Villanova Vs. UNC: 4 Facts About Each School

Before meeting in the Final Four, here's how UNC and 'Nova match up on campus life

March 30, 2009 RSS Feed Print

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North Carolina celebrates their victory in the NCAA tournament South Regional championship game March 29, 2009. North Carolina beat Oklahoma 72-60.

Villanova University versus the University of North Carolina: a private, Roman Catholic college matching up against the nation's oldest public university in the semifinals of this year's NCAA men's basketball tournament. Before they head to the Final Four in Detroit, let's take a look at student life on their campuses in suburban Philadelphia and Chapel Hill, N.C., with four facts about each university.

Villanova University

1. Don't be surprised that East region No. 3 seed Villanova bounced the No. 1-seeded University of Pittsburgh. 'Nova tops U.S. News's overall academic rankings of the Big East conference.

2. Fraternity and sorority life is a pretty big deal at Villanova: Nearly 40 percent of the undergraduates join one of the Greek-letter organizations on campus.

3. Even if they don't walk away as the champs, Villanova students are still guaranteed a big party. The school ends each academic year with NovaFest, a weekend-long carnival and celebration.

4. Big campus legend: First-year students who kiss under the arch at Coor Hall are destined to get married in the university chapel, according to the Insider's Guide to the Colleges.

University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

1. Journalism and communications are the most popular fields of study on campus. While UNC still teaches the fundamentals of print journalism, the university offers courses in electronic media and public relations as well. Students produce a twice-weekly news show that is broadcast on cable.

2. Admission into UNC can be just as competitive as Tar Heel basketball. The university is swamped with applications: In the spring, about 500 prospective students arrive every day. And it's even tougher to get in for out-of-state students. North Carolina law limits out-of-state enrollment at UNC to about 18 percent of the student body.

3. When they're not cheering their team, students make their voices heard in "The Pit," the campus's main plaza for student assembly and activism.

4. Sports, both intercollegiate and intramural, are big at Carolina, of course. But so is community service. The university's most prominent service organization, Campus Y, has been around since 1859 and led the efforts on racial integration and fair wages for university employees.

Tags:: Villanova University,; NCAA,; college athletics,; basketball,; colleges,; sports,; University of North Carolina

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Technically the campus legend is that any students (not just first years) will get married if they kiss in the Corr arches. Getting married in the campus chapel is a whole 'nother thing too.
Also, that's not the big campus legend. The big legend is the Catacombs that supposedly exist below main campus. And it's true! Well, they aren't catacombs, but Villanova's main campus used to have a Grotto that was sealed off.

Brian of NJ 9:49PM April 01, 2009

I'd love to see 'Nova do it cause I live in the Delaware Valley and know Philadelphia does have a chance It would be nice to so a Philadelphia school go all the way Phillies have done it before the sixers have also Temple did it a while back Go 'Nova

david marshall of DE 8:27PM March 31, 2009