UNC to welcome Class of 2020, Roy Williams for belated commencement ceremony
UNC-Chapel Hill will welcome graduates of the Class of 2020 this weekend for a long-awaited in-person commencement ceremony, after their original send-off was delayed for more than a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Former Carolina basketball coach Roy Williams also will return to campus Sunday to deliver the commencement address to graduates at the Kenan Stadium ceremony.
Williams, also an alumnus, retired in April after spending 33 years coaching college basketball: 18 seasons at UNC, and 15 seasons at the University of Kansas before that.
The ceremony, occurring more than 16 months after it was originally scheduled, will bring back to campus the recently minted alumni, who are just beginning their professional lives.
Williams was announced in August as the keynote speaker for Sunday’s ceremony. In a release, the university said: “The Class of 2020 may hear a few dadgums of affection during its Commencement ceremony this fall.”
“Coach Williams is an inspiration on and off the court, and his love for Carolina is unmatched. I know he will provide sound wisdom and share his passion for Carolina with our graduates,” UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said at the time.
Williams graduated from UNC with a bachelor’s degree in education in 1972, and a master’s degree in teaching the following year. While at Carolina, he played on the freshmen basketball team and held multiple jobs, including serving as an intramural referee, to help pay for his education, according to the university.
As a sophomore, he asked then-head coach Dean Smith if he could sit in during practices and take notes. In 1978, Williams returned to UNC to serve as assistant coach under Smith — a position he held for 10 years. It was during that time that Williams helped recruit future NBA superstar Michael Jordan.
Over the course of his 18-year tenure as head coach at UNC, Williams led the Tar Heels to three NCAA championships in 2005, 2009 and 2017. In 2007, he was inducted into the Naismath Hall of Fame.
Less than two months before announcing his retirement, Williams became the fastest coach in NCAA history to win 900 games — only the fourth person to ever do so — when UNC defeated Florida State 78-70 on Feb. 24, 2021.
According to the university, this weekend’s belated ceremony for the Class of 2020 is the first known UNC-CH commencement to take place in October.
Sunday’s commencement is part of a three-day celebration that includes a traditional Bell Tower climb, a party welcoming graduates back to Franklin Street, and a tailgate for Saturday’s football game between Carolina and Florida State, during which the Class of 2020 will be recognized.
The ceremony on Sunday will start at 1 p.m., and will be live streamed. Information for how to watch the event will be available at commencement.unc.edu shortly before the ceremony begins.
Graduates will sit on the field and will be physically distanced, the university said in a release. UNC requires masks inside its buildings and recommends wearing them in outdoor spaces as well.
This story was originally published October 8, 2021 at 1:21 PM.
