225 years of Tar Heels: Hinton James

Posted Feb 13, 2019
First-year students living in Hinton James Residence Hall are no strangers to long walks to campus. Neither was the namesake of that building, Hinton James, who — legend has it — walked from his home in Wilmington, NC, to Chapel Hill in 1795 and became the first student to enroll. James arrived at UNC on Feb. 12, 1795, almost a month after the University opened its doors. (UNC.edu)

Related: Campus Connections

Play-by-Play Class in UNC’s Journalism School Wraps Up Debut Semester
Listeners of 97.9 The Hill know Matt Krause as the voice of UNC women’s basketball. The most recent season was Krause’s eighth behind the mic...
Sat May 23, 2026

Newly Minted Carolina Alumni Celebrate at Commencement
Country musician and North Carolina native Eric Church delivered the commencement address with his six-string in hand, complemented by a guitar strap featuring an interlocking...
Thu May 21, 2026

UNC’s App Redesign Drives Student Engagement
What was once an underused mobile app at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has been rebuilt to serve as a central hub...
Wed May 20, 2026

What's the difference between each UNC merch shop on Franklin Street?
Franklin Street is lined with restaurants, coffee shops and to a large extent, apparel stores. But as a student and longtime University of North...
Sun May 17, 2026