Joe Brown, 28, inspired his Carolina classmates, loved the Tar Heels and never gave up

Posted Oct 28, 2018
Joe Brown pressed a button, and slowly, his remote-control wheelchair began to raise his six-foot-four-inch frame to a standing position. Brown loved his chair, and he especially enjoyed that feature. Living with Friedreich’s Ataxia, a rare and debilitating disease that progressively damages the nervous system, he wasn’t able to extend all of his lanky frame. (Durham Herald-Sun)

Related: Campus Connections

Best-selling author, UNC alum Kristy Woodson Harvey delivers speech at New Student Convocation
The class of 2030 and transfer students gathered for New Student Convocation, where bestselling author and UNC alumna Kristy Woodson Harvey delivered a keynote address,...
Thu Sep 3, 2026

UNC football optimism flows - along with the beer - as Tar Heels take Dublin
It started out as a means of following a country star. Well, Chase Rice wasn’t a country star yet when Sophie Watkeys, 32, first started...
Wed Sep 2, 2026

UNC Libraries is Home to a Special Dolly Parton Recording. Here’s What to Know
People across the United States and around the world are mourning country music legend and philanthropist Dolly Parton, who died on Tuesday at 80 years...
Mon Aug 31, 2026

The Emerald Isle now touched with Carolina Blue
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill chancellor Lee H. Roberts looked around in wonder at the sanctuary of the 800-year-old St. Patrick’s Cathedral in...
Sun Aug 30, 2026