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Chapel Hill grit

Chapel Hill grit is the reddish-brown gravel seen throughout the university campus and downtown, including the pathways in the Coker Arboretum and on some of the sidewalks on Rosemary Street. Composed of decomposed granite, the sand-like gravel is unique to the area. Before the majority of the pathways were covered in brick, students often complained about the dust from the gravel walkways covering their shoes. But there were some who looked back on it fondly as a distinctive part of their Carolina experience. Chancellor Robert B. House, in a memoir about his early days as a student at Carolina, wrote, "I think the miracle of falling in love with Chapel Hill comes when you get one of its red grits in your shoe. Chapel Hill then enters your soul to stay."

Chapel Hill

In 1792, when trustees selected this site for the university, locals called the area New Hope Chapel hill, for a deserted Anglican chapel that had once stood on a high ridge near a crossroads. In 1793, when university trustees sold lots to create a town, its name became Chapel Hill. It was a small village in its early years and began to grow only in the early 1900s, along with the university. A typical college town that, along with Raleigh and Durham, is also one of the points of the Research Triangle, Chapel Hill has a reputation for being a progressive and liberal outpost in a conservative South.

Despite its reputation, the town was not all it might seem to be. In 1960, when African American high school students challenged segregation laws with sit-ins and picket lines, Chapel Hill business owners resisted change, and the community watched in dismay as their town, too, became the site of violent altercations between citizens. Yet in 1969 residents elected Howard Lee as mayor, the first African American mayor since Reconstruction in any majority-white city in the South.

In the 1990s Chapel Hill was the center of an emerging independent music scene, anchored by groups such as Superchunk, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Ben Folds Five, and the recording company Merge Records. Local musicians have also helped revive traditional music, including the Red Clay Ramblers, Ayr Mountaineers, and the Carolina Chocolate Drops.

Date Established: 1793

Date Range: 1793 – Present

Chancellors

The chancellor is the administrative and executive head of each institution within the UNC System. The president is the leader of the UNC System. This structure came about in 1971, when the North Carolina General Assembly established a single sixteen-university system, with a chancellor and a board of trustees for each institution, and a board of governors for the system. The first step toward this idea came in 1931, when the General Assembly decided to consolidate administrative operations of three public campuses —the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, North Carolina College for Women (now UNC-Greensboro), and North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering (now North Carolina State University). Frank Porter Graham, then UNC's president, became president of the newly dubbed Consolidated University. The leader of each institution at first had the title of dean of administration, changed to chancellor in 1945.

Since 1932 there have been eleven chancellors of UNC—Chapel Hill:

Robert Burton House (dean of administration, 1934—45; chancellor, 1945—57)

William B. Aycock: 1957—64

Paul F. Sharp: 1964—66

J. Carlyle Sitterson: 1966—72

Nelson Ferebee Taylor: 1972—80

Christopher C. Fordham III: 1980—88

Paul Hardin: 1988—95

Michael Hooker: 1995—99

William O. McCoy (acting and interim): 1999—2000

James Moeser: 2000—2008

H. Holden Thorp: 2008—13

Carol L. Folt: 2013—19

Kevin Guskiewicz: 2019—

Chancellor's residence

Quail Hill, the current official residence of the university chancellor, is located adjacent to campus, off Raleigh Road. It was built by George Watts Hill (class of 1922), a Durham banker and philanthropist who served on the UNC Board of Trustees and later on the UNC System Board of Governors. The university purchased Quail Hill in 1993 from his widow, Anne Gibson Hill. Before 1993, the chancellor's residence was a house on Country Club Road.

Hill was interested in architecture and oversaw the design and construction of Quail Hill. His architectural influence is also evident on campus. He managed construction of the Carolina Inn, which was built by his father, John Sprunt Hill (class of 1889), in 1924. He also contributed funds and architectural direction for the George Watts Hill Alumni Center, which opened in 1993.

There have been discussions over the years about whether the chancellor and the system president should switch official residences. The President's House, on Franklin Street, is much closer to the campus, while Quail Hill is adjacent to the UNC System offices on Raleigh Road.

Date Established: 1954

Date Range: 1954 – Present