In August 2018, the university came to national attention after the toppling of Silent Sam, a Confederate monument which had been erected on campus in 1913 by the United 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 Trustee Julian 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 after Julian Carr, was renamed the "Student Affairs Building."[63] Carr had supported white supremacy and also the Ku Klux Klan.[63]
The Pittsburgh Pirates have named Jacob Stallings the team’s nominee for this year’s Roberto Clemente Award, given to the Major League Baseball player who "best represents the game through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy, and positive contributions on and off the field." Stallings says he became emotional. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
The Yellow Jackets’ 2020-21 season came to a brutal end when ACC Player of the Year Moses Wright had to miss the NCAA Tournament after the team won the ACC Tournament. Wright is gone, as is savvy guard Jose Alvarado, but Josh Pastner returns some quality pieces in guards Mike Devoe and Bubba Parham and forward Jordan Usher. There’s also Top-100 guard Dallan Coleman, who is expected to make an immediate impact in Atlanta. A lack of legitimate size and post depth could derail the Yellow Jackets.
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.
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]
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 Siena Saints, who went 12-5 overall last season and 12-4 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play, have one remaining scholarship available for the 2021-22 season. They could certainly use an experienced player like Platek, who was afforded a fifth season of eligibility due to the NCAA’s decision to grant one addition year to student-athletes following the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic had on the 2020-21 calendar year.
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]
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]
Carolina is a university built for the people, and public service is at the core of its mission. Students, faculty, and staff dedicate thousands of hours each year to helping communities across NC by performing public service projects and participating in outreach programs. Members of the Carolina community also make life-changing discoveries through their world-class research in labs and in the field, creating a better future for all North Carolinians.
In August 2018, the university came to national attention after the toppling of Silent Sam, a Confederate monument which had been erected on campus in 1913 by the United 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 Trustee Julian 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 after Julian Carr, was renamed the "Student Affairs Building."[63] Carr had supported white supremacy and also the Ku Klux Klan.[63]
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)
