The Masonic Order the oldest fraternal organization in the world has shared portions of history with the University since it pushed for its founding.
The number of Mason undergraduates is growing said Ric Carter assistant to the Grand Secretary Mason of North Carolina.
Though the University and the Masons have shed their ties" Masonic symbols and ideas can be found throughout the campus and history.
""They wanted to educate as many people as they could"" said Ike Quigley, Senior Warden of Guilford Masonic Lodge and a 1996 alum.
They embraced the use of reason and self-knowledge to instigate change, associate history professor James Leloudis said.
And you saw that in the very early curriculum here"" he said.
Political changes wore away at the connection.
In the 1980s, the two Masonic Grand Lodges in North Carolina — one predominately white, the other predominately black — competed in a power struggle and refused to recognize one another, Carter said. Associations with racism prompted the University to cut ties.
Quigley said the baby boomer generation rejected Masonry because it was something their parents did, but that now it's gaining a following.
There are two Masonic lodges in Chapel Hill.
Contact the Features Editor at features@unc.edu.
Masonic ties shape UNC
The mural on the wall of the Carolina Coffee Shop tells a story of the University?s founding.
