256: Place story: Old Chapel Hill Cemetery

John Brooks gave UNC alumnus Robert Foushee his college wish: to be buried in the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery. Just a few weeks later, the town of Chapel Hill dug up Foushee's ashes.


While a student at UNC, Foushee was a senator of the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies. Because of his involvement in the organization, Foushee thought it appropriate that he be buried in the Philanthropic Society's plot in the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery.

The Philanthropic Society plot in the Old Chapel Hill cemetery.

But as any current senator will note, the Di and Phi plots are reserved for senators who die before graduation from the University, i.e., while still a student. The half-destroyed columns in the plots symbolize these students' lives being cut short. These columns were created in the style of a Masonic tradition, as the Masons greatly influenced the founding of the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies.


Last November, John Brooks, Foushee's legal adviser, contacted the president of the Societies, Emma Pham, regarding the possibility Foushee's burial in the Philanthropic society plot. Pham passed along the request to the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies Foundation, the legal owner of the Di and Phi cemetery plots.


The Foundation chose to deny Brooks's request, but that didn't stop him from depositing Foushee's cremated remains there one March night.


Brooks approached the Societies at a general meeting and informed the current senators that he had personally deposited Foushee's ashes in the Phi plot. After this meeting, the Societies contacted the Foundation, who informed Brooks he had 30 days to remove Foushee's ashes before further action was taken. The ashes were not removed.


Rather than taking legal action against Brooks, Michael Kolb, the president of the Foundation, contacted the Town of Chapel Hill, the legal owner of the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery as a whole. The Foundation and the town agreed that the Foundation would pay for Foushee's remains to be transferred to Memorial Grove, the columbarium section of the cemetery.


"Mr. Foushee, as a distinguished alumnus of the University, commands respect and dignity in the burial of his ashes, but his personal merit is not a consideration for the Foundation," said Kolb.

"There are many deceased alumni deserving of such an honor. In addition, Mr. Foushee did not request such a future honor while living and he was never promised a place. The cemetery plots are historical sites and, for all practical purposes, closed."

Brooks was not available for comment. According to Kolb, Brooks has refused contact with the Foundation on multiple occasions.

What makes the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery such a desirable burial ground?

Why would Brooks go to these seemingly extreme measures with Foushee's remains? What is it about the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery and the Di Phi plots that were so appealing to Foushee while he was alive? 

The answers to these questions date back to 1798, the year the graveyard was established.


A land grant to UNC by the state of North Carolina, the cemetery serves as a burial ground for students, UNC alumni and residents of Chapel Hill. Many distinguished alumni, whose names are recognizable by campus buildings like Venable or Robert House, are buried there. 


In 1922, the Town of Chapel Hill took responsibility for the care of the cemetery, but the University became the cemetery's owner in 1988. The cemetery currently spans over 6.98 acres of land and hosts more than 1600 burials.


Some of the cemetery's most distinguished and most visited residents include CBS newsman Charles Kuralt and Paul Green, author of the Pulitzer Prize winning play In Abraham's Bosom.


The appeal to students and alumni, then, is likely the same appeal that caused John Brooks to fulfill Foushee's wish. To be buried in the same place as legendary North Carolina figures lends a sense of importance and belonging to something bigger than one's class at the University.


But along with University history, the cemetery also reminds its visitors of the South's and the University's mistakes — it was racially segregated and separated by a rock wall until the late 1960s. The two sections (out of six burial sections in the cemetery) are still divided today. In addition, a number of prominent Confederate soldiers are buried within the cemetery.

For current UNC students, the cemetery is an outlet for learning about the university.


Most students and faculty in the UNC community as well as Chapel Hill residents don't know the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery exists, or they have passed by it without giving it much thought. But many students take interest in the graveyard and choose to learn more about the cemetery and the University's history as a whole.


Current senators of Di Phi are traditionally given their letters of acceptance to the Societies inside the plot of the society they've petitioned and are explained the significance of the cemetery to the University. As the owners of the first plots in the graveyard, Di Phi has a special place in the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery, and new senators are encouraged to visit and explore these plots after their admission.


Di Phi also holds a "graveyard poetry reading" night each semester where classic works of Edgar Allen Poe like The Raven are read among other poems by candlelight both in the gazebo and in the Di Phi plots.


Each Halloween, UNC students dress up and hide behind the graves as part of a special tour intended to teach their peers more about the cemetery. The Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies also hold a special ceremony on the night of Halloween and offer remembrance for Di Phi senators and UNC alumni who have died. This ceremony dates back to Edward Harrelson, Di Phi's Joint Senate Historian in 1990, and a copy of the procedure for this special meeting can be found on the Societies' website.


