News Release

UNC acquires first European property,
expands exchange program in London

By DEE REID
College of Arts and Sciences

CHAPEL HILL — The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will significantly expand its international curriculum and its presence in Europe with two new developments in London: the establishment of a multi-level exchange program with prestigious King’s College London and the purchase of the first UNC-owned facility on the continent.

Dr. Bernadette Gray-Little, dean of UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences, was in London recently to visit the college’s new European Study Center in Winston House on historic Bedford Square, the last remaining complete Georgian garden square in the city.

Gray-Little also met with officials of King’s College London, part of the University of London and one of the most distinguished research and teaching institutions in the United Kingdom. She worked to finalize an agreement that expands the UNC-King’s College undergraduate exchange program to include graduate students and faculty.

"The European Study Center in Winston House will provide an outstanding base for our Honors Program in London, as well as for other programs from across the university and all UNC faculty, students and alumni who are studying, working or traveling in Europe," said Gray-Little. "The exchange with King’s College will vastly expand the faculty, course offerings and research opportunities available for undergraduates, graduate students and faculty at both King’s College and Carolina.

"Taken together, these exciting initiatives confirm our commitment to provide the facilities, programs and institutional partnerships necessary for an exceptional global education responsive to the needs of the 21^st century."

The 4,400 square-foot European Study Center in Winston House will serve faculty, students and alumni from across the university. Alumni will be welcome at the center for enrichment activities and meetings. Faculty and graduate students will hold academic conferences there with European colleagues; state-of-the-art instructional technology will link classes in Chapel Hill, London and other locations across the European continent.

The $5 million facility, which was purchased in September, is being financed with private funds. More than $3.2 million has been raised so far, including a $1 million gift from 1955 UNC graduate James H. Winston of Jacksonville, Fla., to name the facility in honor of the Winston family.

Beginning with Patrick Henry Winston in 1844, six generations of Winstons have been Carolina students and leaders. George Tayloe Winston was president of the university from 1891 to 1895, a period of growth when the faculty doubled in size and the student body nearly tripled.

Robert Watson Winston, who graduated in 1879, was an attorney, judge, historian and author who wrote extensively on national and international affairs. James Horner Winston of the class of 1904 was the first Carolina student to win the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford University in Great Britain.

A fund-raising campaign for Winston House is being led by UNC’s Honors Advisory Board, chaired by 1968 graduate Peter Grauer, and the Carolina First European Campaign Committee, co-chaired by graduates Lucia Halpern (1985) and Peter Mallinson (1981, M.B.A. in 1983).

Gifts will count toward the university's Carolina First Campaign goal of

$2 billion. Carolina First is a comprehensive, multi-year, private fund-raising campaign to support Carolina's vision of becoming the nation's leading public university.

UNC-Chapel Hill undergraduates have studied abroad at King’s College since 2002. The two universities began a formal exchange program for undergraduates in 2004.

What’s unusual about the expanded program is that it provides opportunities to undergraduate and graduate students and to faculty. This will be especially attractive to graduate students at both institutions who will benefit from having distinguished faculty advisers in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

Like UNC, King’s College is noted for outstanding academic programs in the humanities and social sciences. The expanded exchange will be open to students and faculty in classics, comparative literature, English, American studies, geography, history, religious studies and the curriculum in peace, war and defense.

UNC students and faculty will have access to classes and library facilities on the central London campus of King’s College as well as the British Library. Their King’s College counterparts will enjoy classes and facilities at Carolina as well as libraries and research facilities available through UNC’s consortium with other Research Triangle institutions.

UNC and Carolina officials plan to expand the exchange further so that students eventually will be able to graduate with a joint degree from both institutions.

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College of Arts & Sciences contact: Dee Reid, (919) 843-6339