Back to School

ORANGE SLICES

By Laurie Paolicelli
Guest Columnist

UNC students are back!

Those who live or work in Chapel Hill know that summer vacation for the university is a summer vacation for the town, too: more parking, no waiting in line at restaurants, traffic is a breeze, and some neighborhoods, after months of being subjected to youthful frivolity, are treated to a heavenly silence. That’s what happens when half your population departs.

But something magical happens when the students return. Energy is abundant, and we realize that maybe things have been too quiet. There’s more laughter. The 5K’s and relays start. And yes, finding a seat at Open Eye Café, or wherever you get your coffee fix, can be challenging — but townies have had years to perfect a stoic patience.

UNC-Chapel Hill Campus

The 2025-26 academic year at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill begins with move-in days from Aug. 13 through Aug. 17, as thousands of students — many for the first time — arrive on campus to begin their Tar Heel journey. Classes and fall semester officially begin on Monday, Aug. 18, 2025.

In Fall 2024, the University enrolled 32,438 students, a mix of undergraduate, graduate and professional scholars. Including transfer students, Carolina will welcome over 6,000 new students to campus this fall — marking the largest first-year class in its history.

Move in weekend takes place next week for the 2026 school year.

98 North Carolina counties are represented, along with 49 states, Washington, D.C., Guam and 80 countries around the world. Chancellor Lee H. Roberts, appointed in 2024, is leading the University into the new academic year with a continued focus on access, affordability and innovation.

Downtown Chapel Hill businesses, along with their neighbors in Carrboro, have long partnered with the University to ensure a welcoming experience for all. From early morning coffee shops to late-night snack stops, the towns are well prepared to support the energy and excitement of move-in week. New students and their families will be welcomed not only by staff and fellow students but also by the broader Chapel Hill community.

Local Visitors Bureau staff at 308 W. Franklin Street will be on hand throughout the move-in period to provide directions, share dining recommendations, and answer questions. The UNC Visitors Center, located at 134 E. Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. https://www.unc.edu/visitors

Chancellor Lee Roberts talking with a student. Photo by Jon Gardiner UNC-Chapel Hill.

Students explore the towns, eventually finding their favorite spots. The Carolina Coffee Shop, for instance, Gray Squirrel Coffee, Purple Bowl acai bowls and Brandwein’s bagels — all beloved for their walkable locations and student-friendly vibes.

Visiting families love to walk down historic Franklin Street, the heart of Chapel Hill’s college-town charm, wandering over to Weaver Street Market in Carrboro, where lawn concerts and open-air dining are popular. Parents might visit the Carolina Basketball Museum, or the North Carolina Botanical Garden. Fridays on the Front Porch at the Carolina Inn, a weekly event featuring live music, food trucks, and a chance to take in all the beauty.

Franklin Street, Chapel Hill

On Aug. 17, the women’s soccer team will kick off its national championship events on campus. That same day, the New Student Convocation — an annual tradition that celebrates the beginning of students’ on-campus Carolina experience — will be held at the Dean E. Smith Center. Tyler Hansbrough ’09, one of the most celebrated Carolina basketball players of all time, will serve as the keynote speaker. The Bell Tower will be lit Carolina Blue at 9 p.m. beautifully marking the beginning of the new academic year.

Football season opens Sept. 1 against TCU in a nationally televised, prime-time game at Kenan Stadium. The matchup marks the 98th season of Tar Heel football and the first game for head coach Bill Belichick.

Students are arriving now to prepare for the new school year.

As the first lecture halls fill with eager faces and notebooks crack open to fresh pages, the campus hums with more than just resumed activity — it vibrates with the quiet electricity of dreams taking shape. In coffee shops and dormitory lounges, over late-night study sessions and early morning walks to class, thousands of young minds are already imagining the problems they’ll solve, the communities they’ll serve, the discoveries they’ll make.

The sleepy towns awaken, pulsing with life. In this place where knowledge meets possibility, the academic year stretches ahead like an unwritten story, and the whole world seems to be waiting for that story to begin, to see what these dreamers will dare to achieve.

Stan Wilson and Miracle King enjoy the energy of a college town like Chapel Hill.

Share your thoughts with me here,

Laurie Paolicelli

Disclaimer: Published by Orange County’s Tourism Department through its Public Relations team, this story includes interviews and repurposed content from websites and partner press releases. For more, visit www.visitchapelhill.org or contact Laurie Paolicelli.

Laurie Paolicelli is executive director for the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau, a position she has held since 2005. Laurie has worked in tourism and marketing for twenty-five years, having served in leadership roles in Houston and California convention and visitor bureaus. She is a native of the Twin Ports of Duluth, MN/Superior Wisconsin. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Communications from the University Wisconsin-Superior and graduate certification in Technology In Marketing from the UNC-Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media. This reporter can be reached at Information@TheLocalReporter.press