University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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 Latin: Universitat Carol Septent |
|
| Motto | Lux Libertas Light, Liberty |
|---|---|
| Established | 1789 |
| Type | Public |
| Endowment | $1.68 billion |
| Chancellor | James Moeser |
| Faculty | 3,100 (part and full time) |
| Staff | 6,261 (part and full time) |
| Undergraduates | 16,764 |
| Postgraduates | 10,512 |
| Location | Chapel Hill, NC, USA |
| Campus | Suburban, 729 acres (3 km²) |
| Athletics | 28 varsity teams |
| Nickname | Tar Heels  |
| Mascot | Rameses the Ram |
| Affiliations | AAU (Academic) ACC (Athletic) |
| Website | www.unc.edu |
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public, coeducational, research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Also known as The University of North Carolina, Carolina, North Carolina, UNC-CH, or simply UNC, it is part of the University of North Carolina System. Although not the first public university to be chartered, it was the first to open to students, and the only public university in America to graduate students in the eighteenth century. Academically, the University is among the United States' best. UNC is one of the original universities listed as a Public Ivy and is the flagship institution of the University of North Carolina System.
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[edit] History
The University of North Carolina was chartered by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1789. Franklin Street in downtown Chapel Hill serves as the northern border of the University's main campus.
The university opened in a single building, which came to be called Old East. Still in use as a residence hall, it is the oldest public university building in the United States. Its cornerstone was laid October 12, 1793, near an Anglican chapel in what became "Chapel Hill, North Carolina." Today, the university celebrates University Day each year on October 12. The first student, Hinton James, arrived on foot from Wilmington, February 12, 1795; a large residence hall on campus is named after him. He was the only student for two weeks.
The second public university by charter, the University of North Carolina was the first to hold classes and to graduate students. The University of Georgia was chartered first in 1785, but did not start classes until 1801. A few formerly private schools were opened before UNC, but none became public institutions until much later. The University of North Carolina is the only university in the United States that awarded degrees as a public institution in the eighteenth century.
In 1932 UNC became one of the three original campuses of the Consolidated University of North Carolina (since 1972 called the University of North Carolina system). In 1963 the Consolidated University was made fully coeducational. As a result, the Woman's College of the University of North Carolina was renamed the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and the University of North Carolina itself became the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
[edit] Campus
UNC’s sprawling and well-landscaped campus is dominated by its two central quads. One of the quads is named Polk Place, after President James K. Polk, a native of North Carolina and an alumnus of the university. Students mill about in a lowered brick area known as the Pit, often entertained by the Pit Preacher. The Morehead-Patterson Bell Tower, located in the heart of campus, tolls the hour. In 1999, UNC-CH was one of 16 recipients of the American Society of Landscape Architects Medallian Awards and was identified as one of 50 college or university 'works of art' by T.A. Gaines in his book 'The Campus as a Work of Art'. [1] [2].
The most enduring symbol of the university is the Old Well, a small neoclassical rotunda based on the Temple of Love in the Garden of Versailles, at the spot of the original well that provided water for the school. It stands at the south end of McCorkle Place, the northern quad, between two of the campus's oldest buildings, Old East and Old West. There is a symbolic drinking fountain (providing city water) at the center of the rotunda so that one can "drink from the Old Well" for good luck. It is tradition for entering freshmen to drink from the well, and the superstition is that if one does this, one will make all "As" that semester. Also in McCorkle Place is the Davie Poplar tree under which sits a stone bench. It is said the person you kiss while sitting on the bench will be the one you eventually marry. The poplar itself is a university landmark, as superstition holds that as long as it flourishes, so will the university. Due to its questionable health from a lightning strike, the university has planted two genetic clones nearby to ensure the continued good fortune of the school. The second clone was planted in conjunction with the University's bicentennial celebration in 1993. Another University landmark is Silent Sam the statue commemorating the soldiers who lost their lives in the Confederacy "protecting their families." The statue has become a point of debate on Carolina's campus and within its classrooms, as some claim that it is a monument to racism and slavery, while others take the view that it is simply a piece of the rich heritage of the South, and should be viewed as such.[3]
As a whole the campus is divided in north, middle, and south campuses. North Campus includes the two quads along with the Pit, Frank Porter Graham Student Union, Student Stores, and the Davis, House, and Wilson libraries. Almost all classrooms are located in North Campus along with the majority of undergraduate residence halls. Middle Campus includes Fetzer and Woolen Gymnasiums along with the Student Recreation Center, Kenan Stadium, the Irwin Belk outdoor track, the Eddie Smith Field House and indoor track, the Cary C. Boshamer baseball field, Carmichael Auditorium for women's basketball, women's volleyball, women's gymnastics, and men's wrestling, the Sonya Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History, the School of Government, the School of Law, UNC Hospitals, the George Watts Hill Alumni Center, the Ram's Head complex with a dining hall, parking garage, grocery store, and state of the art gymnasium; and the Carmichael, Parker, Teague, and Avery residence halls. South Campus includes the Dean Smith Center for men's basketball, Kenan-Flagler Business School, the Ram Village and Odum Village Apartment complexes, Baity Hill at Mason Farm Road student family housing complex, and the undergraduate residence halls of Hinton James, George Moses Horton, Ehringhaus, Ehringhaus South, Morrison (currently offline for major renovations), Paul Hardin, Craige and Craige North[1].
