Higher Ed, North Carolina, Students

A perfect UNC-Chapel Hill day

May 13, 2016
blue sky over stadium - commencement 2016-05-08

It was great to see some of our Gillings School master’s students near the front (circled in blue).

2016 Commencement at Carolina

Sunday, May 8, could not have been more perfect for the University’s commencement. Check out the Carolina blue sky over thousands of blue-clad, glad Carolina grads in the photo above and video below. It was the first time students were seated on the field in 16 years, and it was great fun to be able to watch their antics up close. Beach balls, high fives and excitement peppered the air.

sea of blue gowns - commencement 2016-05-08

Kenan Memorial Stadium was a sea of Carolina blue.

We sat on the viewing stand and could see it all, as more than 6,000 students, including 3,721 undergraduates, participated in the event. Chancellor Carol Folt clearly loved her role as presider-in-chief—and what’s not to love! She did a great job.

Dr. Anne-Marie Slaughter, commencement speaker, exhorted students to attend to caregiving as well as career and, befitting her very popular 2012 Atlantic article, “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All,” she advised men to be willing to take on caring roles—they’re not just for women. Everyone got sentimental when we heard “Carolina in My Mind” (enjoy this performance, from UNC’s 2009 commencement, by the UNC Clef Hangers’ joined by then-Chancellor Holden Thorp) and swayed to “Hark the Sound.”

Best wishes to all our grads!

Barbara

Video by Carly Swain, Office of Communications and Public Affairs.
Photos by Melanie Busbee and Jon Gardiner, UNC Office of Communications and Public Affairs.

 


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The views expressed in this blog are Barbara Rimer’s alone and do not represent the views and policies of The University of North Carolina or the Gillings School.