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The first Saturday night of my freshman year, my friends and I consulted the maps we’d gotten at C-TOPS and made the long trek up to Franklin Street to see “Superbad.”

Before I’d lofted my bed or memorized my PID or figured out that the last three words of the fight song weren’t “Rah, rah, rah,” I’d already had my first real Carolina experience: going to the Varsity Theater.

The Varsity — which closed this summer after more than 80 years of Carolina students showing up late and talking through the previews — was an icon.

It wasn’t very flashy, with its two screens and glass-framed concession stand, but it was as much of a Tar Heel tradition as hating Coach K.

Its position on Franklin Street made it a landmark. It was on the way to the P2P stop, not to mention Pepper’s Pizza, and every Friday night, hordes of students clustered around the box office.

Over the past two years, I saw more than a dozen movies at the Varsity. I went to see “Juno” with my friends and “Moving Midway” with my political science class.

Last Valentine’s Day, my boyfriend and I joined about 80 other couples “aww”-ing over “Slumdog Millionaire.”

Watching films there always had a very “Carolina” feeling; it was always at least half-filled with students. To me, it was as much of a campus theater as the Carolina Union Activities Board movies at the Student Union, with the added advantage that people usually didn’t yell out “that’s what she said” every four minutes.

It was also convenient. Now, if I want to go see the latest blockbuster, I have to choose between driving to Southpoint to sit in an audience with every preteen in Durham or threading my way through one-way streets to the Lumina, which will have inevitably sold the last ticket to the yuppie couple in front of me.

But apparently, plans are in the works to save the Varsity from the wrecking ball.

Community members have come up with ideas to remake the space into an arts center kind of like the one in Carrboro.

It would take a while to do, of course. These days, few people have the money to go out and see films (case in point), let alone shell out for a fundraiser. But I bet it could be done.

Some support from the University wouldn’t hurt, either.

I know we’re also short on funds, but maybe they could donate a few pennies from the revenue off the nonreturnable course packs I just bought — or scrimp a little on lighting Kenan Stadium like a Christmas tree the nights we don’t have games.

Kidding, kind of.

In any case, I believe a Varsity Extreme Makeover could happen (maybe we could just call those people from ABC and have them fly us to Disneyworld for the duration of the construction) and that a community art center would be an asset to everyone at Carolina.

Well, almost everyone.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for independent films — that is, pretending I’ve watched them so I can sound cool at parties — but I’ll still miss the Varsity.

It was a Franklin Street icon, a mainstay of my social life at Carolina — and I don’t think I’m the only one who feels that way.

I’m looking forward to what renovations could bring, but until then, on weekends, you can catch me begrudgingly sitting through the CUAB Union shows — which sometimes make for a long night.

That’s what she said.

Hannah Thurman is a journalism major from Raleigh. She can be contacted at hannahthurman@gmail.com

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