Several UNC officials, including Chancellor James Moeser, spoke to a crowd of faculty, students, alumni and Carolina First committee members at the Carolina Inn's Hill Ballroom.
"This is the moment that so many of us have been working toward -- to make this campaign public," Moeser said.
He said the mission of the campaign was transformation -- a goal for the University to transform the state, the nation and the world.
Carolina First is an eight-year fund-raising campaign aimed at making UNC the leading public university in the nation by increasing the University's endowment through private donations.
The goal is to secure $1.8 billion in private donations to be spent in five areas of interest -- faculty, students, strategic initiatives, research and campus renovation and expansion.
To date, $866 million in private donations has been raised through the campaign's silent phase, which began July 1999.
The University already is on its way to meeting its goal of creating 200 new endowed professorships and 1,000 new undergraduate scholarships, Moeser said.
Since the beginnings of the campaign, donors have established 92 endowed professorships and 267 scholarships and fellowships.
The attitude at the announcement was professional yet relaxed. Speakers joked about the silent phase of the campaign being "the worst-kept secret," and made light of recent University issues like the summer reading controversy.
