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We are the light on the hill

Posted on October 16, 2008 by Staff

Holden Thorp takes the oath of office at his installation as chancellor. Assoc. Justice Timmons-Goodston (center) swears him in.Editor’s note: The following are the closing remarks from UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp’s address following his installation on Oct. 12.

. . . Our motto is light and liberty. And that light has shined brightly throughout our history. It shined brightly when our founders invented public higher education. It shined brightly when Hinton James attended his first class. It shined brightly when Kenan, Morehead, and Venable ignited the industrial revolution. It shined brightly when we integrated and when we admitted women. And it shined brightly when we redefined access with the Carolina Covenant. …

But think how much more brightly our light will shine when our students, faculty, staff, and alumni deepen our collective commitment to the community that is our campus and town, the university system to which we proudly belong, the state that feeds and nurtures us, the nation and world we seek to strengthen, and the love we have for each other and this hallowed place.

This little light has just begun to shine.

We’ll let it shine in our classrooms when we embrace new ideas, describe the human condition, and pursue the truth. We’ll let it shine in our hospitals and our laboratories when we care for and cure the people of North Carolina and beyond. We’ll let it shine on our coast where rising waters threaten our state. We’ll let it shine in the streets of our cities and here in our community. And we’ll let it shine in the hearts and minds of the best students, the best faculty, the best staff, and the best alumni in the world.

People of Carolina, we are the light . . . on the hill.

Let it shine.

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