Local figure

John Swofford

John Swofford played quarterback and defensive back for UNC from 1969 to 1971 and was named the university's athletics director at 31, holding the job from 1980 to 1997. Carolina won the Sears Directors' Cup in 1994, and in 1997 he became commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Source: Atlantic Coast Conference: John Swofford staff biography

1948– · Dates from the Library of Congress · Library of Congress authority record ↗

8 works about John Swofford are indexed here.

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Life and Orange County connections

Storylines this person is part of, in date order. Each has its own page.

StorylineParking in Chapel Hill and on campus, 1956–19921956–1992 · 72 events · Chapel Hill's downtown parking passed from a merchants' lot to town meters and town lots. In June 1956 an association of East Franklin Street businesses opened what the News called the town's first customer parking lot. In 1958, after heated debate, the aldermen passed an ordinance for about 375 meters on business-district streets, and they voted to put meter money in the general fund, though Alderman Roland Giduz wanted it kept to buy land for off-street parking. In 1962 the town agreed to buy the Hanson property on East Rosemary Street for a lot for about 30 cars, and after deeds recorded in 1963 it began building a 70-car lot there, which opened in 1964. In 1965 the University zoned parking on the campus and began towing, and the town banned parking on South Road and let the police tow illegally parked cars. Street meter income later fell. In 1977 the town banned weekday parking on 41 streets near the campus; a court barred its free permits for residents after a law student sued, and the aldermen adopted a narrower permit ordinance in 1978. Voters turned down a Rosemary Street parking deck in 1979, and after court rulings limited towing in 1982 the town required hearings and police supervision for tows and raised its fines. In 1984 the council opened talks with the Fraser Company on Rosemary Square, a deck with a hotel-condominium on the Rosemary Street lot. From 1985 Chapel Hill and Carrboro raised parking fines and changed their towing and street rules, and the University raised permit prices nearly every year while it planned a parking deck on the Craige lot; after protests over paying for it with permit fees, the trustees raised fees in 1989 to help repay a 1,600-space deck. The Craige deck opened in September 1991. In 1991 and 1992 Chapel Hill limited commuter parking on McCauley Street, let downtown developers offer transportation plans instead of parking, eased its towing rules and began ticketing cars parked on sidewalks, and Carrboro raised its parking fines to $25. StorylineChapel Hill's police chiefs and the public safety department, 1975–19941975–1994 · 20 events · Chapel Hill hired Sidney Hilliard from Florida as police chief in 1975; after he resigned in 1977, Herman Stone, who had joined the force in 1949, led the department until he retired in January 1987. A 1985 consultant's report proposed merging police and fire into a public safety department, and the council created a public safety director's post in 1987, but the town put off filling it. Arnold Gold, interim chief since Stone's retirement, became chief in 1988. Cal Horton was public safety director by 1990, when the town named Daniel Jones fire chief. In 1991 the council moved to split the public safety department into police and fire departments, and after Gold retired in 1992 Ralph Pendergraph became chief. In October 1993 the council ended the cross-trained public safety system and split police and fire services, and in 1994 Chapel Hill and Carrboro agreed to run their fire departments in cooperation. StorylineBuilding and opening the Dean E. Smith Center, 1978–19891978–1989 · 30 events · UNC planned a basketball arena and athletic complex for the former Baity land in 1978, and in 1980 the trustees and the Chapel Hill Town Council approved a center seating about 22,000. Private gifts and an Educational Foundation loan paid for it, and students won a better seating plan in 1982. In 1983 and 1984 engineers reviewed a former subcontractor's charges about its steel and then cracks in its beams. After a delay the center opened as the Dean E. Smith Student Activities Center with a win over Duke on January 18, 1986, and was dedicated that September. It lost about $120,000 in its first year but drew almost 1.02 million people to 72 events by early 1988, and in 1989 the athletic director added lower-level seats for students. StorylineFounding the Black Cultural Center, 1984–19891984–1989 · 24 events · A planning committee formed in 1984 sought a Black Cultural Center at UNC, and the Black Student Movement objected as the plan shrank to about 1,500 square feet in the Carolina Union. The center held a pre-opening in 1987 and opened on July 1, 1988 under director Margo Crawford. The BSM pressed for a permanent building, and in 1989 planners released a feasibility study for one. StorylineUNC and the state budget cuts, 1989–19911989–1991 · 26 events · State budget cuts left UNC $792,000 in debt in 1989 and brought a hiring freeze, canceled class sections and shorter library hours in 1990. Students, faculty and staff protested, and Chancellor Paul Hardin decided against layoffs. In 1991 departments cut more sections, graduate students pressed demands, the University gave up running the Carolina Inn, and the Board of Governors gave the campus budget flexibility.

