T H E
OCTOBER 2017
O F F I C I A L
M A G A Z I N E
O F
T H E
R A M S
C L U B
OPPORTUNITY
MAKING DREAMS A REALITY
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WELCOME
Letter from the Editor
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You’ve probably seen the videos. It’s become fairly commonplace in the social media era to capture the moment when a walk-on is awarded a scholarship. Schools regularly come up with creative ways to frame the presentation— maybe it involves the studentathlete’s mother, maybe it’s announced on the video board, or maybe it is presented with the aid of a magician or a hydraulic t-shirt cannon (all of these actually happened at various schools during the 2017 preseason). It’s almost become more about the show than about the scholarship. The big reactions from teammates that accompany the public announcements show an appreciation for that player, and for the immediate financial impact it will have on the new recipient’s life. It’s an important moment. Roy Williams placed sophomore Shea Rush on scholarship this fall. It’s easier to count the numbers in basketball than in some other sports, so Rush knew as early as this spring that it was a possibility. “I had an inkling,” he said. “But at the moment he announced it to the team, I felt like I had no idea. That’s how good a feeling it was.” Rush celebrated with his teammates and then asked if he could excuse himself to call his family. Here’s the part you might forget when you’re watching those videos. Paying your own way to college in the year 2017 is extremely expensive. For Rush, an out-of-state student, his Carolina tuition and fees for 2017-18 would have been $34,588—that’s for just one school year. Add
PRODUCED BY THE RAMS CLUB EDITOR IN CHIEF ADAM LUCAS CONTRIBUTING WRITERS LEE PACE & PAT JAMES PHOTOGRAPHY JEFFREY CAMARATI & J.D. LYON, JR. DESIGN JUJUBE SPORTS PUBLISHING
in room and board, and the total goes to $46,144. That’s the figure that creates those big reactions in the videos. Everyone understands the significance of nearly fifty thousand dollars. Most scholarships, however, don’t happen that way. After all, there are no cheering crowds when 99 percent of scholarships are offered. Most of the players cheering in those videos had their scholarships offered in a one-on-one conversation with a head coach, or perhaps with their parents nearby. At that moment, it’s purely a nice financial gift. It’s not until they’re settled in their new home, sometimes a couple of years into their college career, that they begin to truly understand what that offer meant. That’s what we wanted to explore with this issue of Born & Bred. The Rams Club has been providing scholarships for nearly 50 years. It’s an opportunity to provide a financial cushion for a student-athlete’s family. But as those student-athletes experience their time in Chapel Hill, they begin to see that opportunity a little differently. Maybe it’s a new career path. Maybe it’s a partnership with a former teammate long after they’ve both finished their athletic careers. Maybe it’s the chance to call a new place home. When the scholarships are first offered, no one knows for certain what the opportunity will be. It’s up to the student-athlete to determine what path their own individual opportunity takes. And that’s what is ultimately worth cheering about. Even if it’s not captured on video.
ADAM LUCAS Editor in Chief ramsclub.com
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The opportunity to attend the University of North Carolina means I’ve been able to meet many people with different experiences that have shaped my life. I have been given the opportunity for a great education while able to play for the best school in the country.” —ZACH WRIGHT, MEN’S SOCCER
the
OPPORTUNITY
10 One Day in Loudermilk
Hundreds of Carolina student-athletes utilize one of the athletic department’s biggest resources
OPPORTUNITY 22 A Lifelong
edition
ON THE COVER: Track junior RaeKwon Villines and freshman Anna Keefer utilize the Loudermilk Center on a daily basis.
COVER BY J.D. LYON, JR. // OPPOSITE BY JEFFREY CAMARTI
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BY LEE PACE
OPPORTUNITY
Committment
Steve and Debbie Vetter have formed lifelong friendships with their scholarship recipients, including baseball player Mike McKee BY ADAM LUCAS
OPPORTUNITY
28 Making Dreams Come True
Carolina scholarship recipients describe how their scholarship changed their lives BY SPEED HALLMAN
28 EDITOR’S LETTER p. 3
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TAR HEEL TICKER p. 6
CAROLINA EVERYWEAR p. 18
OPPORTUNITY
32 Making The Van
Team support funds enable donors to connect directly with a Tar Heel sport BY PAT JAMES
OPPORTUNITY
36 In Their Own Words
Theo Pinson, Austin Proehl and other Tar Heel student-athletes share what it means to them to have the opportunity to attend the University of North Carolina BY ADAM LUCAS
FIRST PERSON
40 Bubba Cunningham: Opportunities for Education
Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham shares his take on opportunity BY BUBBA CUNNINGHAM
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TA R H E E LT I C K E R 1 MOST MEMBERS
THE RAMS CLUB HAS MEMBERS IN 95 OF THE 100 COUNTIES IN NORTH CAROLINA.
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THE FIVE OUTLIERS ARE CLAY, GRAHAM, HYDE, TYRRELL AND WASHINGTON.
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2,076 WAKE 1,406 ORANGE 1,226 MECKLENBURG 903 GUILFORD 570 DURHAM
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WE WANT TO BLANKET THE TAR HEEL STATE WITH RAMS CLUB MEMBERS IN EVERY COUNTY. IF YOU KNOW OF A BIG CAROLINA FAN IN THE ABOVE FIVE COUNTIES WHOM WE SHOULD CONTACT TO HELP THEM BECOME A RAMS CLUB MEMBER, PLEASE LET US KNOW AT BORNANDBRED@RAMSCLUB.COM
BY N.C. COUNTY:
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FEWEST MEMBERS BY N.C. COUNTY: 1 GATES 2 WARREN 3 SWAIN 3 NORTHAMPTON 3 MADISON 3 BERTIE
3 MOST MEMBERS BY N.C. CITY:
1,339 RALEIGH 1,228 CHAPEL HILL 1,022 CHARLOTTE
RAMS CLUB MEMBERS IN
599 GREENSBORO
95%
556 DURHAM 361 WINSTON-SALEM
OF COUNTIES IN N.C.
4 MOST MEMBERS BY U.S. CITY, OUTSIDE N.C:
351 CARY
179 ATLANTA
36 ALEXANDRIA, VA
108 MANHATTAN
36 MOUNT PLEASANT, SC
79 RICHMOND, VA
31 CHARLESTON, SC
48 VIRGINIA BEACH, VA
30 ARLINGTON, VA
40 GREENVILLE, SC ramsclub.com
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TA R H E E LT I C K E R E X T R E M E T R AV E L E R RANJAN SHARMA Rams Club Member
My name is Ranjan Sharma, MD, UNC class of 1982. My parents were born in India and I was born in Atlanta, GA. We moved to Greensboro, NC where my father accepted a professorship at UNCG. My fascination with travel and international affairs began at an early age, when my parents would take us on summer trips to India to visit relatives. In the early 1970s, direct flights between India and the USA did not exist. Therefore, we had to stopover in Europe as well as the Soviet Union for a few days. Each layover was fascinating and incredible. I became very interested in every place that I visited and wanted to learn more! Most youngsters my age had posters of their favorite singers and actors on their bedroom walls. Not me, I hung world maps and flags! Being the proud Carolina graduate that I am, I always wear UNC apparel while traveling. This leads to being approached numerous times by people with connections to UNC and yes, sometimes Duke! When the Duke fans start giving me a hard time, I make them aware that I also have a Duke degree, but am still a Tar Heel! At my allergy practice in Greensboro, my Duke fellowship diploma is framed in Carolina Blue.