A new satellite campus, Carolina North, has recently been proposed and is now in the planning stages. This addition is planned to be primarily a research park with new science facilities for the twenty-first century, but will also add residence halls, enabling the continued growth of the student population. A source of contention between the university and the local community, however, is the university's initial request for additional parking, totaling about 17,000 parking spaces by the end of the long term project, and has led to delays in the current planning stage.
[edit] Academics
UNC offers 71 bachelor's, 110 master's and 77 doctoral degree programs. Carolina enrolls more than 26,800 students from all 100 North Carolina counties, the other 49 states and 47 other countries. State law requires that the percentage of students from North Carolina in each freshman class meet or exceed 82%.
UNC's library system has more than 5.6 million volumes and perennially ranks among the best research libraries in North America as judged by the Association of Research Libraries. UNC's North Carolina Collection is the largest of its kind among state-oriented collections on campuses nationwide, and the Southern and rare book collections housed in Wilson Library are among the country's finest. The university is home to ibiblio, the third WWW Internet website in the world and one of the world's largest collections of freely available information including software, music, literature, art, history, science, politics, and cultural studies.
Among graduate programs, the School of Medicine, the School of Law, the School of Information and Library Science, the School of Public Health, the School of Pharmacy, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, the School of Dentistry, the School of Nursing, the School of Education, the School of Government, and the Kenan-Flagler Business School are all highly regarded. The School of Business' Executive Masters of Business Administration program was ranked 5th in the world in the biannual rankings published by Businessweek. Kenan-Flagler's MBA program as a whole is ranked 10th in the world by Forbes with the only international schools ranked higher being INSEAD of France and IMD of Switzerland. Kenan-Flagler's Master of Accounting program was ranked 7th in the 2004 Public Accounting Report, and boasts 95% to 100% employment for its graduates each year. Moreover, the School of Medicine is ranked second in the nation for primary care and 20th in the nation in research according to US News & World Report. For 2007 US News ranked the School of Information and Library Science first in the nation tied with the University of Illinois for the eighth time in a row. US News ranked the School of Public Health second in the nation tied with Harvard. US News also ranked the School of Pharmacy as third in the nation. The School of Education, School of Law, and School of Nursing were also ranked in the top 30 nationally. The School of Government MPA Program has the distinction of being the only MPA program in North Carolina nationally ranked: 6th nationally in city management and 10th nationally in Public Affairs and Administration. UNC also offers graduate programs through the School of Social Work, continuously ranked among the top 5 in the Nation.
Overall, the undergraduate program for 2006 is ranked 27th in the nation by US News & World Report tied with the University of Southern California and Tufts University in Boston. UNC-CH is consistently ranked in top 5 among public universities along with UC Berkeley, University of Virginia, UCLA, and the University of Michigan based on US News & World Report surveys. UNC is 1st among public universities and 10th overall in "Great Schools, Great Prices," based on academic quality, net cost of attendance and average student debt according to US News & World Report in 2006. UNC is also 4th among public universities in "The Top American Research Universities," produced in December 2004 by the Lombardi Program on Measuring University Performance at the University of Florida. Based on categories such as research, endowment assets, private giving, faculty, and advanced training, Chapel Hill is 1st among the 100 best public colleges combining great academics and affordable tuitions as ranked by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. Carolina has been first four consecutive times. UNC also has the highest percentage of undergraduates studying abroad for any public institution. For undergraduates, the university offers one of the nation's most acclaimed Honors Programs in a public institution with a 3-star rating (the highest given). [2]
At the undergraduate level, students spend their first two years at UNC working to fulfill "perspective" requirements. English, social science, history, foreign language, mathematics, and natural science courses are required of all students, ensuring that students receive a broad liberal arts education. After their sophomore year, students move on to the College of Arts and Sciences, or choose other degree programs in the Schools of Medicine, Business, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Information and Library Science, or Journalism and Mass Communication.
