World War II.[171]
Justin McKoy grew up like a lot of kids in the state of North Carolina. He wanted to be a Tar Heel. "I'd always mimic playing basketball in the house with my brother," McKoy said. "It would be like Justin from Carolina playing against his brother from Duke." Entering his junior season, McKoy is finally getting the chance to live out his childhood fantasy. (WRAL Sports Fan)
