by Eric Angevine
What do you think of when you hear about the “University of North Carolina”? Most of us probably picture Dean Smith, or Michael Jordan, and a rowdy student rooting section clad in light blue and white. In reality, that school is the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and it is only 1/16th of the overall university system.
The sixteen member campuses of the UNC system were unified by the Higher Education Reorganization Act, which was enacted by the General Assembly of North Carolina in 1971. The Board of Governors are responsible for the mission of the system: “to foster the development of a well-planned and coordinated system of higher education, to improve the quality of education, to extend its benefits, and to encourage an economical use of the state’s resources.” link. The extension of benefits to all residents of the state is accomplished via the inclusion of insitutions of varying size spreading from the western mountains to the eastern seaboard.
(Click thumbnail for larger map)
There are six UNC hyphenates, five Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs), and five schools that don’t fit either category. Some interesting tidbits about a few of the member campuses:
- UNC-Wilmington’s campus was featured in the popular television show Dawson’s Creek. The city of Wilmington was also featured in films such as Firestarter, The Crow, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and Crimes of the Heart.
- UNC-Charlotte is considering adding football in the next few years.
- Winston-Salem State just made the move up to I-AA (now called Football Championship Subdivision) and will join the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
- The student body of UNC-Pembroke is 20% Native American. The school will be fielding a football team this year and is fighting to retain the nickname “Braves”.
- North Carolina School of the Arts is the first state-supported residential arts college in the U.S., and routinely graduates students into creative jobs on Broadway and in Hollywood.
Appalachian State University grad Eric Race says that a recent movement to make the UNC- designation uniform for all schools was quashed, a decision he’s grateful for. “App State vs. UNC-Boone? I think it’s an easy choice.” he says. In fact, each member school enjoys a fiercely independent self-image, and UNC members within the same athletic conference are often rivals (Appalachian State vs. Western Carolina in the Southern Conference, and UNC-Chapel Hill vs. NC State in the ACC).
Educational options for incoming students are helpfully gathered in an Academic Program Inventory on the system’s website, and profiles of each institution can be found there as well.
College Rule Notebook would love to hear more from the member schools of the UNC system. If you or someone you know attended one of these universities, please take the time to fill out our survey and brag on your school.
CRN would like to thank Eric Race for contributing a wealth of information to this article. Read his profile of Appalachian State University on this site.Visit the UNC System Website for more information.
