10planninguncsbicentennial.pdf

Planning

UNC's

Bicentennial

Observance

J.

Brooke

Tyson

Three

weeks

after,

George Washington

laidthe

cor-nerstonefortheU.S.CapitolinWashington,D.C.,

another cornerstone

was

laid in

Chapel

Hill,

N.C-that

ofpublichigher educationintheUnitedStates.

On

Oct. 12,1793, thecornerstoneof

Old

East, the nation's first

stateuniversity building,

was

laid

on

the

campus

ofthe Universityof

North

Carolina.

Now,

in1993,

UNC-Chapel

Hillcelebrates200years

of educationalexcellence

and

publicservice.

The

Bicen-tennial

Observance

begins

on

Oct. 12,1993(University

Day),

and

concludes

May

15, 1994

(Commencement).

The

official

theme

is"First intheNation."

At

the time of the Revolutionary

War,

only nine

colleges existed in all 13 colonies. All

were

private institutions.

The

ideaof a public university

was

radically new.

But

on

Dec.11,1789, the Universityof

North

Caro-lina

was

chartered by an act of the

North

Carolina General Assembly.

The

billtocreate the University

was

introducedbyWilliamRichardsonDavie, a residentof

Halifax

and

astatesman

who

earlier

had

helpedframe

the U.S. Constitution. Davie's vision

was

to

open

the

doors of education to the

common

man,

not just the privilegedfew.

In 1790, the

Board

ofTrustees

met

forthefirsttime,

and

in 1792 thesite for the University

was

chosen

on

New

Hope

Chapel

hillin

Orange

County.

Legend

says that Davie chosethe

Chapel

Hill siteforits inspiring

beauty

and

forthe towering majesty ofatulip poplar tree.

(The

beauty of

campus

still isinspiring,

and

the

Davie

Poplarstillsurvives.) In 1793,theconstructionof

Old

East began.

Two

years later,

on

Jan. 15, 1795, the University

/.Brooke Tyson receiveda

BA

inJournalism

and

Mass

Communications

in

1993 from

UNC-CH.

Tysonis Assis-tant Director of

Communications

for the University of NorthCarolina'sBicentennialObservance.

opened

itsdoorstostudents.

One

month

later(onFeb. 12, 1795) thefirst student,18-year-old

Hinton

James,

arrived at the Universityhavingtraveled

on

foot (ac-cordingtolegend)

from Wilmington

to

Chapel

Hill.

The

Rev.

David

Ker, the entirefaculty atthattime, greeted

James

ashe entered thehallsof public higher education.

Two

weeks

later,

James was

joinedby other

students seeking instructionat America's first public university.

James and

sixother

men

formed

Carolina's firstgraduatingclassin1798.

For James and

hisclassmatesof1795, studentlife

was

much

differentthanitistoday. James'firstyearatthe University cost S30; studentscouldrentfeatherbedsfor S24 orsleep

on

boards.

On

Saturdaysthese well-rested studentsreadessaysinthepresence ofthestudent

body

and

faculty. Examinations

and

Commencement

took

place in

one

day,

and

afterwards, students received a

week

ofvacation.

Despite

how

different theirlives

may seem

tousnow,

James and

his classmates

were

forging

what was

to

become

a fundamental privilege in our

society-pub-liclysupportedhigher education.

The

dirtpathsofourearlyhistoryhavegiven

way

to the brickpathsoftoday.

Along

the

way

the University has

gone from

buyingits firstpieceofscientific

equip-ment,acompass,in1789tocreating amedical schoolin 1879;

from

passingan ordinanceauthorizing the

admis-sionof

women

topostgraduate

work

in1897to

women

outnumbering

men

on

campus

in1979;

from

admitting

itsfirstblackundergraduatesin1955toappointingits

firstblackfullprofessorin1969.

Currently,the University providesinstruction in

more

MP

77iesesquicentennial celebrationofUniversityDay,October12,1943, included aPlaymakers'_reenactment

ofthelayingofthecornerstoneofOldEast.

m

V

of 22,597

and

an annual budget of $738million.

North

Carolina

Governor Jim

Hunt

spoke

of the

emergence

of the Universityduringa

campaign

trip in 1992.

