Coming to UNC for college was the best decision I have ever made. There is something about this campus that, every so often, causes you to stop and admire what is around you. There is always a moment where the thought "I can't believe I actually go here" crosses your mind.
This place is mesmerizing. Whether you're tailgating on a Saturday in the fall, lounging in the sun in the quad during the spring, or linked arm-in-arm with a stranger singing "Hark the Sound" in the Dean Dome after a Carolina victory, you feel the magic in this place. I am proud to be a Tar Heel, just like the following alumni who understand what it truly means to go to this university.
1. Charles Kuralt, J-School alumni, at the UNC Bicentennial in 1993
"What is it that binds us to this place as to no other? It is not the well, or the bell, or the stone walls, or the crisp October nights or the memory ofdogwoods blooming. Our loyalty is not only to William Richardson Davie though we are proud of what he did 200 years ago today. Nor even to Dean Smith, though we are proud of what he did last March. No, our love for this place is based on the fact that it is as it was meant to be, the University of the people."
2. Elyse Ashburn, 2003-04 Daily Tar Heel editor
"Without even noticing, UNC seeps into your pores. By junior year, she's in your blood. You can't remember a time when you didn't have moments on campus where you lose your breath for a second and all you can think is, 'Wow, I love this place.' ...And then UNC tells you to leave. And it hurts."
3. Frank Porter Graham, President of the University of North Carolina, 1931
“In Chapel Hill among a friendly folk, this old university, the first state university to open its doors, stands on a hill set in the midst of beautiful forests under the skies that give their color and their charm to the life of youth gathered here . . . there is music in the air of the place.”
4. A.C. Snow, UNC c/o '50
"We'll hold it briefly, feel its pulsing heart before letting it go to impart that Carolina magic to those students there now, and to all those who will come in the endless future, stay awhile, and leave a part of their soul in a place called Chapel Hill."
5. James Taylor
"In my mind I'm gone to Carolina. Can't you see the sunshine? Can't you just feel the moonshine? Ain't it just like a friend of mine, it hit me from behind. Yes, I'm gone to Carolina in my mind."
6. Roy Williams
“Other folks wonder why we’re obsessed with this place. Being a part of the University of North Carolina is something that you never really get over.”
7. Thomas Wolfe, UNC c/o '20
"But sometime when the springtime comes and the sifting moonlight falls, they'll think again of this night here and of these old brown walls, of white Old Well and of Old South. With Bell's deep booming tone, they'll think again of Chapel Hill, and -- thinking -- come back home."
8. Eve Carson, deceased student body president
"I love UNC. I love the quad in spring and the arboretum in the fall. I love the Pit on a sunny day and Graham Memorial Lounge on a rainy one. I love Roy all the time. But what makes UNC truly special is not our beautiful campus, our distinguished reputation or even our basketball team. It's us - the student body - who make UNC what it is."
9. Stuart Scott, deceased ESPN Anchor, at the May 2001 Commencement
“I am blessed to have gone to school here for four years. You all are blessed for the same reason. And you won’t realize the depth of it until later on in life, and that’s natural. All of us who have gone to school here, we know that there is something very special about this place — the tradition, the campus, the social life, the academic life. That’s why those kids eight miles down Highway 15-501 love to playa hate on us, don’t they? Jealousy is an ugly emotion, isn’t it?”
10. W.T. Carmichael Jr, 1950 Yackety Yack
"Down through all the years of your lives, wherever you may go, your heart will always beat just a bit faster when you hear the symphonic syllables: Chapel Hill."
11. Nic Brown, Our State, North Carolina
Most residents stay only four years. Some hang around for a few more. But time doesn’t matter. Those who give themselves to Chapel Hill at all walk away with the right to say they’re Tar Heels — born, bred, and dead — and that’s a gift that lasts a lifetime.
12. Thomas Wolfe, UNC c/o '20
