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Carolina in our minds

Celebrating your success

Class of 2020, you did it! While Commencement festivities on campus have been postponed, your achievements are worth celebrating this week and beyond. After years of hard work, late nights and a lot of determination, you are now Carolina alumni. Congratulations!

Numbers as of April 29, 2020

  • 4,053undergraduates
  • 2,350graduate students
  • 585professional students
  • 27certificate students
  • 755first-generation students
  • 516Covenant Scholars

 You will always be a Tar Heel. Hold on to what binds you to Carolina: your fellow students, your amazing faculty, and your memories of this place.

Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz

Watch the chancellor’s full message to the graduates

Kevin Guskiewicz

Now, more than ever, North Carolina needs you. America needs you. We need your determination. We need your optimism. We need your big brains. We need your big hearts.

Frank Bruni
New York Times columnist and 2020 Commencement speaker

Watch Bruni’s full message to the Class of 2020

Frank Bruni

A virtual celebration

Instead of turning their tassels in Kenan Stadium on May 10, the Class of 2020 went to Carolina in their minds for what would have been graduation day as the campus remains closed to non-essential business in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

A celebration video watch party on UNC-Chapel Hill’s social media channels on May 10 created an opportunity to recognize the achievements of our nearly 7,000 graduating students and to show the Class of 2020 that the Tar Heel community is supporting them.

The viewing party won’t be the last celebration. Plans are in the works to host the Class of 2020 back on campus for a postponed in-person ceremony.

Press the play buttons to watch more

    Family and friends congratulate the graduates
    Provost Bob Blouin and Interim Chair of the Faculty Lloyd Kramer address the Class of 2020
    Senior class officers celebrate with their fellow Tar Heels

Congrats Class of 2020

  • The Bell Tower in spring.

    What binds us to this place?

    As Charles Kuralt said 27 years ago, Carolina is more than just the Bell and the Well. While our iconic structures and the campus life bring a special energy to the University, it's the people — the Tar Heels — who make us great. Our seniors are a big part of that.

  • A screenshot of a zoom call where students sing together.

    Hark the sound

    Each year, Commencement closes with graduates linking arms and singing along as Carolina’s Harmonyx a cappella group sings "Hark the Sound." In lieu of this time-honored tradition, Harmonyx recorded a performance of the University’s alma mater.

  • Carolina alumni pose at the 2017 Black Alumni Reunion.

    Welcome to the alumni family

    This week, our graduates become part of the more than 336,000-member Carolina alumni family. Watch as some of our alumni and campus community members welcome graduates to the next chapter of their Tar Heel experience.

  • A screenshot of a zoom call where students sing together with

    Continuing a tradition

    Listen as the Clef Hangers continue a Commencement tradition and virtually perform its rendition of James Taylor's "Carolina in My Mind."

Meet the graduates

Our graduates have excelled in the classroom, conducted research, launched companies, won national championships, served the state of North Carolina and left their heelprint on our University. Now they'll become leaders in their fields and their communities. They are ready to take on the biggest issues in the state, country and world.

Click on a photo to meet one of our graduates

Join the celebration on social media