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]
After reopening its campus in August 2020, UNC-Chapel Hill reported 135 new COVID-19 cases and four infection clusters within a week of having started in-person classes for the Fall 2020 semester. On 10 August, faculty and staff from several of UNC's constituent institutions filed a complaint against its board of governors, asking the system to default to online-only instruction for the fall.[64] On 17 August, UNC's management announced that the university would be moving all undergraduate classes online from 19 August, becoming the first university to send students home after having reopened.[65]
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]
Society members would wear a blue or white ribbon at university functions, and blue or white ribbons were attached to their diplomas at graduation.[191] On public occasions, both groups were equally represented, and eventually both colors were used by processional leaders to signify the unity of both groups as part of the university.[192] When football became a popular collegiate sport in the 1880s, the Carolina football team adopted the light blue and white of the Di-Phi Societies as the school colors.[193]
The most enduring symbol of the university is the Old Well, a small neoclassical rotunda based on the Temple of Love in the Gardens of Versailles, in the same location as the original well that provided water for the school.[83] The well stands at the south end of McCorkle Place, the northern quad, between two of the campus's oldest buildings, Old East, and Old West.
UNC basketball was front and center for its top 2023 recruiting target last Thursday. And yes, 5-star point guard Robert Dillingham was quite aware. "I definitely notice who’s here on Day One," Dillingham, the No. 11 recruit in the class of 2023 said. "It’s not something I hold against a school if they don’t come. But yeah, I notice who came out Day One." (Fayetteville Observer)
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)