He

said,"Weare thepeople

who,

way

backatthe

end

ofthe18th century,decided thatifour

new

democ-racy

was

to survive

and

prosper,

we

needed

tohave a stateuniversity.

A

publicuniversity.

You

see,

up

until that time,we'd

been

sendingour sons

up

tothewealthy

north,tothe privateschoolsfounded bythe bigchurches

...Harvard,Yale, Princeton.

But

North

Carolina-little,

old,dirt

poor North

Carolina decidedapublic university

was

best.

So do you

know

what

we

did?

We

built us a university

on

top of ahill,

and

we've

been

sendingour

sons

and

daughterstoiteversince.

That

universityisthe University of

North

Carolina,

and

I

would

daresaythat

it'sthe best public universityinAmerica."

Planning

Begins

Being the oldest publicuniversity,

and

arguably the best, the University family-faculty, students, alumni, friends

and

all

North

Carolina citizens-have alot to celebrate

and

reflect

upon

during the Bicentennial.

Former

Chancellor Christopher C.

Fordham

II began

preparationfortheoccasionasearly as 1985.

Fordham

wrote

Dean

Richard

C.Cole

of theSchoolofJournalism

and

Mass Communication,

asking

him

tochairan ad

hoc

faculty

committee

toassistintheplanning ofthe

forth-coming

Bicentennial celebration.This ad

hoc

commit-tee

came

tobecalledtheCole

Commission.

The

Cole

Commission was

chargedtoplanin"broad

strokes" theobservance of the University's

Bicenten-nial, leaving the details to be

worked

out later.

The

group prepared a planthat set forth a seriesofinitial goals

and

objectives for the Observance.

These

goals

would

laterserveasthebasis for theBicentennial

Ob-servanceMission Statement.

The

mission statement reads,

"The

Bicentennial

Observanceof the University ofNorthCarolinaatChapel Hill

commemorates

the birth ofpublic higher educa-tion, a uniquely

American

idea that first took rootin

North

Carolina200years ago.

"The

eight-month

Observance

begins

on October

12, 1993,

marking

the200thanniversary of the layingofthe

cornerstoneof

Old

East,the nation'sfirststate univer-sitybuilding.

"During

the Bicentennial, theUniversityishosting a

varietyof public events, scholarly

programs and

other activitiesdesignedto:

"-strengthen the

bonds

between

the people of

North

12

CAROLINA

PLANNING

BICENTENNIAL

OBSERVANCE

OPENING CEREMONIES

MONDAY,

OCTOBER

11

2:00

PM

Opening

Lecture

A

Tribute to

Freedom

Speaker:Mr.LiLu,

Deputy Leader

ofthe

Tian-anmen

Square

Demonstrations

3:00

PM

Faculty

Alumni

Exchanges,

Round

One

I.Care,Cure,Cost:

The

University

and

theHealth

of thePublic

Moderator: KerryKilpatrick, Chair,Health Policy

and

Administration

II.

Environment,

Development and

Democracy

Moderator: Richard N.

Andrews,

Professor,

Environmental

Science

and

Engineering

HI.

Media

Made

America?

Moderator: Jane

Brown,

Professor,Journalism

and

Mass

Communication

IV.

Freedom,

Free Expression

and

Free

Debate

Moderator:

Chuck

Stone,Walter

Spearman

4:30

PM

Performing

and

CulturalArts Events

I.

"A

Saluteto the

American

MusicalTheatre" Terry

Rhodes

and

Stafford

Wing

Professorsof

Music

II."Carolina

Songs"

Clef

Hangers

Studentacappella

Group

III. "Step

Show"

Black

Greek

Council Student Organization

8:00

PM

Adler Concert

Memorial

Hall

S25.00 Concert Seating

S50.00 Patron Seating

(includespostconcertreceptionatCarolina Inn

withAdler,Hardin, conductor,etc.) 10:00

PM

Patron

Reception

CarolinaInn

BICENTENNIAL

UNIVERSITY

DAY

TUESDAY,

OCTOBER

12

10:00

AM

Old

EastRededication

11:30

AM

Speakers

Bureau

Debut

12:00

PM

PicnicinPolk Place

1:00

PM

Anniversary Lecture

"The

University of

North

Carolina

and

theU.S.

