January

At an Employee Forum retreat, Chancellor James Moeser announced that in 2004 the number of C. Knox Massey Distinguished Service Awards would increase from four to six, while the money given with the award would increase from $5,000 to $6,000.

The powdery snow that fell on Jan. 25 became glazed with enough sleet to close the University on Jan. 26 under Condition III of the Adverse Weather Policy. The roads cleared enough the next day to return to Condition I, and the University re-opened at 11 a.m.

February

On Feb. 5, the Chancellor's Task Force for a Better Workplace issued a report detailing 34 measures ranging from healthy lunch alternatives to a community college program located on campus. All aimed to boost employee morale, which had suffered in the face of sparse pay raises and escalating health-care costs.

Nelson Ferebee Taylor, former Cary C. Boshamer professor of law and chancellor emeritus of the University, died Feb. 25. He was 83. Serving from 1972 to 1980, Taylor was the University's fifth chancellor. On Feb. 29, the day of his memorial service, the University rang the South Building bell five times to honor his place in Carolina history.

March

On March 26, geneticist Francis Collins spoke on personal excellence to mark the centennial celebration of the Order of the Golden Fleece, the University's oldest and highest honor society.

The Institute of Medicine identified the University's School of Medicine as one of four model programs nationwide for improvements in the education of medical students in behavioral and social sciences.

The UNC Board of Governors on March 19 approve a proposal, later adopted by the state legislature, to increase undergraduate tuition at Carolina and N.C. State University by $250 and by $225 at all other member institutions.

April

On April 21, the University celebrated the groundbreaking for a state-of-the-art, $250 million Carolina Physical Science Complex that is expected to usher in a new era of research and discovery benefiting North Carolina, the nation and the world.

May

On May 9, Julius L. Chambers, a pioneering civil rights attorney, director of UNC's Center for Civil Rights and chancellor emeritus of N.C. Central University, gave the spring commencement address titled "Fifty Years After Brown: The Biggest Challenge Is Yet to Come." "I sincerely believe in a colorblind society," Chambers said. "Like Dr. King, I believe that we must treat all people with the same respect and accord them equal treatment and opportunities. I believe we must move beyond historically black and historically white institutions to racially inclusive institutions. I believe that even the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill must be colorblind."

June

Moeser launched the "Carolina Connects" tour, his new initiative to strengthen the connections between the University and the lives of North Carolinians and their communities. Through the tour, Moeser traveled around the state through the summer to highlight the many ways in which the University serves the communities and people of North Carolina.

July

A Department of Defense appropriation bill included $1.8 million in funding for a new National Demonstration Program for Citizen-Soldier Support. The University was named to spearhead the collaborative program, which is design ed to serve the families of National Guard and Reserve personnel deployed in unprecedented numbers and terms of duty as a result of the war in Iraq.

The University received $190 million in gifts and private grants during fiscal year 2004 --the largest amount received in a single year in the University's history. The fiscal year ended with a total of $1.27 billion raised as part of the Carolina First campaign. Begun on July 1, 1999, the campaign seeks to raise $1.8 billion by June 30, 2007.

August

The Sonja Haynes Stone Center was dedicated Aug. 21 before more than 500 guests. The center contains a 360-seat theater, a dance studio, a multipurpose room, an art gallery and museum, two classrooms, two seminar rooms and a library, but it also captures the spirit of a wonderful teacher and mentor, Moeser said. Stone came to the University in 1974 as director of the Curriculum of African-American studies and advocated for a center for much of her tenure. She died in 1991.

Some 250 strong, the inaugural class of Carolina Covenant students arrived with other freshmen and returning students to pursue their college education debt-free at the University. The Carolina Covenant makes a Chapel Hill degree possible for academically qualified low-income students. After Carolina became the first major U.S. university to announce plans for such a program in October 2003, several public and private campuses, including Harvard University, the University of Virginia and the University of Maryland, adopted similar programs.

September

Charlotte Williams, events coordinator at the Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence, received the highest honor a state employee can receive, the State Employees' Award for Excellence. She received the honor after donating one of her kidneys to a lifelong friend she knew from her church in Durham.

In his Sept. 29 State of the University speech, Moeser announced the expansion of the Carolina Covenant to cover students at 200 percent of poverty level. "Our university is leading a true movement in American higher education," he said. "We hope our leadership in establishing the Carolina Covenant, and our increased commitment to the covenant today, will challenge other universities to make similar investments to ensure affordability and access for deserving students."

October

On Oct. 6, five members of the Tar Heels' 1957 NCAA championship team took part in a ceremony to rededicate Woollen Gym after a three-month renovation process. The 1957 team played its home games in Woollen during its championship season. "If rivers have a soul, gymnasiums have a spirit," said keynote speaker Ron Hyatt. "If you listen carefully, you can hear the footsteps of giants."

On Oct. 9, the Tar Heels football team hung on to beat N.C. State 30-24 after Carolina's much-maligned defense stopped T.A. McLendon inches short of the end zone with 6 seconds left. After a lopsided loss to Utah the following week, the team rebounded with a 31-28 upset of the fourth-ranked Miami Hurricanes on Oct. 30 when Connor Barth booted a 42-yard field goal on the final play of the game.

November

On Nov. 12, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the Global Education Center that will encompass 80,000 square feet at the corner of South Columbia and Pittsboro streets. That same month, the University was one of five higher education institutions to receive the first Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization from the Association of International Educators.

December

The University filled two positions to staff a new ombuds office, which was the top recommendation of the Chancellor's Task Force for a Better Workplace report earlier this year. Wayne A. Blair, who served as the ombuds officer at Columbia University since 2002, was named to hold the full-time, non-faculty position. Laurie Mesibov, a longtime professor in the University's School of Government, was named to serve as the half-time faculty ombudsperson.

On Dec. 30, the Tar Heels' football team fell to Boston College in the Continental Tire Bowl in Charlotte. The game marked the team's first bowl game appearance since 2001.