Dated events connected with this person, in date order. See these 30 dated events in the chronology →

by September 8, 1979 Kenan Stadium gets four women's restroom buildings and new student seats UNC finished four two-story women's restroom buildings, one in each quarter of Kenan Stadium, added 1,500 student seats in the west end zone and put aluminum backs on the upper-deck seats in time for the September 8 home opener. Athletic Director Bill Cobey tied the restrooms to the student body's shift from mostly men to mostly women; the three projects cost about $210,000, $74,800 and $34,500. People: John Swofford Place: Kenan Stadium, University, Chapel Hill · Also named: Bill CobeySearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, September 7, 1979, p. 1
January 3, 1980 Athletic Director Bill Cobey resigns to run for lieutenant governor UNC Director of Athletics Bill Cobey resigned on January 3, 1980, effective April 30, to seek the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor, and a search committee chaired by history professor Frank Klingberg was named to find a successor. Associate director Moyer Smith and assistant director John Swofford said they would apply. People: John Swofford Place: University, Chapel Hill · Also named: Bill Cobey, Frank Klingberg, Moyer SmithSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, January 14, 1980, p. 1
March 26, 1980 to 1997 John Swofford is named UNC athletics director Swofford, a former Tar Heel quarterback and defensive back and then assistant athletic director, was named athletics director at 31 by Chancellor Christopher C. Fordham III on March 26, 1980, succeeding William W. Cobey Jr., whose resignation took effect April 30. He held the post for 17 years, until he became ACC commissioner in 1997. Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Christopher C. Fordham IIISearch the index · Atlantic Coast Conference: John Swofford staff biography · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, March 27, 1980, p. 1
by August 25, 1980 UNC's women's athletic program grows to 13 sports and 103 scholarship athletes Ten years after UNC's women's sports had no scholarships and sat under the physical education department, the Athletic Department supported 13 women's sports with a budget of about $700,000 and 103 athletes on full or partial scholarships, roughly matching its spending on men's non-revenue sports. Frances Hogan, director of women's athletics since 1945, became associate athletic director that summer, and Athletic Director John Swofford credited Title IX with much of the change. People: John Swofford Place: University, Chapel Hill · Also named: Frances HoganSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, August 25, 1980, p. 26
by November 11, 1981 The Educational Foundation agrees to back a loan to start the Student Activities Center By November 11, 1981, the University's Educational Foundation had agreed to pledge income from its endowment to repay a loan for the planned 22,000-seat Student Activities Center if the fund drive raised another $5 million, keeping construction on schedule to begin in late March 1982. Drive chairman Hargrove (Skipper) Bowles said 500 volunteers had raised $17.7 million of the $30 million needed. People: John Swofford Place: University, Chapel Hill · Also named: Hargrove Bowles · Also mentions: Student Activities CenterSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, November 12, 1981, p. 1
February 26 to 27, 1982 Students petition against the seating plan for the Student Activities Center Students opposed to a tentative plan placing most student seats in the new Student Activities Center away from courtside, 1,655 in a lower corner and 6,298 in the upper level, circulated a petition on February 26 that drew 2,000 signatures in a day. The lobbying group Students Have Pride Too also called a three-minute "silent time" at tip-off of the February 27 Duke game, which Student Body President Mike Vandenbergh declined to back; steering committee chairman H. Skipper Bowles later said the Educational Foundation would try to make accommodations. People: John Swofford Place: Carolina Union and Carmichael Auditorium, University, Chapel Hill · Also named: Mike Vandenbergh, H. Skipper Bowles · Also mentions: Student Activities CenterSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, February 26, 1982, p. 1