Carolina has for decades offered an undergraduate merit scholarship known as the Morehead Scholarship, modeled after the Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford. Scholarship students receive tuition, room and board, books and funds for summer study for four years. Also offered is the Robertson Scholarship, an innovative scholarship granting recipients the opportunity to attend both UNC-Chapel Hill and neighboring Duke University.
Carolina has the second largest number of Rhodes Scholars among public universities (41 since 1902)[3] behind the University of Virginia. Additionally, many students have won Truman, Goldwater, Mitchell, Churchill, and Mellon fellowships. [4]
Class Structure
- Student-faculty ratio: 23:1
- Faculty with Ph.D's or Highest Degree in Field: 90% [4]
- Classes with fewer than 30 students: 49%
- Classes with fewer than 20 students: 40%
Student Demographics for the 2006-2007 Academic Year
- Female-male ratio: 60:40
- Caucasian: 72.2%
- African American: 9.9%
- Asian American: 5.9%
- Hispanic/Latino: 2.8%
- Native American: 0.9%
- Non-resident alien: 4.7%
- Other: 3.6%
Incoming Freshmen for 2005
- SAT: Middle 50% scored between 1220 and 1390; 54.0% scored above 1300; 99.0% reported at least one SAT I score
- ACT: Middle 50% scored between 25 and 31; 22.0% reported at least one ACT score
- 4.0 or higher GPA: 84.7%
- Top 10% of class: 74%
- Top 10 in class: 38%
- Acceptance rate: 36%
- In-state students: 82.8%
- Out-of-state and international students: 17.2%
[edit] Sports, clubs, and traditions
As one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the United States, UNC has developed a long series of traditions associated with its athletics and student organizations.
[edit] Athletics
The school's sports teams are called the Tar Heels, and the mascot is Rameses the ram. They participate in the NCAA's Division I-A and in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The University of North Carolina has won 37 team national championships in five different sports, 9th all-time, and 51 individual national championships. The women's soccer team has won 19 national championships since 1981; the men's soccer team won the championship in 2001; the women's basketball team in 1994; the men's basketball team in 1924, 1957, 1982, 1993, and 2005; the men's lacrosse team in 1982, 1986, and 1991; the women's field hockey team in 1985, 1995, 1996, and 1997; the women's team handball team won in 2004; and the men's team handball team has won the last three National Championships in 2004, 2005, and 2006. The men's crew team won the 2004 ECAC National Invitational Collegiate Regatta in the varsity eight category. The North Carolina Men's Baseball team is also a perennial power, and in 2006 made it to the Championship round of the College World Series.
The men's basketball team was awarded the national championship by the Helms Foundation in 1936 for the undefeated (26-0) 1924 season. The team defeated Kansas 54-53 in triple overtime in 1957 to finish undefeated (32-0) as NCAA Champs. In 1982 they defeated Georgetown 63-62 in the championship game to go 32-2 overall for the season. In 1993 the (33-4) NCAA Champs defeated Michigan 77-71 to win the title. And in 2005 the Tar Heels finished 33-4 and were NCAA Champs defeating Illinois 75-70.
From 1961 to 1997 the men's basketball team was coached by Dean Smith, who holds the record (as of 2006) for the most victories by an NCAA Division I men's basketball coach with 879 wins. Coach Smith led the Tar Heels to NCAA championships in 1982 and 1993. In only his second year at UNC, Roy Williams coached his team to a national championship in 2005 and was named Coach of the Year by the Associated Press in 2006.
In 1994, the University's athletic programs won the Sears Directors Cup 'all-sports national championship' which is awarded for cumulative performance in NCAA competition.
Notable graduates from the athletic programs include Michael Butler, Michael Jordan, Mia Hamm, Davis Love III, Eddie Pope, Roy Williams, B.J. Surhoff, Jeff Reed, Andrew Miller, Daniel Bard and Marion Jones. Notable athletes that attended UNC but did not graduate include Lawrence Taylor, Julius Peppers, Willie Parker, and Dré Bly. Notable athletes from the men's basketball programs include Michael Jordan, Larry Brown, Billy Cunningham, Brad Daugherty, Vince Carter, Sean May, Rashad McCants, Raymond Felton, Jerry Stackhouse, Marvin Williams, Antawn Jamison, Brendan Haywood, Bob McAdoo, Sam Perkins, Jeff McInnis, George Lynch, Rick Fox, Walter Davis, Hubert Davis, Kenny Smith, James Worthy, Phil Ford and Rasheed Wallace.
