January 15, 1795: UNC Holds Its Opening Ceremony

Posted Jan 15, 2018
UNC held its opening ceremony on January 15, 1795, and soon after became the first state university to enroll students. The winter of 1794-1795 had been rough, and the roads were a muddy mess. It was a cold, windy, rainy day and the area looked more like a construction site than a college campus. Only the East Building and the unpainted wooden house of the Presiding Professor had been completed. (UNC.edu)

Related: Campus Connections

Live from Ireland: Festivities begin in Dublin
UNC leaders, student-athletes, fans, and alumni are arriving in Ireland ahead of the Tar Heels’ football season opener against Texas Christian University as part of...
Tue Aug 25, 2026

UNC move-in photo from the past stirs up big emotions, especially for parents
August brings the annual ritual of college freshmen leaving home to move into college dorms. Digging through the archives, I was struck by this 1997...
Tue Aug 25, 2026

To UNC's Freshmen — Trust Your Gut
You may or may not know your major. You may or may not stick with your original choice of study. A freshman at Stanford joined...
Sun Aug 23, 2026

These UNC summer camps bring the wow
Oooohs from kids crouching eye-to-eye with a praying mantis or studying salamanders in a creek. Aaaahs of children holding a space rock or trying to...
Sat Aug 22, 2026