late August 1984 UNC trustees approve a $1.4 million student-athlete development center The UNC-Chapel Hill trustees approved a $1.4 million student-athlete development center beside Kenan Fieldhouse, to be paid from the athletic department's reserve fund, with academic counseling, tutors' offices, a language lab, a computer room and study halls upstairs and a weight room and rehabilitation center below. Athletic Director John Swofford expected ground to be broken in spring 1985 and the building finished about a year later; a $350,000 tennis center at the old Country Club courts was also due in spring 1985. People: John Swofford Place: Kenan Fieldhouse, University, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Country ClubSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, September 28, 1984, p. 1
October 22, 1985 UNC postpones the opening of the Student Activities Center to January Athletic Director John Swofford said the 21,426-seat Student Activities Center would not be ready for the basketball opener against UCLA on November 24, and the architects expected it to open for the January 18 game against Duke. Swofford put the University's loss from staying in 10,000-seat Carmichael Auditorium at about $80,000 a game, and the Natatorium was put back to July so the arena could be finished. People: John Swofford Place: Student Activities Center, UNC campus, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Carmichael AuditoriumSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, October 23, 1985, p. 1
by August 29, 1986 UNC adopts random, mandatory drug testing with penalties for its athletes A new University policy taking effect in the fall required all of UNC's roughly 630 varsity athletes to sign consent forms and submit to random urine tests at least twice a semester. A first positive test meant counseling, a second a year's suspension and a third permanent loss of eligibility and scholarship; the two-year-old voluntary program had carried no penalties. People: John Swofford Place: University, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, August 29, 1986, p. 1
October 1986 UNC opens the Student-Athlete Development Center at Kenan Stadium The UNC athletic department opened a 10,000-square-foot Student-Athlete Development Center at the east end of Kenan Stadium, with computers, study and tutorial rooms, a language lab and a 128-seat auditorium for study halls, career counseling and a required freshman orientation and learning skills program. The Daily Tar Heel credited Athletic Director John Swofford and Associate Athletic Director Paul Hoolahan. People: John Swofford Place: Kenan Stadium, University, Chapel Hill · Also named: Paul HoolahanSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, September 20, 1989, p. 1
February 12, 1987 Chapel Hill honors retired police chief Herman Stone with the key to the town At a farewell banquet for 445 guests in the Bowles Room of the Koury Natatorium at the Smith Center, Mayor Jim Wallace gave retired Police Chief Herman Stone the key to the town. Town Manager David Taylor, basketball coach Dean Smith and athletic director John Swofford spoke, and Swofford gave Stone season tickets on behalf of the University. People: Dean Smith, John Swofford Place: Koury Natatorium, Smith Center, Chapel Hill · Also named: Herman Stone, James C. Wallace, David Taylor, Jim Wallace · Also mentions: Smith CenterSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, February 13, 1987, p. 3
April 15, 1987 UNC's athletic director shelves a plan to pave the Hinton James tennis courts for parking Athletic Director John Swofford put on hold a $450,000 proposal to turn the eight Hinton James tennis courts into a 160-space lot for Rams Club members at Smith Center events and add two courts near Cobb. The Buildings and Grounds Committee had recommended it to the chancellor on April 13, but student leaders protested that South Campus, home to half the dormitory residents, would lose its best courts, and Swofford said it had gone further than he intended. People: John Swofford Place: Hinton James tennis courts, UNC, Chapel Hill · Also mentions: Smith Center, South CampusSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, April 17, 1987, p. 1

