Class of 1974 50th Reunion

Hello Fellow Tar Heels from the Class of 1974!

Please join us in Chapel Hill May 9-11, 2024 to celebrate our 50^th class reunion.

We are planning a fantastic weekend on campus to renew old friendships, develop new ones, reminisce and remember those years we spent here a half century ago. Can it really have been that long?

Our host hotel is the Sheraton Chapel Hill where we can reconnect with a 50^th Reunion Meet-n-Greet Reception on Thursday evening, May 9.

The weekend will feature numerous social events and enrichment sessions where you can meet and catch up with old friends culminating in a “Carolina Blue Bash” on Friday evening, May 10.

At 7 PM on Saturday evening, May 11, adorned in Carolina Blue graduation regalia, our class will join the graduation processional into Kenan Stadium.

Enrichment sessions will focus on such topics as

• A panel of current students and 1974 students comparing life at Carolina
• UNC athletics (Remember the Seventeen Seconds game?)
• The incredible collections at Wilson Library and the opportunity to add your Carolina story to the archives
• And more!

So, how can you help?

• First, and most importantly, come to the reunion– sign up and reach out to your friends and classmates and encourage them to attend.
• Share your memories with us via our class Facebook group.
• Create your page in our 50th Anniversary Digital Yackety Yack. Keep an eye out in the next few weeks for an email invitation to join our digital scrapbook where you can share your favorite Carolina memories and what you’ve been up to since graduation.
• We also invite you to become a Class of 1974 Reunion Patron. We are working hard to keep costs low and the weekend very affordable, and we would love your help to make that possible. A separate email and letter will go out explaining our fundraising goal, so be on the lookout for that.

We will frequently update this page with information about plans, social events, enrichment activities, lodging (blocks of rooms and rates), parking, etc., so watch this space for further details.

We hope you will join us to come home to Carolina in May – it’s going to be a blast. We can’t wait to see you! Go Tar Heels!

Your Steering Committee for the Class of ‘74 50^th Reunion,

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

Carolina Alumni has secured a few blocks of rooms at area hotels in order to assist you in finding lodging for the weekend of the 50th Reunion. Information about these room blocks is below:

Sheraton Chapel Hill – 50th Reunion Host Hotel
One Europa Drive, Chapel Hill, NC
Name of event: Class of 1974 50th Reunion
Reference number: M-QW68I2E
Dates: Thursday 5/9 – Sunday 5/12
Traditional 1 King bed non-smoking, $429 per night (2 night minimum booking)
Reservations can be made by calling Marriott reservations at (919)996-8490 ext. 0 or by clicking the link here: Book your room for the Class of ’74 Reunion
Reserve by Friday, April 5, 2024

Residence Inn Chapel Hill
101 Erwin Road, Chapel Hill, NC
Name of event: UNC Alumni 50th Reunion
Dates: Wednesday 5/8 – Saturday 5/11
Studio King suites and One Bedroom Double Queen Suites, $409 per night (2 night minimum booking)
Reservations can be made by clicking this link: Book your room at the Residence Inn Chapel Hill
Reserve by March 25, 2024

Give Online Now

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