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Twenty-four-hour visitation at UNC, 1993–1994

How six UNC residence halls voted for 24-hour visitation in 1993, how the trustees ended the pilot and students protested, and how the trustees let students choose among three visitation policies in 1994.

Six UNC residence halls voted for 24-hour visitation in a 1993 pilot program, but the trustees ended it that November over students' protests. A committee of trustees, administrators, students and parents studied the question, and in 1994 the trustees let students choose among three visitation policies.

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No works in the index are currently linked directly to this storyline. The works below provide background on UNC & Campus Life.

The full story

On September 20 and 21, 1993, in a pilot program of the Residence Hall Association and the housing department, residents of Aycock, Carmichael, Craige, Kenan, Mangum and Teague voted to allow visitors of the opposite sex at any hour. Housing director Wayne Kuncl said it was the first such policy at UNC-Chapel Hill. On November 19 the Board of Trustees voted 9 to 2 to end the pilot. Trustees said administrators had not told them of the program and cited angry letters and threatened donations; Chancellor Paul Hardin urged them to let the trial run, and trustee Angela Bryant and student body president Jim Copland voted against.

About 60 students held a coed study session in the Upper Quad at midnight on November 22, when the pilot ended, and about 250 came to a Residence Hall Association rally in the Pit the next day. Association president Jan Davis urged students to write letters rather than break the restored rules, and trustee Anne Cates said the quiet rally showed the students' maturity. A committee of trustees, administrators, students and parents first met December 7, when trustee William Jordan suggested letting students choose among dorms with different rules. On January 28, 1994 the trustees let students pick on their housing contracts among the current hours, 24-hour visitation on weekends only, or round-the-clock visitation. By March 15 housing had chosen the six halls of the 1993 pilot for the unlimited option, open to 1,492 students.

In the chronology

Events in this storyline, in date order. See these 6 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Six UNC residence halls vote for 24-hour visitation In a pilot program of the Residence Hall Association and the housing department, residents of Aycock, Carmichael, Craige, Kenan, Mangum and Teague voted to allow visitors of the opposite sex at any hour, by majorities of 76 to 97 percent where counted, against a required two-thirds. Housing director Wayne Kuncl said it was the first such policy at UNC-Chapel Hill; it took effect on September 22, with guests limited to 48 hours. Place: Aycock, Carmichael, Craige, Kenan, Mangum and Teague residence halls, UNC · Also named: Wayne KunclSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, September 22, 1993, p. 1
  2. UNC trustees revoke the 24-hour visitation pilot program Meeting on November 19, the UNC Board of Trustees voted 9-2 to end a pilot program that had allowed opposite-sex guests around the clock in six of the 29 residence halls, which students in those dorms had approved in September, and formed a committee of trustees, administrators and students to report in January. Trustees said administrators had not told them of the program and cited angry letters and threatened donations; Chancellor Paul Hardin urged them to let the trial run, and trustee Angela Bryant and student body president Jim Copland cast the two votes against. Place: University, Chapel Hill · Also named: Paul Hardin, Angela Bryant, Jim CoplandSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, November 22, 1993, p. 1
  3. Students protest the trustees' repeal of 24-hour visitation About 60 students gathered in the Upper Quad at midnight on November 22, the night the pilot ended, at a coed study session called by Mangum Residence Hall's government, and about 250 came to a Residence Hall Association rally in the Pit the next day. Association president Jan Davis urged students to write letters rather than break the restored rules; trustee Anne Cates, the only trustee present, said the quiet rally showed the students' maturity. Place: Upper Quad and the Pit, UNC, Chapel Hill · Also named: Jan Davis, Anne Cates · Also mentions: Upper QuadSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, November 29, 1993, p. 1
  4. Trustees' visitation task force holds its first meeting The committee of trustees, administrators, students and parents formed when the trustees revoked the 24-hour visitation pilot met for the first time on December 7. Trustee William Jordan suggested letting students choose among dorms with different visitation rules, as at UNC-Greensboro, while others questioned whether freshmen should have the option; the group was to report to the board in January. Place: Student Union, UNC, Chapel Hill · Also named: William JordanSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, December 8, 1993, p. 1
  5. UNC trustees let students choose among three dormitory visitation policies Two months after canceling a 24-hour visitation pilot in six residence halls, the trustees approved letting students pick on their housing contracts among the current hours (9 a.m. to 1 a.m. on weeknights, 2 a.m. on weekends), 24-hour visitation on weekends only, or round-the-clock visitation; housing officials said it would take about two years to put in place. Place: University, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, January 31, 1994, p. 1
  6. UNC housing designates six residence halls for 24-hour visitation University housing chose Craige, Teague, Carmichael, Mangum, Aycock and Kenan, the halls of the rescinded fall 1993 pilot, for the first year of the trustees' three-option visitation plan, giving 1,492 students, 22 percent of residents, the unlimited option. Place: UNC, Chapel HillSearch the index · The Daily Tar Heel, March 15, 1994, p. 1

Background on UNC & Campus Life

Background reading on UNC & Campus Life. These works cover the broader subject and may not discuss this storyline. Follow a link to find a copy or view the material.