Other controversy in the cemetery's history


Vandalism has also been a common problem in the cemetery, especially for the African-American side of the cemetery's segregated section. Recent research indicates that the stone wall that segregates Sections A and B was built using grave markers of African-Americans buried in the cemetery. Several UNC graduate students in the anthropology department have taken it upon themselves to research these grave markers to find out more about the deceased N.C. residents whom these stones represent. The Town, though, is not currently in the midst of any projects to reinstate these stones as proper grave markers.

Additionally, more than 40 grave markers were broken and removed from their bases by unknown vandals in 1974. In the 1980s, avid Carolina sports fans used the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery as a parking lot to attend football games, destroying grave markers. Brooks's deposit of Foushee's ashes isn't the first controversy the cemetery has seen, and it's likely not the last.

The apple tree that replaced Foushee's ashes has been removed since this article was written.

Foushee's memory, however, won't be forgotten — an apple tree appeared in the Philanthropic society plot shortly after the removal of his ashes.

Though all of the burial plots in the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery have been purchased, there are still open spaces in Memorial Grove for anyone who wishes to be cremated and buried in the cemetery.

Visitors welcome! 

The Town of Chapel Hill offers guided tours of the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery every second Saturday of the month at 10:00 a.m. These tours depart from the gazebo and cost $5 to participate. The tour groups are composed primarily of students, though residents of Chapel Hill who are interested in learning more about the cemetery often choose to participate as well. 

For more information and to reserve your place on a tour, visit the Town of Chapel Hill's website or call (919) 942-7818.

The Old Chapel Hill Cemetery's gazebo is a common meeting place for gatherings at the cemetery.

Sources:
Michael Kolb, President, Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies Foundation

Emma Pham, Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies Joint Senate President, Fall 2011 semester 

Steve Burges, Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies Joint Senate Historian, Spring 2012 semester

Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies official website

Old Chapel Hill Cemetery official website

"Mysterious Grave at UNC," Buchanan, Bill, The News and Observer, August 14, 1949.

Dear 'Ringer,' please be cancelled

Thanks to Hulu's incessant advertising, I was suckered into watching the premiere season of 'Ringer' this year. It looked interesting enough, and the CW didn't have enough shows about the one percent, so naturally I had to see what the show was all about.

If you are fortunate enough to have never seen an episode of this show, allow me to explain. Ringer stars Sarah Michelle Gellar as a pair of twins — the technology isn't advanced enough to show both of them in the same shot, though — who have been estranged for more than five years.

The first sister, Siobhan Martin, lives a cushy life as a stay at home mom on the Upper East Side with a husband and stepdaughter whom she doesn't love. First world problems! The other sister, Bridget Kelly, is a stripper struggling to make ends meet in Wyoming. In the first episode, the two take a vacation on Martin's boat, where she fakes her own suicide and vanishes without a trace.

At the time of the vacation, Kelly is scheduled to testify for the murder of a fellow stripper but is afraid if she does she'll be murdered as well. So she takes Martin's ID and wallet and returns to New York, managing to convince Martin's family and friends that she is her sister. Through the entire season, she does not figure out that Martin is still alive.

As implausible as this plot may sound, it only gets worse from here. Kelly's AA sponsor follows her to New York and manages to get a job at Martin's husband's law firm. The head of the firm's European operations division is conveniently murdered when Kelly and Martin separately discover that the firm has been hosting an elaborate Ponzi scheme before their very eyes. Martin's best friend, who figured out that Kelly was posing as her sister, is conveniently murdered early in the season as well.

This isn't the first time the CW has used death to escape a complicated plot — on the current season of Gossip Girl, Blair Waldorf handily lost her pregnancy in a car crash when the writers needed to get her fiancee out of the picture. But in the last few episodes, the CW has taken the Gossip Girl similarities even farther, with a mother manipulating her daughter in order to gain access to her trust fund.

And that's still not the worst part. But let's back up and explore the background of this trust fund story.

Since about halfway through the season, Juliet Martin, the real Siobhan's stepdaughter, has become more and more of a prominent character. Perhaps the CW wants to appeal to a high school demographic, since Juliet is 16. The audience quickly learns that Juliet is a party girl who's been kicked out of almost every private school in New York.

When Juliet arrives at the local public school, she's instantly smitten with one of her teachers, an attractive young male named Mr. Carpenter. After she flirts with him during a detention session, an episode ends with her crying to a friend that Carpenter forced her to have sex with him.

A few episodes later, pseudo-Siobhan finds out that Juliet's been raped and punches Carpenter at a faculty dinner that luckily happens to be at the Martins' home. Shortly thereafter, Juliet's actual mother arrives at the Martin home, where they create a legal case against Carpenter.

After the episode in which the trial takes place, we see a conversation between Juliet and her mother and it becomes apparent that the mother teamed up with Carpenter to convince Juliet to "cry assault" so that her father will be forced to give Carpenter a settlement, which will be divided between him and the mother and another student whom they've convinced to lie about assault as well. This way, the mother will have a few million to live off while she waits for Juliet to come of age so that she can access her trust fund.