RANJAN’S TRAVELS IN CAROLINA BLUE INCLUDE: All countries recognized by the United Nations except three: Libya, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Ranjan has an Afghanistan trip planed for October 2017. All 50 US states, 100 North Carolina counties, and all Division 1 University campuses. All Mexican states, Indian states, Canadian provinces and Caribbean islands. Every continent.
BORN & BRED
1. Hindu Temple, Java, Indonesia 2. Pyongyang, North Korea
3. Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
4. Tristan da Cuna, South Atlantic Ocean 5. Hindu Ghats, Haridwar, India
6. Union Glacier Camp, Antarctica 7. Agadez, Niger
8. Tropic of Cancer, Mexico
Both the North and South poles in 2017.
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TOP TO BOTTOM, LEFT TO RIGHT
October 2017
9. Amazon River, Leticia, Colombia
TA R H E E LT I C K E R
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OPPORTUNITY
BORN & BRED
COVER STORY
ONE DAY IN
LOUDERMILK Hundreds of Carolina student-athletes utilize one of the athletic department’s biggest resources
WRITTEN BY LEE PACE PHOTOGRAPHY BY J. D. LYON, JR.
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OPPORTUNITY
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Loudermilk Center for Excellence (a.k.a. The Blue Zone) at the east end of Kenan Stadium is now six years old. Most know it as a venue for watching Tar Heel football games, complete with TV monitors at some seats and a sumptuous array of food and drink just inside the doors. Many Rams Club members and Carolina alumni have experienced it as well for wedding receptions or special dinners and fund-raising events. But those are merely the tip of the iceberg of the facility’s pulse and function. “This building never sleeps it seems like,” says Michael Patten, the facility manager since 2015. “It’s certainly one of the most usedresources on campus. There are a lot of moving parts.” Adds Drew Murphy, a soccer player who transferred from UC-Santa Barbara in early 2016: “Loudermilk provides me and other athletes every resource we could possibly imagine. I think it’s sometimes taken for granted. The kids who are here all four years, this is all they know. There is no excuse not to excel in everything you do.” Here, then, are several snapshots of “Life at Loudermilk.”
7:15 a.m. The 17,000 square feet of the first floor strength and conditioning area is teeming with activity as athletes file into the building, some sleepy eyed but soon to wake up amid the banks of weight-lifting stations and training paraphernalia. The wrestling team is running a warm-up lap around the playing field in Kenan Stadium before beginning its one hour, 15 minute workout. Members of the women’s tennis team are alternating between doing med-ball rotational throws against a wall and pushups on the parallettes (mini parallel bars). Softball players have just finished doing stretching and rotational exercises with med balls; half the group is now traversing the open area with a variety of lunges and jumps and one-leg hurdles over small obstacles, the others doing planks with alternating single-leg extensions. Four women’s lacrosse players will arrive soon to do rehab work after leg injuries. “The mornings go by really, really fast, there’s no time to sit and think,” says Erik Hernandez, one of three full-time assistant coaches who work under Greg Gatz, the department director who’s been at Carolina since 1997. “Early mornings and late afternoons are our busy times—before class and after class. We could have a hundred kids in here at one time. It takes a lot of planning and logistics when you have three teams in here at one time.” The facility stretches the entire width of the building and has
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IN THEIR OWN WORDS: DAVID OCTOBER, MEN’S SOCCER “The opportunity to attend Carolina has been utterly life-changing. Not only has it been an opportunity to explore interests outside of sport—which has led to me finding a second career path—it has taught me the importance of seeking continual growth, regardless of your life aspirations. I’m truly honored to be a Tar Heel, and am incredibly grateful for all of the people who I have met over the last 3 years.”
a cardio deck between floor level and the ceiling with a row of treadmills, stair-climbers and bicycles. There’s even an “Alter G” machine, a cutting-edge treadmill with “anti-gravity” technology to assist athletes recovering from leg injuries. The individual is strapped into the machine and essentially hovers over the running track, allowing them to walk or run without full bodyweight impact. “I don’t know of many other schools that have one,” says Murphy, who used the machine recovering from a foot injury in 2016. “It allows you to begin your rehab sooner without stressing the injury.” Football, men’s and women’s basketball and baseball have separate training facilities, but every other sport trains at Loudermilk—heavily during the respective sport’s off-season, more moderately in-season. The coaches craft sport-specific regimens into the workouts—core and back strength are important for golfers, tennis players can benefit from resistance work on a cable machine to strengthen their backhand stroke. “Today the wrestling team will do quite a bit of neck work,” says Alex Milton, an intern on the S&C staff. “A strong neck and strong upper traps are important on the wrestling mat to protect the head.”
10:30 a.m. The Fueling Station on the third floor is one of the most popular spots in the building. It opened in the fall of 2015 and provides student-athletes with a variety of healthy grab-and-go food and beverage options. Athletes can pick three items per day, Monday through Friday—fruit, yogurt, nuts, beef jerky among the selections. A variety of nutrition bars are available—mainly Clif, Kind and Lara bars, the Clif bars because they are high in protein and the others because they have a short list of natural ingredients. “The culture is definitely shifting for the better,” says Rachel Manor, one of the athletic department’s two staff dietitians. “Before, you’d see a lot of chips and cookies in the second-floor study areas. Now you see more yogurt and fruit cups. Our student-athletes are recognizing that food is fuel and our bodies are high-performance vehicles. Food is fuel for performance.” Athletes are educated on how to build a snack around carbohydrates and protein—an apple and peanut butter, for example, or a banana and cashews. One morning a week, there is a Greek yogurt bar. “This is an awesome spot,” says Jessie Scarpa, a junior soccer player from Lakeland, Fla. “It’s here for whatever purpose you need it for. You can get a quick breakfast if you’re pressed for time. After a hard workout or heavy lift, you can get all the protein you need.”
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OPPORTUNITY
1:00 p.m. The building is perhaps its quietest early in the afternoon from a student-athlete flow perspective, but it’s still active with the various professional staffs headquartered here. The Athletic Department Business Office is on the second floor, next to the Human Resources office. Anthony Travel, which provides travel assistance for teams, coaches, athletics staff members and Rams Club members, is headquartered here as well. Temporarily located in Loudermilk in 2017 is Jeni Shannon, the Athletic Department’s first full-time sports psychologist. Her office was temporarily relocated because of renovations to UNC Campus Health within the hospital complex, so working from Loudermilk provides convenient access to the myriad of athletes who set up one-on-one consultations. “We work on pure performance things such as confidence or focus or performance anxiety,” says Shannon, who began in 2014 blending parttime consultation with UNC athletes into her private practice. “The stress of working through an injury is a common theme. I’m here for general mental health issues as well—depression, anxiety, family.” Sports psychology is much like nutrition—topics addressed infrequently 30 years ago that today are front-and-center in the performance hierarchy. “Everyone here has physical skills,” Shannon says. “A lot of times, the mental part is where there’s an edge that can make the difference. Every sport and every athlete can benefit from working on the mental side of the game.”
