[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 55 (Friday, March 24, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E689]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


 TRIBUTE TO DIALECTIC AND PHILANTHROPIC SOCIETIES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF 
                             NORTH CAROLINA

                                 ______


                        HON. W.G. (BILL) HEFNER

                           of north carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, March 24, 1995
  Mr. HEFNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to note the 200th anniversary of the 
Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies of the University of North 
Carolina. These organizations, founded by the university's earliest 
students, were established to promote useful knowledge and the 
cultivation of lasting friendships. From their ranks have come such 
great Americans as President James K. Polk, Senator Samuel J. Ervin, 
Jr., novelist Thomas Wolfe and the distinguished former Representative 
from North Carolina, David Price.
  It has been said that the history of the Dialectic and Philanthropic 
Societies is the history of the university. They are the oldest student 
organizations of the Nation's oldest public university. The societies 
claim the creation of the UNC's newspaper, yearbook and magazine, and 
giving the university its famous colors, blue and white.
  The vision of these organizations can be seen most clearly in their 
first transaction; the purchase of books. These individual collections 
eventually resulted in the endowment of the university's library. The 
societies also began collecting portraits of their distinguished alumni 
and those representing their ideals. That collection is now the largest 
privately owned portrait collection in North Carolina.
  It is entirely appropriate, Mr. Speaker, to pay tribute to these two 
societies whose innumerable contributions to the development of the 
University of North Carolina, cultivation of state and national leaders 
and steadfast commitment to noble objectives have guaranteed their 
honored place in North Carolina history.


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