Presidency"

WilliamE.

Leuchtenburg

William

Rand Kenan

Professor

2:00

PM

Davie Poplar

Ceremony

III

Ceremony

4:00

PM

Faculty

Alumni

Exchanges,

Round

Two

V.

Growing

Apart

or

Growing

Together? Moderator:JuliaT.

Wood,

Professor,

Speech

Communication

VI. Science,

Technology and

Cultural

Change

Moderator:

Mary

Sue Coleman,

Vice-Chancellor,

Graduate

Studies

and

Research

VII. Faith,Reason,

and

American

Values Moderator:

Warren

Nord, Director,

Program

in

Humanities

and

Human

Values

VIII. Forging

New

GlobalAlliances: Competition, Cooperation,Survival

Moderator:

John

D. Kasarda,Director, Instituteof Private Enterprise,Kenan-Flagler Business School

IX.Education:Preparingforthe 21stCentury Moderator:

Donald

J.

Stedman, Dean,

School of

Education

7:00

PM

Kenan

Stadium Convocation

Stadium opens

at5:30. Concessionsserved.

Programming

beginsat 6:00. Televisedlive

on

Public Televisionat 7:00.

Throughout October

12

and

13

Campus

Tours

Morehead

Planetarium

Shows

and Times

AUGUST

1993

TO

JULY

1994

AUGUST

1993

29-

Nov

7

Ackland

Art

Museum

exhibit:

"George

Nick,the

Chapel

HillPaintings"

SEPTEMBER

10-11 "Russia:

The

Ongoing

Revolution"

Bicentennialseminar(Greenville) 14Bicentennial U.S. postalcardissuance 15 Statewidepostalcard issuance:second day

ceremonies

26 Association of

Graduate

Schools annual meeting

OCTOBER

1-Dec 31

Wilson

Libraryexhibit: "200 Years of StudentLifeat

UNC"

1-Nov

30 DavisLibraryexhibit:

"The

University

Library"

1-2

"The American

Soul"

Seminar

(Asheville) 8-9School ofDentistry BicentennialFall

Weekend

11-12 Bicentennial

Opening Ceremonies-See

above 14"HealthyPeople 2000" School of Nursing Conf.

20 Continuing Education, Regional

NUCEA

Conf.

20-24

American Board

ofThoracic Surgery meeting 22-23

"What Makes

the

South Southern?"

Bicentennialseminar(Charlotte)

22-24

The

Chapel

Hill

Colloquium

inPhilosophy 29-30

"The American

Soul"

Seminar

(Washington) 29-31

"Chapel

of

Ease"

Chapel

HillH.S.

NOVEMBER

"Art

and

Culture"postal cachet issuance

ceremony

withartist

Maud

Gatewood

(Winston-Salem)

5-6Tri-Annual

Denny

Societymeeting

6-7

"Chapel

ofEase"

SCHEDULE OF

EVENTS

Campus

Y

conference

12-13

"What Makes

the

South

Southern?" Bicentennial seminar

(New

York)

30

UNC-CH

Schoolof

Medicine

AHEC

Open

House

(Greensboro)

DECEMBER

1-

Feb

28 Davis Libraryexhibit:

"Chapel

Hill

and

the University"

15

UNC-CH

AHEC

Open

House

(Asheville)

JANUARY

1994

"Freedom

ofExpression"postal cachet issuance

ceremony

withartistBartForbes

1-Mar

30 "Paul Green:

A

CentenaryExhibit"

14Intellectual

and

Academic Freedom

of Expression Conf.

14-15

"The

Stateof

American

Government"

Bicentennial

Seminar

(Triad)

21 "African

Americans

atCarolinaProject"video premiere

21-22 "TheBig Three: Roosevelt, ChurchillandStalin" Bicentennial

Seminar

(Fayetteville)

22

"Changing

Faces of Leadership"Conf.

FEBRUARY

"Science,

Technology and

Health"

postalcachet

ceremony

with

David

Stone

"Germanic

Influencesin

North

Carolina" Conf.

