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This online form will allow you to select your favorite tune from our list.
Remember the Thrill
We were thrilled and inspired (and maybe a little terrified!) on graduation day, 1974. Bolstered by a good education and exciting friendships, we were eager to make a difference in the world.
Remember what our world was like then?
- Entertaining movies – Blazing Saddles, Great Gatsby, The Towering Inferno, and of course, cinematic successors to The Godfather and James Bond.
- Popular books that became movies – Jaws, Carrie, Helter Skelter, All the President’s Men, The Exorcist, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
- Inventive (and our OWN) fashion – Afros, shag haircuts, bell bottoms, halter tops, platform shoes and boots
- Momentous world events – Viet Nam, lines at the gas pumps, Watergate and Nixon’s resignation, Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs’ tennis match, NASA and Skylab
- Events on campus – Beat Duke parades, the Big Streak and the legendary 17-seconds game
- And best of all, the music – Rod Stewart, Stevie Wonder, The Who, Bee Gees, James Taylor, John Denver and so many more.
After 50 years apart, let’s come back together on campus May 9-11, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of our graduation in 1974.
Help Us Reach Our Goals
We have a truly fun-filled weekend planned that will include: Thursday Meet and Greet Reception, Friday night Carolina Blue Bash, and several enrichment sessions, lunches and our Commencement processional with the class of 2024. We have a goal to set the reunion registration fee at $74 per person (in honor of 1974). To help keep this price, we invite you to become a Class of 1974 50th Reunion Patron.
While contribution amounts will be confidential, all patrons will be listed alphabetically on reunion signage, our website and social media unless otherwise requested. If your gift exceeds the amounts listed below, you will receive special recognition as a Beat Wake, Beat State or Beat Duke patron.
Beat Wake Patron – gifts $1,000 and above
Beat State Patron – gifts $1,974 and above
Beat Duke Patron – gifts $2,500 and above
We welcome patron gifts of any amount. While gifts will be accepted through reunion weekend, it would be helpful to have your gift by March 10.
So, We’re Having a Contest
To celebrate the awesome music of our generation, we are listing the top 10 songs of 1974. Pick your favorite and “vote” by making a donation. The song that raises the most patron funds will be crowned the “Song of ’74” and will be used as our processional song for Commencement 2024.
Song of ’74 contenders:
“Come and Get Your Love” by Redbone, “Mighty Love” by The Spinners, “Takin’ Care of Business” by Bachman-Turner Overdrive, “Waterloo” by ABBA, “Free Ride” by Edgar Winter Group, “The Loco-Motion” by Grand Funk Railroad, “Bennie and the Jets” by Elton John, “Hooked on a Feeling” by Blue Swede, “Midnight Train to Georgia” by Gladys Knight & The Pips and “Let’s Get it On” by Marvin Gaye
You can make your donation in any of the following ways:
1. Give online at the link above. The online form will allow you to select your favorite tune from our list.
2. Return a check. Checks should be made payable to UNC General Alumni Association with the memo “Class of 1974 50th Reunion”. Be sure to include a note with your song choice in your mailing.
Carolina Alumni is a 501c3 tax-exempt organization (EIN# 56-6000469) which makes your gift tax deductible. However, we encourage you to consult with your tax advisor to determine how your gift may affect your tax situation.
Go Tar Heels! Let’s remember the thrill.
Your UNC Class of 1974 Reunion Planning Committee,
Delton Atkinson
Maxine Brown-Davis
Warren Carson
Dave Gephart
Ida Dew Hickerson
Freddie Kiger
Timothy Lamb
Richard Letchworth
Martha Ann Moser McDonald
Sharon McLeod
Susie Gooden Prevette