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The Daily Tar Heel

Chancellor Holden Thorp: Welcome to Chapel Hill

Welcome to Carolina, first-year students. 

I don’t have to tell you that it wasn’t easy getting this far. Carolina had more students than ever before applying to be part of the Class of 2013, and you are some of the fortunate ones to be admitted. 

We are thrilled that you will be joining us in Chapel Hill. You should be proud of this accomplishment. Know that your fellow students and our faculty and staff are looking forward to welcoming you into the Carolina community. It’s a friendly place, so you should feel at ease about this big transition. We’re all here to help you be successful students.

Now you are here on campus, ready to begin your Carolina adventure. And what an adventure it will be! 

Not only will you have an unlimited array of outstanding academic opportunities to choose from, including honors seminars, undergraduate research and study abroad, you will also become immersed in a particularly rich student life experience. 

You will explore the arts, politics, social involvement, sports, community service, culture and so much more in the next four years. 

At Carolina, we have more than 600 student organizations that you can join, so there’s truly something for everyone. If you don’t find what you’re looking for (rugby, anyone?), then it’s easy enough to start your own group.

Here you will meet people who will change your life. Faculty members, to be sure, because they include some of the most innovative and inspiring teachers ever assembled, but also your fellow students, who are as smart and savvy as you are. 

You will learn from them because they are different; they come from every state in the nation and from more than 100 countries in the world. 

And you will bond with them because you have something important in common: You all chose to be Tar Heels.

We love having you here, but please earn your undergraduate degrees on time. Be good neighbors when you go to Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Orange County to eat, shop and socialize. 

Practice safety and good common sense on campus and off. Do not go out walking alone, especially at night. Always cross streets at crosswalks, and follow the marked pedestrian detours around the construction sites on campus. 

And be sure to bookmark the alertcarolina.unc.edu Web site, the first place campus safety-related information is posted, and to register your text-capable cell phone to receive emergency text messages from the University. 

The University updates the alertcarolina.unc.edu Web site and uses text messages if the sirens sound or we need to alert you to a serious situation. Both you and your parents will hear more about Alert Carolina during orientation and when you arrive on campus in August.

Before the fall semester begins, we will throw a welcome back party called Fall Fest, where you will get a chance to mingle with the rest of the student body, play games, meet Tar Heel coaches and student-athletes, eat free food and dance in the street to music provided by, among others, your very own chancellor. 

The celebration continues with the Week of Welcome activities, which will introduce you to the many organizations and activities you can participate in as new students at Carolina.  

But for now, just get out there and soak up the sun and the atmosphere of Carolina in summer. 

Learn all the fight songs, the alma mater and how to spell “Carolina” with your arms and legs. 

There will be a test.

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