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We Are Family

My parents had five sons in eight years, and we seemed to do everything together. We had only two bedrooms when the youngest of my four younger brothers was born, and all five of us were in two bunk beds with a crib in between. During the two and a half years that Dad was stationed in Germany, we traveled across Europe in a ’57 Ford Ranch Wagon and often spent the night in the car. Mom was fond of reminding everyone that “I’m not running a cafeteria … dinner will be at 6 p.m. … be there or be hungry.” Dad insisted that if any one of his five sons should find himself in a fight, the most immediate older brother was to go to his rescue, and if the two of them needed additional help, the rest of us were to assist. Of course, Dad also said “stay out of trouble” and “remember, you have such an unusual last name that there isn’t much likelihood you’ll be mistaken for someone else.”

GAA President Doug Dibbert ’70

Douglas S. Dibbert ’70

The past couple of years have been difficult ones for our Carolina family, and not all of our family members have stepped up to defend or assist our alma mater. Please don’t misunderstand. There have been some news reports about Carolina that should shock, embarrass, disappoint and make all Carolina alumni angry. However, we must not allow others to define us — particularly when we have nearly 220 years of history for which we can be justifiably proud.

The faculty, through their discovery and teaching, earn Carolina’s reputation for excellence. Faculty carry out their work on a foundation of assumed trust — trust for their academic colleagues and for their students. When that trust is violated, that foundation is called into question. As the result of what we have recently learned about the actions of a few, must all faculty now assume they should no longer take for granted that they can trust their colleagues? Let’s hope not.

We come to Carolina to earn an education, an education that will prepare us to lead productive and meaningful personal and professional lives. Along the way, we learn much about ourselves. We develop friendships that will last a lifetime. And many of us become emotionally committed to Carolina athletics. But not all fans are alumni, and not all alumni are fans. Regardless of our passion for Carolina athletics, we understand that the value of our diploma is always more important than the rankings of our favorite Carolina sports.

If Carolina were a stock, traded on the open market, it would clearly remain a “buy.” For the first time, UNC has moved into the top 10 in federal research funding. We had a record 29,507 applications for 4,000 spaces in our freshman class, and those who entered in the fall were the most academically gifted in Carolina’s history. Alumni and friends of Carolina affirmed their support with the second-highest year of private giving ever — just behind the final year of the Carolina First Campaign. And, reversing a recent trend, last year Carolina retained more than two-thirds of the faculty who received offers from other universities. Kiplinger’sagain rated our campus the “Best Buy” in higher education, and U.S. News & World Report again rated Carolina the fifth-best public research university.

Despite our disappointments, it is time for the Carolina family to move forward — together. The very few who have lashed out and even threatened to withhold their support until what they want personally is done do not truly understand Carolina, the institution that the rest of us have long admired and of which we remain so proud. We understand that continuing to produce graduates who earn Rhodes Scholarships and faculty who earn membership in the national academies and occasionally compete for or earn a Nobel Prize will remain more important than producing first-round draft selections.

Your General Alumni Association has long believed that our mission is to inform and involve Carolina’s former students with each other and with our University. We provide you information and actively encourage you to participate with faculty, students and staff in the University community as an equal member of the Carolina family. We do not believe that all of Carolina’s 291,000-plus living alumni think alike, nor do we think that all alumni should think alike. But we do believe that all alumni should be informed and involved. That is what families do — together.

Yours at Carolina,

Doug signature

 

 

 

 

Douglas S. Dibbert ’70

doug_dibbert@unc.edu

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