Monday, July 1, 2013, is the 48th anniversary of UNC Charlotte’s inclusion as the fourth campus of the consolidated UNC system.
On March 2, 1965, the North Carolina House of Representative passed a bill that transformed Charlotte College into the University of North Carolina at Charlotte effective July 1, 1965. According to the Charlotte Collegian, news of the bill’s passage was greeted with “bell ringing, cheers, shouts and tears of happiness” on campus.
Bonnie Cone, Charlotte College president, was quoted stating, “I think it’s one of the greatest things to happen in North Carolina’s history of higher education.”
To mark UNC Charlotte’s official entry into the UNC system, Gov. Dan Moore was on campus July 1, 1965, to ring the “Old Bell” used for ceremonial occasions. The bell, now used primarily at commencement, was rung on July 1, 1990, to mark the University’s 25th anniversary as part of the UNC system. It also was rung on Oct. 8, 1993, to celebrate the University’s authorization to award doctoral degrees; on Sept. 23, 1996, to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Charlotte Center; on Aug. 11, 2000, in observance of the University’s reclassification as a doctoral/research institution; and on Aug. 11, 2010, to celebrate UNC Charlotte clearing the final hurdle to field a football team.
Atkins Library Special Collections contributed to this article.