The CW prides itself on controversy, but a faux rape is tasteless even for this channel.

If Ringer's target audience is young women in high school and college, chances are good that many viewers will know someone who has been affected by sexual violence. And chances are also good that if that person had the courage to speak up about their experience, at least some of the people in their lives did not immediately believe them.

Sexual violence is an issue that should be taken seriously, because it can affect victims for the rest of their lives. The CW sets an awful example by showing an instance in which a young woman fakes an incident of rape. Many victims of sexual assault are accused of lying to get money or other rewards.

By showing a case in which someone is actually lying, Ringer subtly tells its viewers that it's reasonable to be skeptical when someone says they've been sexually assaulted. This is an awful message to send to anyone, especially young women whose friends may confide in them about instances in their lives.

Ringer has transformed from a semi-interesting thriller into an even worse than normal teen drama, and a show that promotes cynicism towards rape victims does not deserve to be on air.

256: Profile: Tim Longest

Tim Longest has great hair and a killer collection of Julian's bowties. 


He was president of UNC's Philanthropic Society. He held office as UNC's student congress clerk.


Oh, and he missed the Student Body President runoff by four votes.

When the results were released the night of Feb. 14, hundreds of students were shocked, Longest included.

Photo: Kaitlyn Knepp / The Daily Tar Heel

Backlash from many of Longest's supporters ensued. Some called for a re-vote because the Student Life voting platform wasn't working for graduate students. 

Others vilified write-in votes for joke candidates since the election proved that every vote mattered.

None of the complaints came from Longest's campaign, though. Longest said in multiple interviews that the Board of Election's decision was valid and should be respected.

Regardless of the election's results -- and his initial disappointment -- Longest won't shrink from public life on campus next year.

After the original results were released, Longest told his campaign team that the campaign was only the beginning.

Despite the growing Large Ham Sandwich movement of student apathy, Longest believes that student government is essential to the student body and that the election results don't change his attitude about Carolina.

Longest said his campaign message -- "reclaim community, refine student government and renew the Carolina Way" -- can be carried out better without his election to the office of SBP.

"I will continue to implement this platform, not as SBP or a member of Student Government, but as a Student Advocate, as someone who cares about the future of this University," Longest said. "The platform doesn't need an official position for me to fulfill it."

Longest doesn't plan to hold an official position in student government next year, but plans to be an advocate for the student body, a principle upon which his campaign was based. He currently sits on the student fee committee of Student Congress and will remain a member for the rest of the school year.

Photo: Mary-Alice Warren, student photographer.

Aside from student government, Longest will be participating in other on-campus activities, as well as improving his banjo playing skills. When asked about his extra time without the presidential campaign, Longest gave an honest response.

“I also study now, to catch up,” Longest laughed. 

“I didn’t do so well on some midterms, and I said to my professors, ‘This isn’t what I’m normally like, I swear!’”

Longest said that he’s open to running for office in the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies next semester, and attends the Societies' joint senate meetings each Monday night. A debate and literary society and the oldest student organization at UNC, Di Phi attracts students with interests similar to Longest’s, so he enjoys speaking with other senators about politics as well as outside interests.

Last year, Longest was the president of the Philanthropic society, and he currently sits as the chair of the Societies’ finance committee. He held finance committee meetings even while he was running his Student Body President campaign.

UNC junior Steve Burges was Dialectic president when Longest was Philanthropic president and said that Longest gives his all even when he’s over-committed. 

“This semester, he and I are the only members of the finance committee,” Burges said. 

“Tim is a really hard worker – he asked me to help him with it, but it’s really his leadership that got a workable budget done and allowed us to plan for our expenses even when no one else cared enough to do so.”

As an economics major and mathematics minor, not to mention a philosophy major as well, Longest is more than equipped to handle the Societies’ finances. And as the SBP election proved, he’s no stranger to efforts being met with apathy.

Longest also plans to remain involved with the Young Democrats and the Community Empowerment Fund, a micro-finance initiative that provides loans to help the homeless get back on their feet, next year.

His main goal next year will be to fight the tuition increases at UNC. "Budget conversations are happening in the next few weeks, so it's important to be thinking about now," 

Longest is also currently fighting against N.C. Amendment One, which recognizes only the union between a man and a woman as a legal marriage in North Carolina.

A junior from Greenville, N.C., Longest has a great appreciated for the University and for North Carolina and doesn't plan on leaving anytime soon. He'll apply to in-state law schools in the fall, but Longest is also open to taking time off after graduation. 

"Staying in Chapel Hill, or at least the Triangle, would be nice long-term," Longest said.


For now, Longest has more important things to worry about. He's going to the Florida Keys for spring break.