3:00 p.m. Academic support is a key component of the Loudermilk Center and one of the reasons it was built in the first place. Former football coach Butch
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Davis noted at the beginning of fund-raising for the Loudermilk Center in 2009 how parents of visiting high school prospects said how old and outdated the previous academic center had become. Now Tar Heel student-athletes have a state-of-the-art environment in the Pope Academic Center on approximately half of the second floor of Loudermilk. There is an open area with chairs and work tables with the look and feel of a library and a dozen individual study and tutoring rooms around the outside. There are also larger breakout rooms where math and writing labs are conducted during evening hours. Dr. Michelle Brown directs a staff of 17 full-time academic support staffers and approximately 90 tutors. One of the bedrocks of the operation is called MAP (My Academic Program) that all newcomers go through as well as existing students who have struggled in some area of their academic performance. “We will help guide them through the transition from high school to college,” says Brown, who came to Chapel Hill from Florida Atlantic University in 2013. “We will focus on time management. We might go through their grades and see where they are in each class. We’ll ask questions like, ‘What’s your priority for this week?’ ‘What is your team’s travel schedule this week?’ ‘Have you communicated with your instructor about your travel conflicts?’” In an average week, the tutoring staff will conduct approximately 1,500 appointments, each 50 minutes, all scheduled through a tutor coordinator. Most of the tutors are graduate students; some are townsfolk who are retired, perhaps school teachers or businessmen, who enjoy working with young people. “They mandate certain hours in the study rooms and with tutors,” says Josh Martin, a junior golfer from Pinehurst. “It’s pretty eye-opening for a lot of freshmen. It’s a pretty big transition from high school to college, and having tutors there to start you on the right track is helpful. You understand from the beginning what’s expected in the classroom.”
IN THEIR OWN WORDS: TAYLOR WIKE, SOFTBALL "The opportunity to attend Carolina has meant more to me than I can put in to words. It means being blessed enough to be surrounded by some of the greatest people I've crossed paths with so far, it means having teammates who bleed Carolina blue the same way I do, and it means having the opportunity to grow as a person on and off the field. I could not be more thankful for the opportunity to attend The University of North Carolina and I am proud to say that I am a Tar Heel born and bred."
7:25 p.m. Sixteen student-athletes from volleyball, men’s and women’s soccer and field hockey are gathered in a classroom on the second floor for a workshop conducted by the Carolina Leadership Academy, now in its 14th year of operation and one of the cogs in the Student-Athlete Development program. The Leadership Academy is named for former Carolina Athletic Director Richard A. “Dick” Baddour, who conceived the idea in the early 2000s. “One of our core beliefs is that leadership is a skill, it can be systematically taught and mastered,” says Shelley Johnson, the director of the program. “Most athletes have certain leadership skills that they’ve done intuitively as long as they’ve been playing sports. One of our goals is to identify these skills, make them more explicit and apply them to other contexts. That ability will serve them well not only in their sport but in life after sport as well.” Johnson, an All-Big 10 field hockey player at Michigan in 1997-98, has been with the Leadership Academy since its inception in 2004 and has been the director since 2010. The academy provides more than 5,400 hours of leadership training annually for Tar Heel players and coaches. Tonight she will be joined by Preston Yarborough from the Center for Creative Leadership, a consulting contractor for the academy, in a program designed to help upperclassmen hone their leadership abilities. One of the elements of the presentation is a 15-minute excerpt of a speech given by Chicago Cubs General Manager Theo Epstein to Yale University in June. Epstein spoke at length about having listened to an impromptu team meeting the Cubs held during a rain delay in the ninth inning of the seventh game of the 2016 World Series in Cleveland. The Indians had just pummeled the Cubs for three runs in the eighth inning to tie the game at 6-6, and the Cubs were understandably reeling when they repaired to the dugout as a storm moved through Cleveland. But instead of despair, Epstein saw hope and brotherhood as the players gathered in a weight room and poured their hearts out. “They turned each other’s tears into determination,” Epstein said. “Usually during a rain delay, players are engrossed in their own little world. They check their phones, change jerseys. It could have been disaster with 25 guys sitting alone, assigning blame and wallowing. They had the instinct to come together. But it was not an instinct, it was a choice. Some of us go through our careers with our heads down, keep to ourselves, worry about our numbers, pursuing the next goal, developing our resumes. Others go through our careers with our heads up, part of a team, aware of others, embracing differences, employing empathy. It is a choice. The former, head down, seems safer and more efficient. The latter, connecting, allows us to lead and be
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OPPORTUNITY part of something much great than ourselves. I have tried both ways. We all have our ‘rain delay moments.’ How will you handle yours?” The Tar Heel athletes watched the video in rapt attention. “This is really, really powerful,” said David October, a senior soccer player from Cambridge, England. “I’ve never thought of how powerful it can be to work through a bad moment in a game as a team. It definitely opened my eyes.” As the soccer, volleyball and field hockey players leave the workshop just after 8 p.m., the study rooms are teeming with activity. Downstairs, a few athletes are getting in a late workout. Dozens of student-athletes will be in the building studying right up until the 10 p.m. closing time. The doors close at 10 p.m. on a building that morphed into a remarkable resource for some 800 student-athletes. “Here at Carolina, the expectations are so high,” says Murphy, the soccer player. “The student-athletes hold themselves to a very high standard on the field and off the field. There’s an expectation to win at Carolina. On the flip side is an expectation to excel academically. I think Loudermilk is the perfect combination that puts them both together. Really it gives you no excuse not to excel in both.”
SIGNIFICANT FACILITY UPGRADES IN PROGRESS Another call comes through on Mike Bunting’s constantly ringing cell phone. Though the incoming number is connected to a name in his directory, sometimes it takes a moment or two to register, so voluminous are all the contractors, sub-contractors, designers and consultants involved in Carolina’s multi-faceted, four-venue facilities expansion project. “There are a lot of moving parts, that’s for sure,” says Bunting, Carolina’s associate athletic director for facilities management and planning. “This really is an unprecedented period in our history. We have never had this many projects running concurrently. My days are spent back and forth between job sites and on the phone with designers and contractors. There are a lot of details to manage.”
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Carolina is spending roughly $100 million on four separate facility overhauls and expansions: • Central Campus, where a new football practice complex and renovated Fetzer Field are underway; • Finley North, where a new outdoor track complex is being built; • Finley South, where new soccer practice fields are nearly complete; • And Ehringhaus Field, the former intramural field on South Campus where a new field hockey stadium will be built. Construction was to begin in late September.
All of these projects follow renovations to the men’s basketball locker room and practice facility in the Dean Smith Center, tweaks to Boshamer Stadium and the rebuilding of the turf in Kenan Stadium to accommodate the football team relocating practice there while its new practice facility is being built. They precede the construction of a new media communications center that will allow Carolina to provide content for the forthcoming ACC Network. “It’s a busy time and an exciting time,” says Bunting, a 1989 Carolina graduate and former head manager for the football team. “So many sports and athletes will benefit from these projects. Outdoor track will now have a dedicated facility and not have to share with four other sports. We will have the finest field for field hockey in the country. And football goes from one full practice field and one short field to three full fields—two artificial surface and one grass.”
No goal posts.
Plenty of flags.
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C A R O L I N A E V E R YWE A R Rams Club members like to wear their Carolina Blue, and they’ll wear it all over the US and the world. If you have a photo of you in your Carolina gear in front of notable landmarks in the US and abroad, send them our way to be a part of Carolina EveryWear!