Widely held

Carolina Basketball: A Century of Excellence

Lucas, Adam · 2010 · University of North Carolina Press

Adam Lucas marks one hundred years of basketball at the University of North Carolina in this illustrated history, published by UNC Press in 2010 in association with the athletics department. Chapters follow the program from the game's arrival on campus and the 'White Phantoms' of the Southern Conference through the founding of the ACC, the 1957 season, Dean Smith's changes to the game and the title seasons of 1982, 1993, 2005 and 2009, closing with a century of statistics. 289 pages.

The Blue Divide: Duke, North Carolina, and the Battle on Tobacco Road

Moore, Johnny; Chansky, Art · 2014 · Triumph Books

The Duke and North Carolina basketball rivalry written together by Johnny Moore and Art Chansky, the latter a sports reporter who has followed it since his student days at UNC. The book opens with the 2014 season and moves through recruiting battles old and new, 'Black and Blue Sunday', 'Blood and Roses', and chapters on the rivalry's heroes, leaders and teachers, with a foreword by Jay Bilas and a photo gallery. Published by Triumph Books in 2014, 289 pages.

Miss Mary's Money

Jones, H. G. · 2014 · McFarland & Co.

H. G. Jones follows the fortune of Mary Ruffin Smith (1814-1885), the unmarried heiress whose Orange and Chatham County lands passed at her death to the University of North Carolina and the Episcopal Church. Chapters profile her grandfather Francis Jones, then trace the bequest through a quarrel among Episcopalians over Price Creek, the Chapel of the Cross and the university's buildings. A December 1885 New York Times report called the gift money; Jones shows it was land. Published by McFarland in 2014, 231 pages.

The Chronicles of the Bicentennial Observance of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Tepper, Steven J. · 1998

Steven J. Tepper's chronicle of how the University of North Carolina marked its bicentennial in 1993 and 1994. An appendix reprints the University Day speeches of October 12, 1993, given by Paul Hardin, James B. Hunt Jr., C.D. Spangler, William C. Friday, Charles Kuralt and President Bill Clinton, plus bicentennial addresses by Li Lu, Francis S. Collins and Richard J. Richardson. Published by the university in Chapel Hill, 1998; 284 pages.

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William Friday

Link, William A. · 1995

Biography of William C. Friday, president of the University of North Carolina system, by historian William A. Link, published by UNC Press in 1995 with the subtitle power, purpose, and American higher education. It covers Friday's career and the history of the university at Chapel Hill and statewide. Part of the Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection.

Chapel Hill in Plain Sight

Athas, Daphne · 2010 · Eno Publishers

Twelve essays by novelist Daphne Athas (1923-2020) on the Chapel Hill she knew across the twentieth century. Subjects include Carrboro as 'the Paris of the Piedmont', philosopher Horace Williams, Betty Smith writing in Chapel Hill, Junius Scales, Ab Abernethy and the Intimate Bookshop, Richard Wright's visit, and a set of Chapel Hill murders. Published 2010, 243 pages with illustrations.

What it means to be a Tar Heel: Roy Williams and North Carolina's greatest players

Fowler, Scott · 2010 · Triumph Books

Scott Fowler gathers recollections from Carolina basketball players, decade by decade from the 1950s to the 2000s, organized around Roy Williams and the question in the title. Contributors include Lennie Rosenbluth, Larry Brown, Billy Cunningham, Charlie Scott, Phil Ford, James Worthy, Brad Daugherty, Eric Montross, Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Raymond Felton and Sean May, each entry giving position and playing years. Published 2010 by Triumph Books of Chicago, 270 pages, here as an e-book.

The Campus of the First State University

Henderson, Archibald · 1949

Archibald Henderson's history of the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, its buildings and grounds from the founding in the 1790s onward. Henderson, a professor of mathematics and a prolific historian of the university, wrote it in the years around the university's sesquicentennial. Published by the University of North Carolina Press in 1949, 412 pages with illustrations and bibliographical footnotes.

Reviewed in The Journal of Southern History (1949), South Atlantic Quarterly (1950).

The Woman Who Rang the Bell: The Story of Cornelia Spencer Phillips

Russell, Charles Phillips · 1949

Charles Phillips Russell's biography of Cornelia Phillips Spencer (1825-1908), the Chapel Hill writer remembered for ringing the bell of South Building when the university reopened in 1875 after its closure during Reconstruction. It doubles as a history of Chapel Hill and the university. Published by the University of North Carolina Press in 1949, 293 pages with illustrations.

Reviewed in Journal of American History (1949).

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