[edit] Student organizations
General student organizations (excluding Greek life and athletics as well as The Daily Tar Heel) at UNC are officially recognized and provided with assistance by the Carolina Union, an administrative unit of the University. Funding for student organizations is primarily derived from the 'Student Activity Fees', which are monies collected to be spent at the discretion of Student Government.
Student government is composed of a 40 member congress, an executive committee headed by the student body president and a student-run honor system. Student government authority derives from the student constitution, a document written and adopted in 1946 at the suggestion of Douglass Hunt. Prior to that time, the Dialectic and Philanthropic societies as well as other organizations rallied behind student concerns.
A history of student government at UNC has been compiled by Albert and Gladys Hall Coates and is available under the title The Story of Student Government in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The Carolina Student Biotechnology Network , Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies [5], Black Student Movement, Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Straight Alliance, UNC Young Democrats, College Republicans, Bounce Magazine, The Bollywood Club of Carolina, Company Carolina, the Loreleis, the Achordants, Carolina Undergraduate ACLU, Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship and the Campus Y, as well as over 400 other recognized clubs and 48 Greek organizations contribute to a diverse and vibrant student life.
The school's student run newspaper The Daily Tar Heel is ranked as the 3rd best school newspaper in the nation by the Princeton Review behind Howard University and University of Arizona, and has received other awards such as the Pacemaker award from the Associated Collegiate Press[5]. The DTH, as it is known on campus, also offered its newspaper online as early as 1995.[6] The first campus newspaper to be offered online was The Orion, the campus newspaper of California State University, Chico, in 1994.[7]
The largest student fundraiser, the UNC Dance Marathon, involves thousands of students, faculty and community members in raising funds for the NC Children's Hospital. The organization conducts fundraising and volunteer activities throughout the year and has donated $1m to date since its inception in 1999.
A "secret society" known as The Order of Gimghoul exists at the university, which selects or "taps" ten men from the junior class each year and secretly meets at Gimghoul Castle in west Chapel Hill. This castle was constructed from 1924-1926 and is the only bona-fide castle in the state of North Carolina. Many honor societies, such as the Order of the Golden Fleece, the Order of the Grail-Valkyries, and the Order of the Old Well, round out the student body.
Founded as a response to the national rush to war that occurred after the September 11th attacks, the Campaign to End the Cycle of Violence is comprised of students, faculty, staff and community members committed to ending terrorism in all of its forms by addressing and confronting terrorism's root causes and building a long-term movement that works toward global justice.
Founded in 1977, WXYC 89.3 FM is UNC's award winning student radio station, broadcasting 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Though programming is left up to student DJs, WXYC typically plays little heard music from a wide range of genres and eras. On November 7th, 1994 it became the one of the first radio stations in the world to broadcast its signal over the internet. [8] [9] There is also a student-run television station, STV.
Student Action with Workers (SAW), a joint worker-student organization, was formed in 2003 to mobilize student support for worker-led campaigns. SAW supports a living wage for all UNC employees and the right to collective bargaining.
Between Resident Advisors (RAs) and the Residence Hall Association (RHA), organization within UNC residence halls is largely student-led. Both groups provide social and educational programs for the benefit of on-campus students, as well as communication with university officials and arbitration in student conflicts.
There are numerous fraternities and sororities on campus but only 14.4% of undergraduates are Greek. UNC offers many business and service fraternities that do not have houses but are still recognized by the school. Although no black fraternities and sororities have houses, the organizations remain quite prestigious and are recognized nationwide.
The many athletic teams at the university are supported by the Marching Tar Heels, the University’s marching band. This all-volunteer band supports the basketball, field hockey, football, lacrosse, soccer, volleyball and wrestling programs. The Marching Tar Heels, nicknamed the "Pride of the ACC", currently has approximately 275 members.
[edit] Traditions
Since the beginning of the athletics department, the school's colors have been Carolina Blue and White. The colors were chosen years before, with the blue (a shade similar to sky blue or Columbia blue) representing the Dialectic society and white representing the Philanthropic society. The school had required participation in one of the clubs; traditionally the "Di's" were from west of the Chapel Hill area, and the "Phi's" were from the east. 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.[10] In recent years, the teams have also used navy blue as a third, "highlight" color. The team nickname is "Tar Heels", a reference to the state's volunteer soldiers who fought on the side of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War, although one legend dates this name as far back as the American Revolution. The mascot is a live ram named Rameses, a tradition that dates back to 1924, when the team manager brought a ram to the annual game against VMI, inspired by the play of former football player Jack "The Battering Ram" Merrit. The kicker rubbed its head for good luck before a game-winning field goal, and the ram stayed. There is also an anthropomorphic ram mascot who appears at all games.
