Hubert Davis continues to keep it rolling in the 2022 class as Rivals150 wing Tyler Nickel becomes the latest basketball recruit to commit to the Tar Heels. He joins a class that already includes Jalen Washington, Seth Trimble, and Will Shaver to make up one of top classes in the country. Nickel provides UNC with another scorer with some size on the perimeter. (Rivals.com)
Established in 1979, the Curriculum in Public Policy Analysis was one of the first undergraduate degree programs in public policy, and a charter member of the national Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. It was augmented in 1991 by an interdisciplinary PhD Curriculum in Public Policy Analysis. In 1995 the two curricula were combined and began recruiting their own core faculty. In 2001 the combined curriculum became the present Department of Public Policy.
Also located in McCorkle Place is the Davie Poplar tree under which the university's founder, William Richardson Davie, supposedly selected the location for the university. The legend of the Davie Poplar says that as long as the tree stands, so will the University.[84] Because of the tree's questionable health from damage caused by severe weather such as Hurricane Fran in 1996, the university has planted two genetic clones nearby called Davie Poplar Jr. and Davie Poplar III.[84] The second clone, Davie Poplar III, was planted in conjunction with the university's bicentennial celebration in 1993.[85][86] The student members of the university's Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies are not allowed to walk on the grass of McCorkle Place out of respect for the unknown resting place of Joseph Caldwell, the university's first president.[87]
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]
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]
Despite initial skepticism from university President Frank Porter Graham, on March 27, 1931, legislation was passed to group the University of North Carolina with the State College of Agriculture and Engineering and Woman's College of the University of North Carolina to form the Consolidated University of North Carolina.[34] In 1963, the consolidated university was made fully coeducational, although most women still attended Woman's College for their first two years, transferring to Chapel Hill as juniors, since freshmen were required to live on campus and there was only one women's residence hall. As a result, Woman's College was renamed the "University of North Carolina at Greensboro", and the University of North Carolina became the "University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill."[35][36][37] In 1955, UNC officially desegregated its undergraduate divisions.[38]
The university has a longstanding Honor Code known as the "Instrument of Student Judicial Governance," supplemented by an entirely student-run Honor System to resolve issues with students accused of academic and conduct offenses against the university community.[108] The Honor System is divided into three branches: the Student Attorney General Staff, the Honor Court, and the Honor System Outreach. The Student Attorney General is appointed by the Student Body President to investigate all reports of Honor Code violations and determine whether or not to bring charges against the student as detailed in the "Instrument." The Attorney General is supported by a select staff of around 40 students. The Honor Court is led by the Chair, who is appointed by the Student Body President, and supported by Vice Chairs who adjudicate all students' hearings. The Honor Court as a whole is made up of some 80 selected students. The Honor System Outreach is a branch of the System solely devoted to promoting honor and integrity in the university community. UNC-Chapel Hill is the only public university, with the exception of the military academies, that has a completely student-run system from the beginning to the end of the process.[citation needed]
The NCAA refers to UNC-Chapel Hill as the "University of North Carolina" for athletics.[9] As of Fall 2011, the university had won 40 NCAA team championships in six different sports, eighth all-time.[163] These include twenty one NCAA championships in women's soccer, six in women's field hockey, four in men's lacrosse, six in men's basketball, one in women's basketball, and two in men's soccer.[164] The Men's basketball team won its 6th NCAA basketball championship in 2017, the third for Coach Roy Williams since he took the job as head coach. UNC was also retroactively given the title of National Champion for the 1924 championship, but is typically not included in the official tally. Other recent successes include the 2011 College Cup in men's soccer, and four consecutive College World Series appearances by the baseball team from 2006 to 2009.[165] In 1994, the university's athletic programs won the Sears Directors Cup "all-sports national championship" awarded for cumulative performance in NCAA competition.[166] Consensus collegiate national athletes of the year from North Carolina include Rachel Dawson in field hockey; Phil Ford, Tyler Hansbrough, Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, James Worthy and Michael Jordan in men's basketball; and Mia Hamm (twice), Shannon Higgins, Kristine Lilly, and Tisha Venturini in women's soccer.[167]
Why North Carolina? Tyler Nickel: "It was the best for me -- me and my future. I feel like I can go in there and contribute right away. And be able to be me -- play like Tyler Nickel. When I get there, be able to contribute to a great team and win a national championship in the process of me and my development, and everyone else that's there." (Inside Carolina)
During the Civil War, North Carolina Governor David Lowry Swain persuaded Confederate President Jefferson Davis to exempt some students from the draft, so the university was one of the few in the Confederacy that managed to stay open.[29] However, Chapel Hill suffered the loss of more of its population during the war than any village in the South,[citation needed] and when student numbers did not recover, the university was forced to close during Reconstruction from December 1, 1870, until September 6, 1875.[30] Following the reopening, enrollment was slow to increase and university administrators offered free tuition for the sons of teachers and ministers, as well as loans for those who could not afford attendance.[31]
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]
Wednesday wasn't officially Tyler Nickel Day at East Rockingham High School. But it sure felt like it. Classes were adjourned 30 minutes early so the other 749 or so students could attend Nickel's announcement. As he put on a UNC hat, Nickel represented more than the first student-athlete in East Rockingham history to commit to a Division 1 school. (Inside Carolina)