Show all 30 dated events

July 1987 UNC names Martina Kendrick its first director of athletic business and finance The athletic department split Beth Miller's job and hired Martina Kendrick, a former NCNB branch manager in Chapel Hill, to manage its $13 million budget. People: John Swofford Place: University, Chapel Hill · Also named: Martina Kendrick, Beth MillerSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, August 31, 1987, p. 4
November 30, 1987 Dick Crum resigns as UNC football coach in a buyout paid by the Educational Foundation Crum, UNC's winningest football coach at 72-41-3 over ten seasons, resigned effective Jan. 31, 1988, after a 5-6 season, in a joint statement with Athletic Director John Swofford and Chancellor Christopher Fordham saying the program no longer had the full support of the University community. The Educational Foundation, or Rams Club, agreed to pay him $400,000 at once and $100,000 a year for the four years left on his contract. People: Dick Crum, John Swofford Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · Also named: Christopher FordhamSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, December 1, 1987, p. 1
December 16, 1987 Mack Brown is named UNC's head football coach After a 16-day search, the advisory committee chaired by Athletic Director John Swofford named Mack Brown, 36, head coach at Tulane, as UNC's 30th head football coach, at a starting salary of $95,000 a year. People: Mack Brown, John Swofford Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, January 13, 1988, p. 1
October 27, 1988 The athletic department gives the Black Cultural Center $15,000 UNC's Department of Athletics gave $15,000 to the Black Cultural Center, which athletic director John Swofford said shared the department's goal of better racial understanding. People: John Swofford Place: Black Cultural Center, University, Chapel HillBlack Ink (Black Student Movement, UNC), December 5, 1988, p. 2
December 9, 1988 UNC trustees direct trademark licensing income to student scholarships each year On December 9, 1988 the Board of Trustees directed the business and finance office to divide the income from the University's trademark licensing program each year between the Student Aid Office and the athletic department for student scholarships, after a student government committee found that the aid office's half had gone into an unrestricted endowment fund since the program began in 1982. About $321,000 was moved into a trust fund for student aid in November and December, and an amendment from student body president Kevin Martin gave the athletic council a review role over athletic scholarship spending. People: John Swofford Place: University, Chapel Hill · Also named: Kevin MartinSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, January 19, 1989, p. 1
January 20, 1989 Athletic director adds lower-level Smith Center seats for students after a boycott threat After the Carolina Athletic Association found that students held about 1,600 lower-level seats in the Smith Center, not the roughly 2,000 its leaders said had been promised during planning, and student leaders talked of a five- to ten-minute boycott of a game, athletic director John Swofford met CAA president Carol Geer on January 20, 1989, added 50 lower-level student seats at once and agreed to consider bleachers in the student sections. People: John Swofford Place: Smith Center, University, Chapel Hill · Also named: Carol GeerSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, January 23, 1989, p. 1
March 21, 1989 Faculty committee finds UNC athletics free of corruption Members of the Faculty Council's special committee on athletics, formed after football coach Dick Crum's resignation, said their investigation found no corruption in the athletic department, though they had recommendations on its relationship with the Educational Foundation, the operation of the Smith Center and athletes' academic life. A final report was still to come. People: Doris Betts, John Swofford Place: University, Chapel Hill · Also named: Dick Crum · Also mentions: Smith CenterSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, March 22, 1989, p. 1
December 6, 1989 Faculty committee report calls for sweeping changes in UNC athletics The Faculty Council's Ad Hoc Committee on Athletics and the University, chaired by Doris Betts, released a report finding all Division I-A programs, UNC's included, in conflict with the purposes of universities, though UNC had broken no NCAA rules. It recommended freshman ineligibility, shorter seasons, long-term contracts for coaches, an open Rams Club budget reviewed by the chancellor with no trustees on its executive committee, and limits on admitting out-of-state athletes with noncompetitive SAT scores. People: Doris Betts, John Swofford Place: University, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, December 7, 1989, p. 1
April 27, 1990 UNC trustees shift most trademark licensing income from athletics to financial aid The Board of Trustees voted unanimously to raise financial aid's share of trademark licensing income from half to about three-quarters, holding athletics at $240,000 that year and $250,000 until proceeds passed $1 million, after which athletics would get 25 percent. The change followed a Faculty Council resolution of March 23 and a Students for Educational Access study showing fewer freshmen from low-income families. People: John Swofford Place: University, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, May 24, 1990, p. 1
October 26, 1990 UNC athletics pledges $1 million in post-season revenue to academics Chancellor Paul Hardin told the trustees on Oct. 26 that the Athletic Department would give $200,000 a year of bowl and NCAA tournament revenue to academics for five years, under a plan he worked out with athletic director John Swofford during the state budget cuts. He also said UNC would vote for the NCAA reform proposals in January. People: John Swofford Place: Board of Trustees meeting, University, Chapel Hill · Also named: Paul HardinSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, October 29, 1990, p. 1