Though the South's Oldest Rivalry between UNC and its first opponent, the University of Virginia, has seen downplayed significance in recent years, it was a major rivalry throughout the 1980s in basketball. The rivalry recently saw the 111th meeting in football between the two teams. The bitterness of this rivalry has been recently replaced by somewhat less historical rivalries with North Carolina State University, a state institution of larger size with a greater focus on technical and agricultural sciences, Duke University, and Wake Forest University, a private university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It is traditional to exchange pranks with North Carolina State, including painting their "Free Expression Tunnel" in UNC colors every year before big athletic competitions. In retaliation, North Carolina State University students travel to Chapel Hill to play their fight song and occasionally dye fountains red. For years, Wake Forest men would steal UNC's live animal mascot, Rameses the Ram, before athletic events.
North Carolina's rivalry with Duke is especially intense in men's basketball. (See UNC-Duke Rivalry) For several decades, each team has been a frequent contender for the national championship, and, located just eight miles apart, the students and fans of the two schools are quite focused in their enmity. The rivalry had led people to use their respective school colors to differentiate between the distinct shadings of blue in daily occurrences, with people referring to the lighter, powder blue hue as "Carolina blue" and the darker blue as "Duke blue."
After important basketball victories (vs. Duke, tournaments), it has become tradition to rush downtown to Franklin Street, which the police shut down. People converge at and around Franklin and Columbia Streets, near campus, and light bonfires. On occasion, these celebrations have gotten out of hand. One incident, after an 85-83 victory, the celebration led to vandalism and an overturned car. [11]
Each semester, on the night before final exams are set to begin, the 'Midnight Exam Study Break' occurs. This traditionally involves students running naked through the Undergraduate Library.
Every Halloween is marked by celebration on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus. In recent years, an estimated 70,000 costumed students and onlookers have packed into a mile-long section of Franklin Street abutting campus. Students come from Appalachian State, NC State, Duke, Elon, and other schools in the University of North Carolina system.
UNC has a longstanding honor code, supplemented by an Honor Court to resolve issues with students accused of academic and nonacademic offenses against the university community. Faculty are forbidden to punish students caught cheating in any way (such as failing grades), but instead are to report such cases to the Student Attorney General. Only if found guilty in the Honor Court, composed of students, can such a student be penalized.
[edit] Notable alumni
UNC has 243,000 alumni that live in all 50 states and 146 countries.
[edit] Leaders of the University
[edit] Presidents
- Joseph Caldwell (1804-1812)
- Robert Hett Chapman (1812-1816)
- Joseph Caldwell (1816-1835)
- David L. Swain (1835-1868)
- Solomon Pool (1869-1872)
- Vacant (1872-1874)
- Charles Phillips (1875-1876)
- Kemp P. Battle (1876-1891)
- George Tayloe Winston (1891-1896)
- Edwin Anderson Alderman (1896-1900)
- Francis Preston Venable (1900-1913)
- Edward Kidder Graham (1913-1918)
- M.H. Stacy (1918-1919)
- Harry Woodburn Chase (1919-1930)
- Frank Porter Graham (1930-1932; President of the Consolidated University 1932-1949)
[edit] Chancellors of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Robert B. House (1934-1945 as Dean of Administration; 1945-1947 as Chancellor)
- William Brantley Aycock (1957-1964)
- Paul F. Sharp (1964-1966)
- J. Carlyle Sitterson (1966-1972)
- N. Ferebee Taylor (1972-1980)
- Christopher C. Fordham (1980-1988)
- Paul Hardin (1988-1995)
- Michael Hooker (1995-1999)
- William O. McCoy (acting and interim chancellor, 1999-2000)
- James Moeser (2000-present)
[edit] Points of interest
[edit] Notes
- ^ http://www.unc.edu/news/facts.shtml
- ^ http://www.appa.org/FacilitiesManager/article.cfm?ItemNumber=394&parentid=203
- ^ http://campus-y.unc.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=107&Itemid=2&limit=1&limitstart=6
- ^ UNC:Academic:Facts and Figures
- ^ http://www.studentpress.org/acp/winners/npm05.html
- ^ http://www.duke.edu/web/abduke/archive/Herald-Sun2-26-95Rogers.htm
- ^ http://www.csuchico.edu/jour/from_the_lab/orion_online.html
- ^ http://www.wxyc.org/about/first
- ^ http://www.cc.utah.edu/~jay/history.html
- ^ http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/trads/unc-trads-colors.html
- ^ http://espn.go.com/abcsports/wwos/s/cbb/franklinstreet.html
[edit] External links
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