3-4

"Improving

theHealth of

North

Carolinians" 4-5Bicentennialmusicalby Bland

Simpson and

Jack

Herrick

12Bicentennial celebration concert,

UNC

Symphonic

Band

25-26"Russia:

The Ongoing

Revolution"

Bicentennialseminar (Hickory)

MARCH

"Teaching

and

Learning"postalcachet

issuance

ceremony

with artistJeff

MacNelly

1-Apr

30 Davis Libraryexhibit:

"World

War

II

and

the University"

4

UNC-CH

Schoolof

Medicine

AHEC

Open

House

(Raleigh)

8

UNC-CH

School of

Medicine

AHEC

Open

House

(Charlotte)

17Paul

Green

Centennialconcert

18-19 Paul

Green

Centennial seminar 18-19

"A

Tribute toPaul

Green"

production 20 CorneliaPhillipsSpencer

Day

23-26

"A

TributetoPaul

Green"

production 30

UNC-CH

School of

Medicine

AHEC

Open

House

(Rocky

Mount)

23-Apr

20

"From

the

Outer

Banks

totheBlueRidge:

A

Celebration of

North

Carolina'sFolk Tradi tions":

Mar

23 SecularArts

Mar

30 Occupational Arts

Apr

9 Arts ofthe

New

Immigrants

Apr

13 Verbal Arts

Apr

20 Sacred Musical Arts

APRIL

"Community"

postalcachet

ceremony

withartistAllenCarter

1-2

Annual

Medical School

Weekend

(Tentative)

1-June30

Wilson

Libraryexhibits:

"They

Livein

Memory:

Favorite

UNC

Faculty"

I

"The

EstienneFamily;

and

the

Golden

Age

of

RenaissancePrinting"

8-10 BicentennialPlayMakers performanceof

"Love

Letters"by A.R. Gurney,Jr.with

Eva Marie

Saint

and

George

Grizzard

8Health ScienceLibrary

Video

History

9 Carolina Saturday:

A

Bicentennial

Open House

15

Thomas

Wolfe

Societymeeting

15-16

"The

State of

American

Government"

Bicentennialseminar(Atlanta)

16Saluteto

North

Carolina

Dance

22-23

"The

Big Three: Roosevelt, ChurchillandStalin" Bicentennialseminar (Wilmington)

24

Chapel

HillRevisited:

Town

Celebration

MAY

8-July 15

Ackland

Art

Museum

exhibit:

"The

SouthernPartofHeaven: William

Meade

Prince

Remembers"

I I

UNC-CH

School of

Medicine

AHEC

Open

House

(Wilmington)

15

Commencement

1994: Bicentennial Finale

19-21NationalConference

on

State Historical Collections

JUNE

9-10 University

and

Society:International Perspec-tives

on

PublicPolicies

and

Institutional

Reform

Sym-posium,

Vienna

Austria (SeeSporen,this

volume)

ONGOING

Endeavors

Bicentennialissue:

UNC

research history Bicentennial Visitors Center: exhibit

and

video

"American Communities-A

Photographic

Approach"

travelingexhibit

BicentennialSpeakers

Forum

Arts200:

Teacher

Education throughPartnerships

Outreach

toN.C.

High

Schools

On-Campus

ArchaeologicalExcavation:

A

Study of

Early

Campus

Life

Oral History of

UNC-CH

Bicentennial

Time

Capsule:

Messages

forthe 21st

14

CAROLINA

PLANNING

"-reaffirm the University's historical

commitment

to freeinquiryinthe pursuitof knowledge;

"-laythecornerstoneforthe University's thirdcentury ofservicetothestate,nation

and

world."

In additionto outlininggoals, the Colereport out-linedthe basicstructure,organization

and

staff

needed

for the detailed planning of the Bicentennial

Obser-vance.

The

report

recommended

that a Bicentennial

Observance

Policy

Committee,

selectedandchairedby

the Chancellor,beinoperation

no

laterthan1987.

The

report also

recommended

that a Bicentennial Obser-vance PlanningOfficebeinplaceby

no

laterthan1988

and

that the officebefullystaffedby thebeginningof 1993.

