UNC Campus Connections

Complete coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels Campus Connections.

Eric Church delivers 'greatest commencement speech ever' in viral address to UNC graduates

Country music star Eric Church earned praise for delivering the "greatest" commencement speech with his now-viral address to UNC graduates, after working on the piece for nearly a year. Church, armed with a Tar Heel-emblazoned guitar, dedicated his oration by giving a lesson on the instrument, explaining what each of the "six strings" means. (New York Post)

Lucas: Eric Church delivers a Commencement to remember

Graduation is a fabulous time for highly accomplished strangers to deliver heartfelt and transformative advice. They stop in for the weekend, go to a couple of cocktail receptions, wear a fancy robe, and leave and go back to their lives. That’s not how Carolina handled 2026 Commencement. Instead, graduating Tar Heels heard from Eric Church. (UNC.edu)

Savannah Bananas At Kenan Stadium Generate $17.1 Million In Economic Impact

The Savannah Bananas' appearance at UNC's Kenan Stadium generated more than $17.1 million in direct economic impact for the town of Chapel Hill and the surrounding region. The two-day, two-game event, which saw UNC transform its football field into a baseball spectacle April 11-12, hosted more than 100,000 fans, boosting to the local economy. (GoHeels.com)

Video: Eric Church 2026 UNC Spring Commencement Address

UNC's newest alumni and their guests heard from country music star, North Carolina native, and lifelong Tar Heel fan Eric Church at Carolina's spring Commencement ceremony at Kenan Stadium on Saturday May 9, 2026. Church delivered his keynote address with a special surprise at the end. (View Video)

Carolina puts on a show for the Class of 2026

For Carolina’s graduates, the party’s been going on for weeks now. The good times continued during Spring Commencement Saturday night at Kenan Stadium. Country music superstar Eric Church — a native of Granite Falls, North Carolina — put on a “Carolina” performance and shared his own version of string theory with UNC’s 7,183 newest alumni. (UNC.edu)

Look back at UNC Commencement through the years

UNC celebrates the newest Tar Heel graduates at Spring Commencement on Saturday at Kenan Stadium. Commencement has a long history at Carolina. UNC was the only public institution to confer degrees in the 18th century, and the first group of graduates in 1798 went seven deep (a little smaller than this year’s 7,183). Here’s a look at graduations past. (UNC.edu)

UNC Commencement Weekend Athletic Events Know Before You Go

With several home athletic events and commencement ceremonies dotting campus, parking will be complicated in Chapel Hill this weekend. Women's Tennis, Women's Lacrosse and Men's Lacrosse are hosting NCAA Tournament events, while the baseball team will host a regular-season series against Pittsburgh. Here's a day-by-day parking guide. (GoHeels.com)

Heart of a Heel encourages organ donor registration

Three Carolina seniors used experiences from their undergraduate studies and inspirational stories from other Tar Heels to help save lives. Rotimi Kukoyi, Emma Montero and Olu Kopano became friends in their first year as Morehead-Cain scholars. Now, they’re launching Heart of a Heel: a campaign to increase organ donations in North Carolina. (UNC.edu)

Roy Williams shares wisdom with Carolina seniors

Roy Williams is a basketball legend, a three-time national champion head coach, and, a proud Carolina alumnus. "You are a graduate of the University of North Carolina — it doesn’t get any better," Williams told the Class of 2026 on May 1 while delivering the Last Lecture, part of Carolina Alumni’s Senior Week, on Polk Place in front of Wilson Library. (UNC.edu)

UNC professor, Nobel laureate Aziz Sancar inspires the next generation

A decade after earning the Nobel Prize in chemistry, UNC School of Medicine professor Dr. Aziz Sancar shows no signs of hanging up his lab coat. At 79, he continues to teach molecular biology to undergraduate Tar Heels, advance cancer research and invest in Carolina Turk Evi, a community center for Turkish graduate students and visiting scholars. (UNC.edu)

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