When the Graduate School celebrated its 100th Anniversary in 2004, we commissioned a doctoral student in the history department to research and narrate the history of graduate education at UNC-Chapel Hill. What quickly became evident was the significant impact that private philanthropy has had on the excellence of graduate education. William Rand Kenan, John Motley Morehead III, Mary Lilly Kenan Flagler Bingham and many others have created lasting endowments that have forever changed Carolina, making it one of the top universities in the country. In light of another milestone, it is important to recognize that philanthropy like that continues today, helping to create new legacies with similar longstanding significance.

This year marked the 10-year anniversary of the establishment of the Royster Society of Fellows — an occasion the Graduate School celebrated with Dr. Thomas and Mrs. Caroline Royster along with many of the graduate students who have benefited from their generosity over the years. While the event gave many former and current fellows the chance to reflect on what a difference contributions such as these make in the students’ lives, it also gave all of us a chance to reflect on what a difference private donors have made for graduate education.

With generous contributions from private donors, the Graduate School has been able to turn an idea of attracting the best scholars to Carolina into fully formed, fully funded fellowship programs. The number of national universities that now look to Carolina in the hopes of emulating our programmatic success is constantly growing.

Together with private donors, the Graduate School has created a partnership that improves the quality of the University as it also improves the lives of graduate students. As it has throughout the history of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, private philanthropy continues to make a lasting mark.

-Linda Dykstra

© 2007, The Graduate School, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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