UNC Chancellor: How rivalries like ours with Duke make NC better

There are plenty of reasons that Carolina vs. Duke is the greatest rivalry in American sports. The epic history, the legendary coaches, the talented players, and the fact that only nine miles separate Cameron Indoor Stadium from the Dean Smith Center all combine to make every meeting between the Tar Heels and the Blue Devils a match-up to remember.

It’s also a lesson in how brilliant competition can be a gift to everyone. North Carolina is a better and richer place because of the match-up happening Saturday night, offering a reminder of everything I love about sports.

First, sports build community. I have no idea how many strangers I’ve high-fived over the years after watching a ridiculous dunk, a brilliant goal, or a long touchdown pass, but I know it’s a lot. In that moment, those people aren’t strangers anymore because we’ve found a way to connect.

That matters when you want to bring together a diverse community of students, scholars and supporters from all over the state. It matters when the people of North Carolina feel a sense of belonging and investment in their University.

At its best, sports also build character. The close association between athletics and academics exists because being part of a team is all about discipline, focus and investing in long-range goals. It’s about taking risks, learning from your mistakes and believing in something bigger than yourself.

It’s about having the humility to know your role and collaborate with talented colleagues. Those skills are crucial on the court and vital beyond college, whether you’re starting a company or a family.

Finally, sports teach us how to compete without malice. You put your heart and soul into beating the other team, then you shake hands with genuine respect for a well-played game. Here, that means you greet your Duke colleagues with some tasteful gloating about the last game, then you get to work on your shared research project.

The Duke-Carolina rivalry inspires remarkable work just about every day in our state. Both universities compete to recruit the best researchers in the world to our classrooms and labs. We go head-to-head in the drive to cure diseases, protect the environment, launch new companies and grow new industries. We also partner to do the same.

North Carolina benefits from our two world-class institutions motivating each other to be better, aim higher — and work together. When U.S. News and World Report released rankings of graduate programs earlier this week, both Carolina and Duke took top spots nationally in public health, nursing, business, statistics, and other disciplines.

My own career as a researcher has been devoted to sport science, making it safer for athletes on the field and giving coaches and doctors better guidance on how to prevent and treat injuries. I was drawn to it not just because of the obvious benefits of safer competition, but because I believe in the power of sports to motivate, unite, to teach and bring joy.

I’ll be thinking about all of that on Saturday, but mostly cheering at the top of my lungs and exchanging high fives with people in Carolina blue. While the best team will win the game and advance to the National Championship game, we will all win because of all that sport and this epic rivalry offers us.

This story was originally published April 1, 2022 at 4:30 AM.