“”
Since You’ve Been Gone
We asked alumni what they missed the most about
Carolina. Excerpts of responses are below. To read
more, visit
alumni.unc.edu/classquotes.
“I miss the Carolina Playmakers, the fun of
rehearsals, the excitement of opening night
and the terror of losing my lines at the first
moment the play opens. I also miss the beauty
of the old campus and walking to classes, and
the arboretum. I have not visited since 1975,
and even then it had grown so much that I had
difficulty finding familiar buildings and the path
to classes that I took every day for five years.”
Sybille Berwanger Weiss ’ 32
Raleigh
“I miss ... the arb, the dining room in
Spencer, the DTH, the Rock ’n’ Roll, the
politics, the campus in spring ... and in fall …
and winter, Franklin Street and b’ball and that
sense that we were going to change the world.”
Arlene Jacobson ’ 70
Louisville, Ky.
“This may sound strange, but what I miss
about Carolina most are those quiet night
walks around campus in the winter, with the
wind whistling through the pines and nothing
stirring much except an occasional bicyclist
and other walkers. It was a sign of the times
that most of the classroom buildings were still
open, offering a respite from the cold and
solitude for that exam that was always coming
tomorrow. As one ventured toward downtown, the tantalizing smell of Porthole rolls
beckoned one to come inside and warm up
with friends over a hot drink and hot bread. It
was wonderful food for the soul at a time
when the immensities of life were becoming
reality.”
Nelson Higgins ’ 77
Asheville
“Chapel Hill was like an oasis with
Carolina blue sky to me. You could sit back
and watch the world but know that it was
going on everywhere else.”
G. Martin Poole ’ 77
class quotes
“I miss standing at the doorway of the fraternity house on
an October Friday night, the
juke box playing ‘Jimmy Mack,’
right as the sun is setting. I miss
football Saturdays when you
would get suited up in coat and
tie, pick up your date and then
head for the Ozone for the
game. I miss Harrison’s on
Thursday nights. I miss the
clean, sweet smell of the air in
Chapel Hill. And I miss the joy
of just being there.”
Lyndon Forrest Fuller ’ 79
Kinston
GAA FILES
Not surprisingly, UNC alumni share nostalgia for campus, Franklin Street,
carefree conversations — along with Carolina football and basketball.
“Perhaps what I miss most
about my years on The Hill, without question, is the freedom. Chapel Hill truly is one
of the freest places on the face of the Earth.
At no other time in my life, before or since,
have I been able to walk, wander, explore,
visit, run, hike, bar-hop, ride or, yes, streak
with the freedom that I had to do all of those
things in Chapel Hill. Looking back on it,
there may be no freer time in a person’s life
than in his or her undergrad days, wherever
those days were. But I’ll guarantee you there
was — and still is — no greater place, anywhere, to be able to exercise those freedoms
than at Carolina.”
Gaines Townsend ’ 81
Wilmington
games and basketball games. I miss making
pancakes in the dorm.”
Laurie McDonald ’ 96
Jacksonville, Fla.
“While I understand the sentiments
expressed by others, what I miss most is the
same thing that the majority of the other
humanities Ph.D. graduates of Carolina miss
— the library. Once one leaves that great collection behind, being a scholar becomes a
whole lot harder. Even my friends who teach
at Research I schools complain about how
pathetic their libraries are compared to UNC.”
Nicholas Hunt-Bull ’ 98
Ottawa, Ontario
“I miss Carolina basketball! We get a televised game every once in a while here in
Rome, Ga., but I can’t get anything regular. I
also miss being able to mute the sound and
listen to Woody Durham.”
Lisa (Bowers) Bohn ’ 96
Rome, Ga.
“I miss the fall, when the leaves turn (don’t
get much of that in Florida!). I miss early
April, when the dogwoods bloom and it
seems everything’s about to bloom. I miss
lazy afternoons in a rocking chair or on a
swing, talking to friends about important
things and utter trivia without necessarily distinguishing between the two. I miss soccer
“Sitting at the base of the clock tower, I felt
the heartbeat of Carolina as teams of students
made their way to and from South campus. It
was a canopy of protection where time stood
still for me. Now these moments of time are
pockets of solitude that I occasionally dive
into when I close my eyes and reminisce, for
its ring was a reminder to everyone that time
had a uniform presence on the Hill.”
Jia Yin Wan ’01
Burlington
Let us hear from you. Visit the alumni message
boards and discussion groups at
alumni.unc.edu
and chime in on everything from your dream job
to memories of your first day at Carolina.