April 6, 1991 UNC dedicates the renovated Irwin Belk Track around Fetzer Field UNC dedicated the renovated track around Fetzer Field as the Irwin Belk Track, with athletic director John Swofford presenting a plaque to Irwin Belk, a 1945 graduate and former track and cross-country letterman, before a dedication meet in which the Tar Heels defeated four teams including Virginia and N.C. State. People: John Swofford Place: Fetzer Field, UNC, Chapel Hill · Also named: Irwin BelkSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, April 8, 1991, p. 3
July 20, 1993 UNC agrees with Nike to outfit its athletic teams Athletic Director John Swofford announced that the University had agreed with Nike Inc. to supply equipment and apparel to its 26 varsity teams, with the financial terms undisclosed. Swofford said the decision was made after talking with basketball coach Dean Smith, who had long worked with Converse, but Chancellor Paul Hardin told the trustees on July 23 that he had seen no contract. People: John Swofford, Dean Smith Place: UNC, Chapel Hill · Also named: Paul HardinSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, August 23, 1993, p. 14
October 2, 1993 UNC and Dean Smith sign the $4.7 million Nike contract Coach Dean Smith and University officials signed the four-year contract on October 2, under which Nike would outfit 24 of UNC's 26 varsity teams and provide $4.7 million in cash and equipment, including $420,000 to the athletic department for women's sports. Chancellor Paul Hardin approved it that day after a dispute over Smith's negotiating it and calls for its terms to be made public. People: Dean Smith, John Swofford Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Paul HardinSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, October 4, 1993, p. 1
By June 1994 UNC plans to raise women's lacrosse to varsity status UNC announced women's lacrosse would become its 27th varsity sport and 14th for women in 1995-96, partly to move toward Title IX proportionality; 57.5 percent of students but 37.2 percent of athletic scholarships were women's. People: John Swofford Place: UNC, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, June 23, 1994, p. 24
June 1994 UNC wins the first Sears Directors' Cup Carolina won the first Sears Directors' Cup, given for the best overall record in college sports in 1993-94, a year in which its teams won two national titles and 11 ACC championships under athletics director John Swofford. The cup was to be presented on June 29, 1994 at the national convention of the College Sports Information Directors; by that fall it stood in the University's memorabilia room naming UNC the "National Champion of Champions" for 1993-94. Carolina is the only ACC program to win the award. Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Atlantic Coast Conference: John Swofford staff biography · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, June 23, 1994, p. 24; The Daily Tar Heel, October 19, 1994, p. 7
September 3, 1994 UNC's smoking ban reaches the seats of Kenan Stadium At the football opener against Texas Christian, UNC began barring smoking in Kenan Stadium's seating sections, leaving the concourse and concession areas for smokers, after a season in which the ban had been only a suggestion. Athletic director John Swofford said no extra security would enforce it, and students reported fans still smoking in the stands. People: John Swofford Place: Kenan Stadium, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, September 6, 1994, p. 1
October 29, 1994 A crowd of 54,300 sets a Kenan Stadium attendance record The 54,300 fans at the UNC-N.C. State football game broke Kenan Stadium's attendance record of 54,100, set at the 1993 Florida State game, and Athletic Director John Swofford cited the crowds in announcing plans to add up to 10,000 seats within two to five years. People: John Swofford Place: Kenan Stadium, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, November 4, 1994, p. 1
October 1994 UNC hires Jenny Levy to start its women's lacrosse program Carolina added women's lacrosse as a varsity sport and in October 1994 named Levy, then an assistant coach at Georgetown, its first head coach. She is still the only head coach the program has had. People: Jenny Levy, John Swofford Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · University of North Carolina Athletics: Jenny Levy, Women's Lacrosse Coach · Also: The Daily Tar Heel, November 8, 1994, p. 8

People named in the same events

People named in the same dated entries as John Swofford, those sharing the most entries first. Each line links one of the shared entries in the chronology, where its source is cited. A shared entry shows these people in the same event, not how well they knew each other.

Dean Smith 3 entries, including Chapel Hill honors retired police chief Herman Stone with the key to the town (February 12, 1987)
Doris Betts 2 entries, including Faculty committee finds UNC athletics free of corruption (March 21, 1989)
Dick Crum 1 entry: Dick Crum resigns as UNC football coach in a buyout paid by the Educational Foundation (November 30, 1987)
Jenny Levy 1 entry: UNC hires Jenny Levy to start its women's lacrosse program (October 1994)
Mack Brown 1 entry: Mack Brown is named UNC's head football coach (December 16, 1987)

Indexed works

Works about or by John Swofford. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it. Background reading appears below.

"Chancellor Hooker Inauguration", October 12, 1995

Morton, Hugh M. · 1995

UNC athletic director John Swofford at the inauguration of Michael Hooker as chancellor of UNC-Chapel Hill on 12 October 1995. Hugh Morton shot it on 35 mm color negative film.