The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
My dad grew up in a small farming town in Indiana — his senior class had just 20 students — and he left home shortly after graduation. He made his way across the country working odd jobs: a creamed corn factory, the boiler room of a hospital, a bowling alley, even a Christmas tree farm. When he had the time and the money, he’d take a college course here and there. He earned his degree when I was two and my older brother was seven. It took nearly two decades.
It was always a point of pride for him to send us to college and though money was often tight and there wasn’t room for many “extras” (my study abroad experience was possible because of the Mallinson fellowship I received as an Honors student in the College of Arts and Sciences), we never had to step away from our education. His own path to a degree was long and hard-earned, giving him not just credentials, but perspective. He understood the value of an education like the one I received at Carolina — of the broad-based, liberal arts experience the College of Arts and Sciences provides to so many (80% of all Carolina students graduate with at least one major in the College!); the importance of having time and space to ask questions and follow curiosity; an understanding that while the degree matters, the experience and what it opens in you matter just as much.
Recently, I invited him to join an Insider Access Call — a benefit of Dean’s Circle membership — featuring Professor Matt Andrews and Dean Jim White. The conversation explored basketball, North Carolina, race and gender. My dad was all in, asking questions in the chat and completely engaged. Afterward, he told me he couldn’t believe a class like that existed: a history course that wasn’t confined to dates and rote memorization but instead used something as familiar as North Carolina basketball to explore deeper truths. He was amazed that a professor could take something like his ‘top five favorite North Carolina basketball teams’ and use it as a lens for understanding culture and change.
But what struck him the most? That this kind of experience is simply there for students, every day, across the College of Arts and Sciences. That’s the power and promise of the College — it’s not just what you learn, but how you learn it.
Today’s students include those who, like my dad, are the first in their families to pursue higher education; students like me, whose opportunities were made possible by the generosity of others; and so many more, each with their unique ‘Heelprint’. No matter what kind of Tar Heel you are, Carolina offers something enduring.
As we look ahead, we plan to offer even more Insider Access Calls and “lifelong learner” opportunities that keep our Dean’s Circle members close to the heart of the College. Moments like these don’t happen by accident. These experiences and the opportunities for students, faculty and teacher-scholars they draw upon are made possible by annual gifts to the Arts and Sciences Fund through the Dean’s Circle, a community of supporters who believe in ensuring the University’s largest unit remains one of the best places in the nation for a broad-based liberal arts education. When you choose to join or increase your support, you’re not just saying ‘yes’ to another Carolina moment for yourself, you’re helping preserve and expand these moments for future generations of students.
So I hope you’ll join me in saying ‘yes’ — to another Carolina moment for yourself, for the students today and for the generations of Tar Heels yet to come.
By Molly House