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To have your photo included: -Send your photo digitally to bornandbred@ramsclub.com. -Identify everyone in your photo and the location of the photo. Here are the “Rules”: -At least one person in the photo has to be a Rams Club member -You must be wearing Carolina gear -You must be in front of a notable landmark (sorry, as cool as Kenan Stadium and the Smith Center are, they don’t qualify). SHOW US YOUR COLORS!
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1) Scott Gupton of Garner, NC, at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, China; 2) Brian Allen & Kathryn Bishop of Charlotte, NC, at the Grand Canyon; 3) Kevin Leder of Wake Forest, NC, at the Great Wall in China; 4) Peggy & Carl Phipps of Winston-Salem, NC, at the Sphinx & Great Pyramids in Egypt; 5) Samantha Thomas of Raeford, NC, with Carolina Flight Care in Chapel Hill; 6) Roger Harvey of Carmel, IN, in Scotland at the Swilken Bridge at the Old Course at St. Andrews; 7) Ryan Herron of Chapel Hill, NC, at the Grand Canyon; 8) Mike & Mandy Carriker & Family of Murrells Inlet, SC, at Castle St. Angelo in Rome, Italy; 9) Martha Cole Glenn of Arlington, VA, in Machu Picchu, Peru; 10) Matt, Laura, Jack & Miles Kirby of Raleigh, NC, in Nova Scotia, Canada, on the Cabot Trail; 11) Ben Brown of Durham, NC, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at the Christ the Redeemer statue; 12) Laurie Kerr of Dunn, NC, in Japan; 13) Brenda & Gary Haithcock of Apex, NC, in San Francisco at the Golden Gate Bridge; 14) Jim & Connie Gambill of Fort Lauderdale, FL, off the coast of Jamaica on a cruise with 5 daughters & 8 grandkids; 15) Ben Brady of Fairmont, NC, in Canada on a glacier in the Rockies; 16) Davis, Maryann, Rick & Kenan Bateman of Charlotte, NC, in Scotland at the Swilken Bridge at the Old Course at St. Andrews; 17) Stacy Lawson & Ranjan Sharma of Greensboro, NC, at the North Pole; 18) The Essic, Kistner & Tomberlin Families at Holden Beach, NC
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19 20 19) Al Newsome of Alexandria, VA, in Athens, Greece, at the Parthenon; 20) Tim & Murphy Brennan of Charlotte, NC, at Mount Kilimanjaro; 21) Brian Welch & Clint Beaver of Mint Hill, NC, in Odessa, Ukraine at the Black Sea; 22) Jule & Suzanne Banzet of Winston-Salem, NC, in Havana, Cuba; 23) Jo & Guy Massey of Hillsborough, NC, in St. Maartin; 24) Kyle & Bob Steelman, Tyson & Ashley Steelman (with Brooks & Becky), Ryanne & Tanner Steelman (with Asher), & Betsy & Bryan Gentry of Cleveland, TN, in Bowling Green, KY, at the Corvette Museum; 25) Kimberly & Mark McKnight of Raleigh, NC, in New York, NY, at Central Park; 26) Susan & Eleyse Griffin of Williamston, NC, in England at Wimbledon; 27) Steve Brown of State Road, NC, in Scotland at the Old Course at St. Andrews; 28) Tim & Melissa King of Fayetteville, GA, in Isla Roatan, Honduras, at Mahogany Bay; 29) Richard & Gaynelle Rabb of Simpsonville, SC, in Southport, England, at The Open at Royal Birkdale Golf Club; 30) Dian & William Sisk of Statesville, NC, in Yukon, Canada; 31) Harold Tharrington of Raleigh, NC, in Cambodia; 32) Sara & Mitch Magill of Marengo, IA, in Ireland at the Cliffs of Moher; 33) Bryan Baker & Lauren Burton of Kings Mountain, NC, in Nepal at Base Camp Everest; 34) Christy, Chris, Carolina & Caleb Holland of Clayton, NC, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway; 35) Andrea, Mallory & Bill Bates of Bronxville, NY, on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon; 36) Scott Griggs of New Bern, NC, in Augusta, GA, at The Masters 37) Stephanie Morgan of Canton, NC, in New York, NY, at the Defiant Girl statue; 38) Sara & Rick Crowder of Winston-Salem, NC, in Zambia, South Africa, on Safari; 39) Lane & Mary Jo Walter of Lumberton, NC, at the Crocodile Tree in Ta Prohm, Siem Reap, Cambodia
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A Lifelong Commitment
Steve and Debbie Vetter have formed lifelong friendships with their scholarship recipients, including baseball player Mike McKee WRITTEN BY ADAM LUCAS
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEFFREY CAMARATI & JOE BRAY 22
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When former Carolina baseball player Mike McKee was moving to Atlanta to help start a church, he knew exactly who to contact for advice. “We knew this was essentially going to be a start-up company,” said McKee, who played at Carolina from 2006-09. “And I was fortunate that I knew someone who was very experienced in the business world and had some great advice.” That person was Steve Vetter, a Greensboro resident and Rams Club member for nearly 40 years. Steve and his wife, Debbie, first endowed a baseball scholarship in the late 1980s. He’d been a baseball player in school and is a longtime friend of Tar Heel head coach Mike Fox, so the connection to the program was natural. Since then, the Vetters have had a long list of scholarship recipients who they have enjoyed getting to know. They recently met the wife of former second baseman Bryan Steed, who received their scholarship in the mid-2000s. They once met a relatively unheralded freshman named Colin Moran, who was best known primarily for being related to former Carolina great B.J. Surhoff; Moran later became the sixth overall player selected in the 2013 Major League Baseball Draft. When Moran made his big league debut in 2016, the Vetters received a text from him thanking them for their support.
