Tragic graduation day: Weekend marks 25 years since UNC fraternity fire killed 5 students

Posted May 16, 2021
This weekend's graduation day marks 25 years since a tragic fire in a UNC fraternity house killed five students. The painful date is etched in local memory: May 12, 1996. It was graduation day – and Mother's Day. A smoldering cigarette sent the Phi Gamma Delta house up in flames. “It rocked my soul,” said Bonnie Woodruff, who lost her son, Ben. (WRAL.com)

Related: Campus Connections

Chase Rice Announces Hiatus From Touring, Admitting: ‘I’m Exhausted’
Chase Rice is stepping away from touring. In a poignant, vulnerable social media post, the country artist confessed that he was “exhausted. I haven’t been...
Tue Jan 13, 2026

UNC professor named National Book Award finalist
Almost every Thursday, Gabrielle Calvocoressi spends a couple of hours with students at the basketball courts near the Cobb Parking Deck. This weekly get-together, called...
Mon Jan 12, 2026

UNC student reflects on overcoming two bouts of cancer
Days away from his 25th birthday, Derrin Mallory is set to mark another major milestone this year. 2025 marks ten years since he first heard...
Sun Jan 11, 2026

Educator, Historian and UNC Statistician Freddie Kiger Inducted Into Order of Longleaf Pine
A Chapel Hill institution and longtime community contributor was recent recognized with the highest civilian honor in North Carolina. Members of the East Chapel Hill...
Sat Jan 10, 2026