From

its formative planning the Bicentennial has

been

divided into

two

branches-theBicentennial

Ob-servance

and

the Bicentennial

Campaign

forCarolina.

The

former's concern istoproperlyobserve ahistoric occasion.

The

latter'sconcernistoseize

upon

the

excite-ment

of the Bicentennial to increasethe resources of thisinstitution.

Original plans calledforaBicentennial

Observance

of16

months

withabudgetof S5million.Primarily

due

to the recent recession, thescopeforthe Bicentennial

Observance

was

scaled back. Final plans include an eight-month

Observance

between

University

Day

1993

and

Commencement

1994.

The

totaloperatingbudgetis

approximately S2million.

Under

the directionof the

new

chancellor,Paul Hardin, ideasforBicentennialprojects

were

solicited

from

fac-ulty, staff,students

and

alumniin 1988.

Hardin

said, "I

was

astoundedattheresponse

we

received...

More

than

400ideas

were

proposed."

Dr. Richard Richardson, chairmanof the Bicenten-nialObservance,said,

"These

ideasarrived

from

across the

campus and around

the state.

Some

were

exciting,

some

outrageous

and

some

much

tooambitioustocarry out."

The

Planning Office determined the feasibility of

these ideasbyevaluating the anniversary celebrations

ofother universities.

A

general opinion

was formed

about

what

would and would

not successfully

promote

themission oftheBicentennialObservance.

The

result

is

more

than 100 academic,culturalandhistoricalevents

planned

on

campus

and

throughout

North

Carolina.

Three major

eventsanchorthe Bicentennial.

The

signature event,

which

will kickoffthe

Obser-vance,is

Opening

Ceremonies on October

11-12.

The

ceremonieswill haveseveral highlights,including the rededicationof

Old

East, a nationalhistoriclandmark,

and

the

Davie

PoplarIII

Ceremony. During

thislatter ceremony,offsprings of the

famous

Poplarwillbe

pre-sentedby

Tar

Heel

basketballcoach

Dean

Smith

toa

child

from

each of

North

Carolina's 100 counties.

The

presentation of thetreesissymbolic ofthe University's service

and

outreachtoall of

North

Carolina.

The

two-daykickoffwillreachitspinnacle

on

Univer-sity Day,

October

12, with a convocation in

Kenan

Stadium.

Acrowd

of50,000isexpectedfor this spectacu-larevent,

which

willfeature a

major

nationaladdress

on

higher education. U.S. SecretaryofEducation Richard

Rileywillbe

on

hand,as will

North

Carolina

Governor

Jim

Hunt,

CBS

News'

Charles Kuralt

and

aprocessional of faculty, staff, students, alumni

and

representatives

fromuniversities

around

the world.

A

15,000-member

band

and chorus

from

highschoolsthroughoutthestate willperform.

The

eventwillbe broadcastlive

on

UNC

Public Television.

The

second

major

event ofthe

Observance

is

"Caro-lina Saturday:

A

Bicentennial

Open

House."

On

this

day,the Universitywill

open

its doorstothe peopleof

North

Carolina.

The

publicwill be invitedto discover firsthand the research projects, laboratories, technol-ogy, libraries,

performance

halls, sports facilities and,

mostimportantly,thepeoplethatcomprise

UNC-Chapel

Hill.

Every

department

on

campus

isplanninga

program

tohighlightitswork,fieldofstudyoraccomplishments.

Entertainment,athleticeventsand aninternationallunch will

accompany

theday'sactivities.

The

Law

School plans to demonstrate

mock

and

famous

trials,

and

the

department

ofradiologywillallow visitorstolookinsidethe

human

body

without

conduct-inganoperation.

The

psychologydepartmentwillhave

Sigmund

Freud

on hand

toanswervisitors'questions,

and

the

Morehead

Planetariumwill allow guests to gaze through a

tele-scope

and

observethesun

and

planets.

An

archaeologi-calexcavation of

campus

(ayear-long project) isbeing planned by Research Labs of Anthropology. Visitors will be invited to dig

up

a piece of

UNC's

past.