Given the baseball program’s level of success over the last decade, the Vetters have met a steady parade of professional prospects and College World Series participants. But it’s McKee, a native of Arden, N.C., with whom they developed the closest relationship. “Over the years, Mike was so appreciative of the opportunity to play baseball at Carolina,” Steve Vetter says. “He wasn’t the most talented kid on the team. But he loved his role and he participated in a lot of different ways.” The donor and scholarship recipient first met at the annual Rams Club scholarship dinner, the same way the Vetters usually meet the beneficiary of their generosity— they’ve since also contributed scholarships for volleyball and basketball. It can sometimes be a nervous encounter for a college freshman who is meeting a virtual stranger who has a big stake in their future. McKee, who radiates a permanent warmth that makes him a natural in his profession, never seemed to feel that anxiety. “It felt like we clicked that same night,” he says. “And it’s lasted through today. The initial common ground was that we were all diehard Carolina
fans. Steve is a baseball guy, so we hit it off there. And from that point, it became clear how easy they were to talk to and fun to be around. There was a natural friendship built on the Carolina family and their care for the program and the school, but they also made it clear they genuinely cared about me as a student-athlete.” McKee began noticing the Vetters at home games, and then some road games. Then he saw them in Omaha, which turned out to be quite a commitment—this was around the time of the Carolina baseball explosion. Every year of McKee’s Carolina baseball career, the Diamond Heels advanced to the College World Series, including a pair of national runner-up finishes in 2006 and 2007. Most of those wins were built on extraordinary talent like Andrew Miller, Daniel Bard, Josh Horton and Chad Flack. In his four years as a Tar Heel, McKee recorded just seven base hits in 18 at-bats. His teammates, however, knew he was making a difference. “From day one, Mike uplifted the culture within our program with both his actions and his words,” says Robert Woodard, the
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program’s all-time wins leader and current pitching coach. “He was a blue-collar southern Christian who always punched in early and stayed late and made the most of every day at the Bosh. We don’t get to play for two national championships in 2006 and 2007 without Mike McKee. He had that kind of impact on our teams.” While some of his teammates knew they were preparing for an eventual job in baseball, McKee was realistic enough to realize his calling might be elsewhere. He worked closely with the campus chapter of Athletes in Action, and was so indispensable to the team that Fox regularly placed him on the travel roster for road series even though there was little chance of him getting into the game. The relationship between some scholarship donors and student-athletes ends on senior day. McKee and the Vetters wanted to make sure that didn’t happen. “We all agreed we didn’t want this to be the end of our relationship,” McKee said. “They’d been an incredible blessing to me, and I wanted to continue that. We started an official/unofficial tradition where every baseball season we would watch one or two Carolina baseball games from the stands together. That was a great way to stay in touch, and to watch a game together and reminisce about the teams I was on. But they also wanted to know about my life. They made it clear they didn’t want to just be friends with me while I was playing. They still wanted to be involved in my life.” McKee took a job with an area church that kept him regularly around campus. The Vetters continued to be an important part of his life; they were there when he married his wife, Ashley, and Debbie Vetter attended the baby shower before Ashley had the couple’s first child, Adalyn Grace. “If I walked into a room with him today, the first thing he would bring up would be how grateful he is for the role we played in
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“If I walked into a room with (McKee) today, the first thing he would bring up would be how grateful he is for the role we played in his attending Carolina. We’ve tried to tell him he doesn’t need to continue to thank us. But he’s just that kind of person.”
his attending Carolina,” says Steve Vetter. “We’ve tried to tell him he doesn’t need to continue to thank us. But he’s just that kind of person. He has treated us like a family member since the very beginning.” When McKee’s church sent him to Atlanta to plant a new church, he had a slight dilemma. He understood the basics of his day-to-day job and how to connect with people. He had less experience starting what was essentially a new company from scratch. Fortunately, he had a friend with significant experience in that area. McKee and Vetter arranged a meeting in Burlington to talk through some of the details. “He had some great ideas for me,” McKee says. “He told me to leverage my
connections and leverage that I’m a Tar Heel. He reminded me to stay dedicated to the task at hand, because there will definitely be bumps in the road, and as a leader my job is to stay strong and pursue the goal.” Leveraging his Tar Heel status was challenged soon after McKee arrived in Atlanta. An acquaintance told him, “You’re in Georgia now—pick a team.” McKee gave him a blank stare. “You know,” the friend told him. “Georgia or Georgia Tech?” McKee responded the only way he knew how: “I already have a team. Carolina.” That’s the McKee who so endeared himself to the Vetter family. They currently have three Tar Heel student-athletes on
IN THEIR OWN WORDS: ZACK GAHAGAN, BASEBALL “The opportunity to attend UNC has meant the world to me. UNC has not only blessed me with a great education, but it has blessed me with the chance to meet great people that will be a part of my life long after I graduate.”
scholarship, and they’re regular in the stands at Carolina athletics facilities across campus. They estimate they attended around 60 Tar Heel sporting events during the 2016-17 athletics year, and plan to do the same this year. Their involvement with the scholarship program, and with the lives of the students who utilize those scholarships, has enabled them to watch the games a little differently. They still exult at the latest championship and despair after a tough loss, but they’ve gained a little perspective. They’re just as likely to ask a player about an upcoming test as about a key play in the game. “It’s easy to talk about sports when you first meet them,” Steve Vetter says. “But as you learn more about their families and what they’re interested in, that’s more of the focus as they mature and we move forward. It’s so much fun to get to know these kids instead of just sitting in the stands watching. When you get to mingle with them, you start to understand how absolutely incredible they are. Every time we’re around them and see how talented they are, both in their sport and in the classroom, we’re reminded that we are moving in the right direction.”
The Vetters attended a baby shower for Mike and his wife, Ashley.
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Making
DREAMS come true Carolina scholarship recipients describe how their scholarship changed their lives WRITTEN BY SPEED HALLMAN
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEFFREY CAMARATI
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E GymNOW helps individuals find and visit fitness clubs without a membership. Whether traveling away from home, working out with a friend, or wanting to sample local gyms, GymNOW is there for you. To find out more
about Fedroff and
Carignan’s App, visit gymnowfitness.com
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very Tar Heel student-athlete remembers the moment. Tim Fedroff will tell you he was at a baseball showcase when two assistant coaches from UNC offered him an athletic scholarship. “They walked away, across this huge field,” Fedroff said. “My parents and I looked at each other, and it hit us. This was UNC. I ran them down and said ‘I want to be a Tar Heel!’” Senior women’s golfer Bryana Nguyen told donors at the fall Rams Club scholarship dinner that head coach Jan Mann asked her, “Are you ready to be a Tar Heel?” Nguyen’s answer was quick: “Yes!” Men’s basketball alumnus Tyler Zeller remembers his phone call from head coach Roy Williams. Stephanie Watts, a junior women’s basketball player who had not even visited other schools, accepted head coach Sylvia Hatchell’s offer on the spot. Baseball player Andrew Carnigan had an offer and realized for sure that UNC was the place to be during his second visit to campus. Luke Maye, a junior on the men’s basketball squad, said the day his offer came was one of the best days of his life. Student-athletes and alumni tend to use the same phrases when they talk about the meaning and impact of their scholarships. Life changing. Could not otherwise have afforded or attended UNC. It was a dream come true. In 2016-17, Rams Club members made dreams come true for 500 of Carolina’s 800 student-athletes across 28 varsity sports. Members gave more than ever, and UNC’s studentathletes responded with their best. Tar Heel fans saw 25 teams in NCAA post-season competition, four ACC championships, a record 385 student-athletes on the ACC Academic Honor Roll, six Academic All-Americas and a national championship in men’s basketball. While our student-athletes were compiling this record on the fields and courts, and in classrooms and labs, they were also giving back to the community, finding the time to volunteer a total of 5,000 hours through organizations
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such as Habitat for Humanity, UNC Hospitals and Relay for Life. Rams Club members broke records last year for support of these outstanding student-athletes, but rising educational costs and the need to award more scholarships are literally moving the goal posts. The Rams Club is working to cover a $16 million scholarship tab this year, up from $14.6 million in 2015-16. That’s why scholarships are a major priority in the upcoming capital fundraising campaign, and the Tar Heel faithful – alumni, friends, fans and donors – are being encouraged to give more for scholarships, add to existing scholarship funds and create new endowed scholarships. Sue Walsh, a 1984 grad and associate executive director of the Rams Club, told guests at the scholarship dinner that this year’s costs for an in-state student-athlete exceed the costs for her entire four years as an out-of-state student on a swimming scholarship. Another out-of-stater, former baseball pitcher Andrew Carignan, entered UNC from Connecticut in 2004 as the eldest of four children. “My parents started paying tuition in 2004 and finished in 2017,” he said, adding that full scholarships are rare in baseball, with teams limited to 11.7 scholarships for a roster of 35. He chose UNC and a partial scholarship over the University of Connecticut’s offer of a full ride. “The scholarship from North Carolina definitely allowed me to come down here. It made a huge difference. It helped my parents and my siblings a little more – my parents didn’t have as much of a tuition hit for me.” Carignan left Carolina at the end of his junior year for nine seasons in the pros, including seven in the Oakland A’s organization. He returned to finish his degree in management and society, with a minor in sustainability, fulfilling a promise to his mother that he would graduate. He’s grateful for the support that enabled him to come to Carolina, and he has advice for anyone who is considering a scholarship gift. “To the donors, I’d say, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. It really does make a difference, no matter how much you’re donating. We are definitely reliant on your generosity and it makes a huge difference in our lives.
