The mystery of the Old Well: How UNC Week of Welcome traditions got started

Drinking from the Old Well on the first day of classes is now a campus legend — it supposedly helps students achieve a 4.0 GPA — but historians are actually not sure of the ritual's origins.

“It only goes back to the 1980s,” University historian Cecelia Moore said. “People who graduated before then don’t think of it as a big deal.”

While campus historians like Moore and history professor Harry Watson have tried to figure out exactly who or what started the tradition, they have not found conclusive answers. Moore is pretty certain students created the tradition rather than administrators.

“We were really unsuccessful in figuring out how it got started,” Moore said. “You would think that it being so recent we would be able to track it back.”

Some students, like junior Sydney Lockhart, are dubious of the myths attached to the Old Well.

"I don't need anyone else's germs in my body based on the unfounded belief that I'll magically get a 4.0," Lockhart said. "If I magically get a 4.0, it'll be because of my ability to perform at this school, not because of some slave owner's backwash in a water fountain older than me."

Still, many students take this tradition very seriously. For first-year Phillip Roma, the Old Well serves as a source of inspiration.

"When I first toured here, I loved the school but thought I was never going to get in. Then I drank from the Old Well that day," Roma said. "From the Old Well, I learned that a lot of hard work and a little luck go a long way, so that's why I chose to drink from it on the first day of classes."

Drinking from the Old Well is just one of many examples of UNC spirit turning into campus customs.

“Many of the traditions grew over time because people wanted to do them,” Moore said.

Other events during Week of Welcome — the week after move-in during which first-years and transfer students are introduced to UNC — have more clear-cut histories.

The current WoW debuted in the early 2000s and includes events to give students a taste of all the activities and organizations UNC has to offer. The events are coordinated by New Student & Carolina Parent Programs. 

“From an administrative and faculty perspective, I think people really liked the idea,” Moore said. “It gave kind of the ability to plan and coordinate in a much better way.”

Events range from formal ones like convocation to fun ones like an a cappella workshop or poetry slam.

“There was a desire to make sure students were introduced to and understood things that people took to be a part of Carolina,” Moore said.

Before Week of Welcome put everything in one place, some aspects were handled by the office of Student Affairs while others were managed by the UNC General Alumni Association. Fall Fest, one of WoW’s biggest events, celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, and the summer reading program and convocation go back to the 1990s. 

“The whole Week of Welcome folded (into) new things with things that were already happening,” Moore said.

The summer reading program debuted in 1999 and was mandatory for new students until 2003. According to the Carolina Alumni Review, participation in the program dwindled down to 28 percent by 2005.

While many schools have events and traditions for their opening weeks, Moore is quite confident UNC is home of the best.

“There’s a different kind of spirit here,” Moore said. “I’ve been on a lot of different university campuses, but I think the WoW events here really capture the enthusiasm students have about being at Carolina, and that’s a little different than other schools.”

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