The

computer

science department, with the aid ofvirtual

Inthe past the University of

Georgia

hasclaimedto be thefirstpublicinstitution ofhighereducation.

The

school

makes

thisclaimbased

on

its 1785 charter, writ-tenfour yearsbefore

UNC's

charter.

However,

Georgia

didnot

open

its doorstostudents until 1801,sixyears afterthe

UNC-Chapel

Hill.Carolina

was

theonly

public universityto graduatestudentsin the 18th cen-tury.

^^ov.v

ThesealoftheBicentennialisadapted

?-~*.,fi'~?£-ir'-\ froman 1814 papercuttingby Frances

rfc-^JtaEHrS JonesHooper.Theoriginal silhouette,on

"'\nl'''''''I* display in the Southern Historical

'•M^t|'*"

CollectionofWilson Library,isone of

theearliestdepictionsoftheChapelHill

reality pioneer technology, will fly visitors through a

molecule

and walk

them

through the wallsofa simu-latedroom.

Similar eventsatthe UniversityofTexas, the

Univer-sityof

Georgia

and

StanfordUniversity attractedcrowds inexcessof50,000.

The

planningofficeexpects

approxi-mately 50,000 peopletoattend Carolina's event.

The

thirdmajorBicentennialevent,1994

Commence-ment,will

draw

the

Observance

to a close

on

May

15. Plans for thisevent are still in the early stages as the

Observance

Office

works

with 1994 SeniorClass Offi-cers to selectaspeaker ofinternationalsignificance.

The

Bicentennial

Observance

willbe

commemorated

in other ways as well.

For

instance,

members

of the Bicentennial Speakers for

North

Carolina, aspeakers bureau comprised of outstanding

UNC-CH

faculty

members,

will travelacrossthestatetospeakto civic

and

community

groups. Topicswill range

from

genetics to jazz,

and from Homer's Odyssey

to

Thomas

Wolfe.

Special publications,likea1994 photographic

calen-dar

and

a postal cachetseries, have

been produced

as collectibles.

And

in

honor

of theBicentennial

Obser-vance, the U.S. Postal Servicewillissueapostalcard

on

September

14.Millions of the postal cardswillbe avail-able nationally in the fall. Gracing the cardwill be a

rendering of Playmakers Theater, by

North

Carolna

artist

and

alumnus

Bob

Timberlake.

Student

Participation

in

the

Observance

Students havealsotakenanactiveroleinplanningfor theObservance.

A

studentbicentennial

committee

be-ganmeetingasearlyas1990.In1991,

sophomore

Kevin

Moran

became

chair of the committee,

and

his

70-member

grouphas

been working

hardtoinsure aheavy

emphasis

on

studentparticipation.

The

students decidedtheirfocusforthe

Observance

would

be

"community."

There

were two

reasonsforthis

decision.First,partof the University's threefoldmission

istoserve

community.

Secondly, the

group

realizedthat

some

ofthe

most

current

and

pressingissues

on campus

arecommunity-based, like theissues of

campus

safety

and

afree-standingBlackCultural Center.

Moran

said,

"The committee

hopes our Bicentennial

work

will

do something

tohelpbuild asenseof

commu-nityandbring diversepeople togetherfora cause."Students

haveproposed

many

projectstohelp achievethisgoal.

They

are writinggrantproposalsinordertobeginan annualpracticeof conductinga

"Campus

and

Commu-nity"

Workshop.

Thisproject

would

bringstudent lead-ers together at the beginning of the school year to address theconcernsof the entirecampus.

Another

project

would

seekthe helpoffaculty,staff, students

and Chapel

Hillresidents inbuilding a

Bicen-tennialparklocatedin

Chapel

Hill.

Whether

itisastudent serviceproject,abreathtaking

cultural event or a faculty

member

sharinghis or her

discoveries with a fascinated

group

of listeners, the Bicentennialwillbea special timeforthe nation'sfirst publicuniversity.

During

these exciting eight months,

North

Carolinianswill be joinedby all

Americans

in salutingtheachievements ofpublichigher education,as thecornerstoneislaidforourUniversity'sthirdcentury

of servicetoourstate, nation

and

world.cp