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“To those thinking about giving a scholarship, reach out and get to know some of the kids. You’ll have a better idea of where your money is going. Reach out to the coach. Have him put you in touch with some kids so you can see – you’ll have a better understanding of who the people are you’re helping out.”
IN THEIR OWN WORDS: BRYANA NGUYEN, WOMEN’S GOLF “The opportunity to attend Carolina means the world to me because I think it is the biggest honor to wear Carolina blue during tournaments and to be called a Tar Heel. Carolina has given me the chance to use my sport to do more than just play golf, because I am able to impact the student-athlete community through the Richard A. Baddour Leadership Academy and impact the Chapel Hill community though our outreach programs. Carolina has taught me to think big and do more for the people around me and that is the greatest opportunity I could ever ask for.”
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Carignan’s teammate at UNC, outfielder Tim Fedroff, grew up in New Jersey and had long ago pegged UNC as his dream school. “When the scholarship was offered, it was a no-brainer for me,” he said. “It was incredible to be accepted to UNC and be a part of the Carolina family.” Like Carignan, he left school for the majors and embarked on a career that included six years in the Cleveland Indians organization. Fedroff returned to campus in 2015 to complete his degree in economics and business administration. “It was something I was going to do no matter what,” he said. “I knew it would not be easy to go back – I was 10 years older – but the faculty and staff made it incredibly easy.” Fedroff and Carignan couldn’t know it at the time, but their decisions to finish their degrees proved to be fortuitous for both. They graduated together in May and became business partners in an enterprise called GYMNow. They developed and are marketing an app to help users find and purchase day passes to gyms. It’s a boon for travelers who want to stay in shape and eliminate their excuses for not exercising. It’s also a venture they could not have imagined, and which could not have existed, when they were originally in school. A memorable moment for Fedroff is the time head coach Mike Fox talked with the team about how the game of baseball and the University are related. “He said that both are bringing so many people from different walks of life together – me from up north, people from North Carolina and from all over the country – and we were brought together in Chapel Hill to play baseball and be a team. We were all working for the same goal. It made me appreciate the game and the University at the same time.” Fedroff said that insight, like his experiences on the baseball diamond and in the business school’s classrooms, helps him build the new business. “Athletics teaches you a certain work ethic you might not get elsewhere,” he said. “I’m pretty early on in my business career, but success or failure will not be because of lack of preparation or effort. Playing instilled that and Kenan-Flagler instilled that.” What does he want to tell the donors who supported his education? “I would thank them for their generosity, for the opportunity to go to such a great university. I hope to be in the same position to fund future Tar Heels.” To potential donors, he said a scholarship “would be greatly appreciated by anybody who has the opportunity to attend UNC. With high cost to attend any bit would help. It does have a huge impact on the college experience and provides the opportunity to attend UNC.” Tyler Zeller was Mr. Basketball in his native Indiana and at the top of his high school class when the call came from Coach Williams. A member of the 2009 national championship team and an ACC Player of the Year, his jersey hangs in the Smith Center rafters. Zeller returned to campus this fall to speak at the Rams Club scholarship dinner.
“There’s no way I would have come to Carolina without a scholarship. It was always a dream to play at a school with a great tradition and a chance to win a national championship.”
Playing and constantly improving his game kept him busy, he told the dinner audience, but he appreciates the ways his time in Chapel Hill rounded out his experience and changed his life. “Some of the best memories I have in life from day to day are being on a great campus, getting a great education, meeting my wife Caitlyn and starting a life with her,” he said. “As you get out in the real world, you realize it more – you really appreciate what somebody did for you. What they gave allows you to get an education and move into life without debt and with great experiences.” His message to scholarship donors is simple. “It’s something a student-athlete will always be indebted for. You can make a lot of dreams come true. You can change a child’s life as well as a family’s life. And his final words to the donors who supported his scholarship? “Thanks for making a dream come true.”
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MAKING
THE VAN
TEAM SUPPORT FUNDS ENABLE DONORS TO CONNECT DIRECTLY WITH A TAR HEEL SPORT
HELPING OTHERS ENJOY THE UNC EXPERIENCE
BY PAT JAMES PHOTOS BY GRANT HALVERSON, JEFFREY CAMARATI & UNC ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
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They always split up, the players on the North Carolina men’s tennis team, and took multiple vehicles when traveling to nearby matches. A member of the team from 1965-67, Tom Chewning experienced this firsthand. The wins and losses mattered, but not nearly as much as the relationships he built. However, Chewning said the way that players dispersed when it came to traveling didn’t provide the same sort of bonding opportunities that riding together in one vehicle might have. That weighed on Chewning’s mind in the spring of 2014, when he made a donation that enabled the UNC women’s tennis team to purchase a 12-passenger Mercedes van. The van has since become an integral part of the program – transporting players safely and providing a vessel for academic and team growth. But it represents just one of Chewning’s several contributions to Carolina athletics.
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Chewning was first exposed to UNC tennis as a freshman at Thomas Jefferson High in Richmond, Virginia. At that time, the NCAA prohibited college freshmen from competing in varsity sports. Instead, they played for freshman teams, which were established so young players could adapt to college sports and tougher academics. They often faced high school teams.
Thomas Jefferson boasted one of the premier men’s tennis programs among Virginia high schools. So each year from ninth grade until he graduated from high school, Chewning said he played in Chapel Hill against Carolina’s freshman team. Chewning said numerous players from Richmond went on to play for the Tar Heels. And he didn’t hesitate to follow in their footsteps. “I think one of my biggest draws was the feeling of a family when you were on campus,” he said. “Everybody spoke to you and said hello, even if you were a little kid like I was in the ninth grade. Also, the tennis coach (Don Skakle), who I knew was a great human being as well as a good coach.” Chewning helped UNC win the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship in each of his three seasons. Then, within just a year of graduating, he said he joined the Rams Club. “I just felt an obligation to repay the valuable experience that I had,” Chewning said, “and to help other people who want to go to Carolina to be able to enjoy that same experience.” In numerous ways, Chewning and his wife, Nancy, have fulfilled that mission. A member of the Tennis Fundraising Committee, Chewning helped bring the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center to fruition in 1991. Ten years later, he and Nancy gave $1 million to create endowments for men’s tennis, women’s tennis, women’s swimming, women’s golf and field hockey.
Chewning said he’s always been a big proponent of Title IX, which played a significant role in the latter. “I’ve seen so many very capable women athletes who became great leaders and really contributed to the atmosphere in Chapel Hill,” Chewning said, “whereas when I was participating, women’s sports weren’t that significant, they weren’t funded well and they didn’t have as many sports as they do today.” But Chewning’s involvement with the women’s tennis program intensified with the hire of coach Brian Kalbas in 2003.
