The university was named a Public Ivy by Richard Moll in his 1985 book The Public Ivies: A Guide to America's Best Public Undergraduate Colleges and Universities, and in later guides by Howard and Matthew Greene.[134][135] Many of UNC-Chapel Hill's professional schools have achieved high rankings in publications such as Forbes magazine, as well as annual U.S. News & World Report surveys.[136][137] In 2020, US News & World Report ranked the School of Medicine #1 in primary care and #23 in research.[138] In 2016, U.S. News & World Report ranked UNC-Chapel Hill business school's MBA program as the 16th best in the nation. In the 2019 edition, U.S. News & World Report ranked the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health as the second best school of public health in the United States (behind Johns Hopkins and tied with Harvard).[139] The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy was ranked #1 among pharmacy schools in the United States in 2020 by U.S. News & World Report.[140] In 2005, Business Week ranked UNC-Chapel Hill business school's Executive MBA program as the 5th best in the United States.[141] UNC also offers an online MBA program, MBA@UNC,[142] that is ranked #1 in the country in 2019 for Best Online MBA Programs (tied with the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University).[143] Other highly ranked schools include journalism and mass communication, law, library and information science, medicine, dentistry, and city and regional planning.[144][145][146][147][148] Nationally, UNC-Chapel Hill is in the top ten public universities for research.[149] Internationally, the 2016 QS World University Rankings ranked North Carolina 78th in the world (in 2010 Times Higher Education World University Rankings and QS World University Rankings parted ways to produce separate rankings).[150]
While students previously held "Beat Duke" parades on Franklin Street before sporting events,[185] today students and sports fans have been known to spill out of bars and residence halls upon the victory of one of Carolina's sports teams.[186] In most cases, a Franklin Street "bonfire" celebration is due to a victory by the men's basketball team,[187][188] although other Franklin Street celebrations have stemmed from wins by the women's basketball team and women's soccer team. The first known student celebration on Franklin Street came after the 1957 men's basketball team capped their perfect season with a national championship victory over the Kansas Jayhawks.[189] From then on, students have flooded the street after important victories.[189] After a Final Four victory in 1981 and the men's basketball team won the 1982 NCAA Championship, Franklin Street was painted blue by the fans who had rushed the street.[189] This event has led local vendors to stop selling Carolina blue paint as the Tar Heels near the national championship.
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]
Chartered by the North Carolina General Assembly on December 11, 1789, the university's cornerstone was laid on October 12, 1793, near the ruins of a chapel, chosen because of its central location within the state.[26] The first public university chartered under the US Constitution, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is one of three universities that claims to be the oldest public university in the United States and the only such institution to confer degrees in the eighteenth century as a public institution.[27][28]
Tyler Nickel is ready to end his recruitment. The 6-foot-7 senior forward from Elkton (Va.) East Rockingham said he will announce his decision Wednesday, Sept. 15 at 2:45 p.m. at his high school. He planned to officially visit all his finalists but only visited Blacksburg and Chapel Hill, signifying that the Hokies and Tar Heels are the two left standing. (Inside Carolina)
In 2011, the first of several investigations found fraud and academic dishonesty at the university related to its athletic program.[49] Following a lesser scandal that began in 2010 involving academic fraud and improper benefits with the university's football program, two hundred questionable classes offered by the university's African and Afro-American Studies department (commonly known as AFAM) came to light. As a result, the university was placed on probation by its accrediting agency in 2015.[50][51] It was removed from probation in 2016.[52]

Student government at Carolina is composed of an executive branch headed by the student body president, a legislative branch composed of a student-elected student congress, and a judicial branch which includes the honor court and student supreme court.[221] The Judicial Reform Committee created the Instrument of Student Judicial Governance, which outlined the current Honor Code and its means for enforcement in 1974.[222] Currently, Carolina boasts one of the only student-run judicial systems in the nation. All academic and most conduct violations are handled by the student-run Honor System. Prior to that time, the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies along with other campus organizations supported student concerns.[223]

^{Dereck Lively II, a 7-foot-1 center from Bellefonte (Pa.) Westtown School will end his recruitment and announce his college decision Monday, September 20th at 6 pm ET. This summer, Lively visited Kentucky, Duke, and North Carolina officially, while Penn State received an unofficial visit. This seems likely to be a battle between Duke and Kentucky for Lively. (On3.com)}

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]

While students previously held "Beat Duke" parades on Franklin Street before sporting events,[185] today students and sports fans have been known to spill out of bars and residence halls upon the victory of one of Carolina's sports teams.[186] In most cases, a Franklin Street "bonfire" celebration is due to a victory by the men's basketball team,[187][188] although other Franklin Street celebrations have stemmed from wins by the women's basketball team and women's soccer team. The first known student celebration on Franklin Street came after the 1957 men's basketball team capped their perfect season with a national championship victory over the Kansas Jayhawks.[189] From then on, students have flooded the street after important victories.[189] After a Final Four victory in 1981 and the men's basketball team won the 1982 NCAA Championship, Franklin Street was painted blue by the fans who had rushed the street.[189] This event has led local vendors to stop selling Carolina blue paint as the Tar Heels near the national championship.
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.
The ACC schedule-makers produced a helpful first league schedule for new UNC basketball coach Hubert Davis. Davis’ first Tar Heels team plays Florida State, Virginia, Syracuse, and Pittsburgh only at the Smith Center. Trips to Charlottesville, Va., and Tallahassee, Fla., which have been rough ones for UNC in recent years, aren’t part of the schedule. (Tar Heel Tribune)