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 Carolina, North Carolina, UNC-CH, or simply UNC, the university is the oldest public institution of higher education in the United States and is the flagship of the University of North Carolina System.

History

The University of North Carolina was chartered by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1789. Accordingly, Franklin Street in downtown Chapel Hill, which serves as the northern border of the University's campus, is named after the famous eighteenth-century Enlightenment figure Benjamin Franklin. 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 therefore 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; one of the largest residence halls on campus is correspondingly named after him. He was the only student for two weeks.

By charter, UNC is the second oldest state university but was the first to operate in the United States as a state university. The University of Georgia was chartered first in 1785, but did not start classes until 1801. The College of Charleston opened in 1770, and was chartered in 1785, but was a private school until 1836, when it became a municipal college; it did not join the South Carolina state university system until 1970. The College of William and Mary was founded in 1693, but was a private institution until 1888. Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, was chartered in 1766 and opened in 1771, but did not become the state university until 1956. Which of these schools should be called the oldest state university is a subject of debate; however, UNC is the only public 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.

Academics and Sports may be found on the next page