‘A REAL THRILL’
Before coming to UNC, Kalbas served as the head coach at William & Mary, about 50 miles east of Chewning’s home in Richmond. Thus, Chewning said he knew of Kalbas’ reputation and started peeking at the women’s tennis team’s matches as he watched the men’s. Then, prior to the 2014 season, Chewning was invited to a fundraiser for the women’s tennis program. Kalbas said the idea for the fundraiser came from the men’s and women’s golf teams, which previously held similar events. Both golf teams also owned vans for travel. And after doing some research on those, Kalbas said the women’s tennis program started focusing on raising the $100,000 needed for a van at the fundraiser. “During that fundraiser event, we raised $25,000,” Kalbas said. “I
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announced it at the event and said, ‘This is incredible, we’re so excited that we’re a fourth of the way there to raise this money that we’re trying to achieve for our program.’” At that rate, the team looked like it might have enough money for the van in four years. But Chewning helped expedite that process. One or two days after the fundraiser, Kalbas said he received a call from Chewning, who said he was captivated by the idea of a team van and offered to pay for the rest of it upfront. “It was the coach’s priority,” Chewning said, “but also it was something that would be practical, useful and would mean something to the girls in terms of their identity as a team because they could travel in a van that showed they were North Carolina tennis.” But there was one caveat – Chewning said he wanted the van to be ready before the ACC Women’s Tennis Championship in April, just two months away. To help move the process along, Chewning said he turned to Tim Smith, who as associate executive director of the Rams Club is part of the major gift team. Smith helped negotiate the timetable with Mercedes and manage logistics under a tight deadline. “I would say Tom and Nancy removed almost all of those challenges with their generosity,” Smith said. “They said, ‘Get the safest possible vehicle you can and get the protection plan. We want to make sure that vehicle is well-maintained.’” Kalbas said the team previously rented two 15-passenger vans that “weren’t really that safe.” So Chewning emphasized safety with the Mercedes van, making sure it had a backup camera and Lane Keeping Assist, among other features. Ultimately, on the Wednesday before the ACC Championship in Cary, Kalbas and his wife, Suzanne, picked up the van in Greensboro.
They then drove back to Chapel Hill, where they met Chewning before surprising the players with the van at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center. “It was a thrill, a real thrill,” said Chewning of the reveal. “I love to see people feel good about themselves. To me, it just showed them somebody cared about them.”
A PLACE FOR BONDING
Three years later, the van still remains dear to the program. Kalbas said the van features six captain’s chairs and a back row that can fold down into a bed, giving players plenty of space. Each chair also has its own light, table, outlets and internet hookup for players to do schoolwork. Over the past three years, 12 different Tar Heels have landed on the ACC Academic Honor Roll. The van has also helped foster team chemistry. Kalbas said players previously disliked traveling. Now, they actually look forward to it. Last season, when the ACC Championship was held in Rome, Georgia, Kalbas said players were disappointed they had to fly to Atlanta instead of ride there in the van. But he surprised them by having someone drive the van down and meet them. When the Tar Heels ultimately claimed their second straight ACC title, they celebrated by driving back to Chapel Hill in the van. “We drove nine hours back and got in at like 3 in the morning,” Kalbas said. “And they loved it. They wished that they could go even farther. It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, why aren’t we flying back? Why aren’t we getting back earlier?’ They just really enjoyed the camaraderie and the relaxation of being in that van for that long of a trip.” That, after all, is what Chewning hoped for. “That van is a capsule where they can be together,” he said, “and it’s nice to see.”
IN THEIR OWN WORDS: ROBERT KELLY, MEN’S TENNIS “Attending Carolina as a hometown Chapel Hill kid means I get to live out my dream of playing on the same courts as the kids I looked up to. Having the opportunity to be around the most amazing all-around people means I have a raise my game in everything I do on a daily basis. That’s what Carolina is to me.”
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IN THEIR OWN WORDS: THEO PINSON, MEN’S BASKETBALL “The chance to attend Carolina has been amazing for me. I’ve loved the people on campus and everything about Chapel Hill since I got here as a freshman. It’s a community on campus that’s very special for the entire student body. In terms of things on the court, being able to play with this tremendous group of guys has been everything I’d hoped for. All these guys, we’re like brothers. They all have great families, and I feel like those are my families now, too. To play with such high-level teammates for the best coaches and fans is awesome. “You hear a lot about Carolina being a family atmosphere, and you really feel it on campus and on the road when fans talk to us. People from all over the place come up and tell us how they graduated from Carolina and how much it means to them. It feels like family on several different levels.”
MULTIPLE SPORTS UTILIZE TEAM FUNDS It's always been crucial to North Carolina men's basketball coach Roy Williams that when his staff needs to spend more on hotels or food when away from the Smith Center, the money doesn't have to be spent at the expense of UNC's other 27 varsity sports. Sure, Tim Smith – the associate executive director of the Rams Club – says UNC could reduce the number of sports offered. But then it wouldn't be UNC. "We think it makes our school better to have a broad-based sports program," Smith said. "It makes our state better. We want to do everything we can to make sure that model is sustainable every way we can.” The men’s basketball team’s Bench Seat Program puts money into the team’s operating endowment. A small circle of friends of the team make a four-year
commitment to the club. The endowment is crucial for the team’s existence but isn’t a very “attractive” thing to raise money for, Smith says. So the Bench Seat Program makes it more about watching the players grow and mature over the span of one’s four-year commitment. “There's no major public display at all, but on each individual chair, there's a plaque thanking them,” Smith said. “When their four years are up, they get that chair to have in their home or office to say thank you for their support.” The UNC football team replicated the Bench Seat Program and made it a success, as well. The 22 Club is named for the 11 defensive and 11 offensive starting positions, and the 22 members of the club commit to
raising money for the football team during their term. Numerous other Tar Heel sports have team-specific funds that enable donors to connect directly with a sport they love while also providing funds that directly benefit that sport’s endowment. And, as with the 22 Club in football, those donations come with added benefits. “Those folks getting to meet and see the maturation process of these young men who they usually only get to see with helmets on has been pretty spectacular,” Smith said. To learn more about a team-specific support fund, contact Tim Smith at tim@ramsclub.com.
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IN THEIR OWN WORDS Carolina student-athletes describe the opportunity afforded to them by Rams Club members PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEFFREY CAMARATI
CAROLINE BALDWIN, WOMEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING “It’s hard to put into words what the opportunity to attend Carolina has meant to me. It has provided me with the highest of highs, but also the lowest of lows. But, even on the worst days I’m reminded by the lifelong friends Carolina has given me to look around, take a deep breath, and know everything is okay because you’re here at Carolina. The resources provided to us have been incomparable, and they’ve helped me achieve some of my wildest dreams, such as competing at an international level. I will be forever grateful for the opportunity I was given four years ago
to attend the university of my dreams.”
RYAN MACRI, MEN’S LACROSSE “I actually dreamt about having teammates, classmates and teachers that I consider family, winning a national championship and graduating from the Kenan-Flagler Business school... and thanks to the opportunity to attend Carolina
my dreams have become a reality.”
GAB MAJOR, FIELD HOCKEY “The opportunity to attend Carolina has meant the world to me. I am challenged every day to become a better student, athlete and person, and I have made
friendships and memories that will last a lifetime.”
MICHAEL MCBRYAN, MEN’S SWIMMING AND DIVING “The opportunity to attend Carolina has been a dream come true. The tradition and culture here is unlike anything else. This opportunity has led to friendships that will last a lifetime. It has enabled me to be successful academically and athletically.
There is no place like Carolina and I’m thankful I can call it home.”
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AUSTIN PROEHL, FOOTBALL “Having the ability to attend the University of North Carolina has been a blessing in more ways than I could have ever imagined. The opportunities and relationships you build while being in Chapel Hill are second to none and
you can’t get it anywhere else in the country.”
JO BOYLES, WOMEN’S SOCCER “Growing up in Raleigh, I considered UNC to be an almost “magical” university located just down Interstate 40 in beautiful Chapel Hill. Driving up Raleigh Road to Fetzer Field to attend soccer games almost felt like driving into a fairy tale with its historical stone buildings and large mature trees. As a little girl who loved soccer, I knew the ultimate goal for me would be to play soccer for Anson Dorrance at this incredible university that was not only recognized for its phenomenal athletic programs but also for its stellar academics. So when I was given the opportunity in May of my eighth grade year as I sat across a table from Anson Dorrance and he asked, “Jo, would you like to be a Tar Heel?”, my answer was immediate and emotional. “Yes! It would make my dreams come true!” Although that moment feels like eons ago, I have no regrets. This year I enter my fifth year at UNC as my soccer career took a detour due to injury. I will graduate in December 2017 and as I look back, I know that I have been blessed to be a part of this beautiful university. The lessons learned, the people I have met, and the growth in my maturity has made me the strong woman that I am today. I feel equipped to handle whatever might be thrown my way in life and per Anson’s direction, I will continue on a “never-ending ascension” to be all that I can be.
Thank you UNC! It will always be a great day to be a Tar Heel!” ramsclub.com 37
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MORGAN DONNELLY, ROWING “Coming to Carolina has given me my best friends and favorite memories. I get to be a part of the best community in the world, so no matter where I go I’m sure to find a fellow Tar Heel to make it feel more like home. Not to mention, I get to compete in the sport I love
wearing the best color in college athletics.”
MEREDITH BOZENTKA, WOMEN’S FENCING “It has been an honor and a privilege to attend such a prestigious university. The atmosphere is uniquely southern, with a serious mix of hard work and sports fanaticism! The tradition of UNC has attracted bright, fun-loving students from everywhere and many
will be lifelong friends.”
ETHAN RAMOS, WRESTLING “The opportunity to attend UNC has meant support and encouragement to be the best I can be in all areas -
faith, wrestling and academics.”
BEN GRIFFIN, MEN’S GOLF “Being a student-athlete at UNC means I am able to enjoy the tradition of a winning culture in competition while
receiving a first class education.”
MARIE MCCOOL, WOMEN’S LACROSSE “Carolina has provided me with more opportunities than I could have ever imagined both athletically and academically. Being able to attend a school with both prestigious academic and athletic backgrounds has been a dream come true. It has given me a future in not only the sport I love, but has also prepared me to
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succeed in life beyond the classroom.”
JAMIE CHERRY, WOMEN’S BASKETBALL “The opportunity to attend Carolina has been a blessing. Coach Hatchell has given me an opportunity of a lifetime that I will
I’m so happy that I will be able to say that I graduated from the University of North Carolina.” forever be grateful for. This was a dream come true and
SAM MINER, MEN’S TRACK AND FIELD “Coming to Carolina was the best decision that I have ever made. As a Carolina student-athlete, I had the opportunity to study at one of the best universities in the country and compete at a Division I level. As a recipient of the Phillips Ambassadors scholarship, I was also able to spend three months in Asia and study abroad at the Chinese University
of Hong Kong. My experience in the Kenan-Flagler Undergraduate Business Program has prepared me incredibly well for my future career. As
a Tar Heel, I have formed relationships with my professors, coaches, teammates, and friends that will last a lifetime.”
available now – save $5 with free shipping! Celebrate the Heels’ National Championship with the official companion book!
REDEMPTION Carolina Basketball’s 2017 Journey from Heartbreak to History Adam Lucas, Steve Kirschner, and Matt Bowers
“There were seven seconds to play, and we had four guys on the court in tears. . . . The players’ emotions came pouring out in front of the whole world, and none of them cared because they were all in, all year, and they will carry those memories for all time.”
—Head Coach Roy Williams, from the Foreword
224 pp., 195 color plates • $35.00 hardcover
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FIRST PERSON
“Opportunities for education”
O
Over the past 30 years, I have worked at four universities in a factory before he went to community college – and – two public, two private, two regional, two national. In some ultimately got the opportunity to transfer and play football ways, they are very different from each other; in other ways, at Carolina; he went on to become a first-round NFL draft they are very similar. In any event, what I have learned is pick. I’ll always remember cheering on Paige Neuenfeldt, a that two things are fundamental to all universities: they all co-president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) offer education and they offer opportunities. who excelled on our volleyball team, worked in Atlanta for Which is what draws me to the job I do. Ernst & Young, and is now playing professionally in France. Education and opportunity, you see, are key to my family And I’ll always appreciate working with Houston Summers, history. Both of my parents were educators – my dad, Larry, who returned to Carolina to compete with our track and was an elementary school principal and field team after playing baseball my mom, Mary, was a middle school professionally; he served as Carolina’s English teacher. My father grew up very Student Body President and now works poor in Detroit, Michigan, and enlisted at Deloitte. “Each and every Rams Club in the Marines. He attended college on Each and every Rams Club member the GI Bill, and that opportunity to get member should take pride in their should take pride in their support of an education not only transformed his these special young people who can support of these special young life, but also my life and the lives of my compete Monday through Friday with people who can compete Monday the best minds in the country—and then brother and sisters. My mom grew up in Flint, Michigan, on Saturday (or any other day), compete through Friday with the best and was the daughter of two teachers. with the best athletes in the world minds in the country—and then With the financial backing of the CS before going on to become doctors and on Saturday (or any other day), Mott Foundation, her father started entrepreneurs and public servants. Community Education in Michigan – a It is truly inspirational to be a part of compete with the best athletes focus that quickly grew throughout the such a wonderful place that offers so in the world before going on to country. many opportunities for education. The Community Education concept become doctors and entrepreneurs Thank you for making a difference. was and is quite simple in theory, and public servants.” but more challenging in funding and execution. It was founded with the idea of using schools in a more comprehensive and thoughtful way. The structures – classrooms, gyms, pools, and fields – were already built so why not utilize them on nights and weekends? BUBBA CUNNINGHAM This idea of sport, schools, and community engagement Athletic Director has shaped my belief in higher education and intercollegiate
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athletics. And it has shaped my passion for working for the University of North Carolina. We have one of the largest broad-based programs in the country, we have nationally ranked programs, we are of the public and for the public, we provide education and opportunities for students, we engage the community, and I am filled with enthusiasm and gratitude every day for the opportunity to help give opportunities. Our mission for athletics at Carolina is simple: We Educate and Inspire through Athletics. And over my time here, I have been inspired, as well. I’ll never forget meeting Sylvester Williams, who was working
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BORN & BRED
October 2017
CAROLINA INSIDER PODCAST HOSTED BY JONES ANGELL AND ADAM LUCAS
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BORN & BRED
October 2017