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Follow along the Tar Heel Bus Tour

Heels on
the bus

After Hurricane Helene postponed the Tar Heel Bus Tour last October, Carolina faculty and administrators split up on two buses (East and West) and hit the road May 14-16. The tour gave Tar Heels a chance to learn about the places students call home, explore UNC-Chapel Hill’s work and partnerships across the state and experience North Carolina’s cultures and geographies.

Come aboard for 10 of the tour’s stops and read insights from attendees.

  • 1997First Tar Heel Bus Tour held.
  • 1,200+miles covered between the two routes (25 total stops across 19 counties) in 2025.
  • 60+Carolina attendees (2025)
Google Earth map of the Tar Heel Bus Tour stops spread across North Carolina with Old Well logo atop Chapel Hill to represent UNC-Chapel Hill.
Two-photo collage: UNC School of Nursing faculty standing near sign advertising a mobile health clinic; and Bus Tour attendees walking by fresh produce at a food pantry.

UNC School of Nursing Mobile Health Clinic at CORA Food Pantry 🚍

The CORA Food Pantry provides nutritious food to the Chatham County community, from families to students and older adults. The pantry is supported by community and government partners and also partners with the UNC School of Nursing’s Mobile Health Clinic to create a weekly clinic at CORA, increasing health care accessibility and strengthening community engagement in Chatham County.
Kathleen Colville sitting down and intently listening to a speaker.

In their words

“I think I came back with a set of sprouts of ideas. Some of them won’t grow into anything. Some of them will be a phone call, and that’s the end of it, right? But what are some of the things that might grow into larger ways that we can work together?”
Two-photo collage: Volunteer speaking to Bus Tour attendees in a warehouse; and volunteer transporting boxes inside a warehouse.

Helene Multi-Agency Warehouse🚍

Established following Hurricane Helene, the Multi-Agency Warehouse receives, organizes and stores donations intended to support disaster relief efforts in western North Carolina. The Warehouse is operated by several teams, including North Carolina Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster and North Carolina Emergency Management. Volunteers are also crucial to the operation, and several from UNC-Chapel Hill have volunteered.
Two-photo collage: Four Bus Tour attendees chatting while painting; and a Bus Tour attendee holding up a painting he made of the Tar Heel Bus Tour logo and bus.

Pocosin Arts School of Fine Craft🚍

Located in what was voted the third most arts-vibrant rural community in the U.S., the Pocosin Arts School of Fine Craft makes art accessible to people of all ages in many ways, including multi-day workshops, artist residencies and free youth programs. The school also partners with Tyrell County Schools to help develop students’ skills in metalsmithing, ceramics and woodworking.
Brewery owner speaking to seated Bus Tour attendees in his brewery.

Helene impacts on western N.C. — French Broad River Brewery🚍

In western North Carolina, tour attendees had opportunities to learn about the continued impacts of Hurricane Helene. The group met with Paul Casey, owner of French Broad River Brewery, to hear about the effect the hurricane has had on the community and small businesses, including his own. A day later, attendees heard more about disaster recovery from a local government perspective in Cullowhee at the Local Government Training program, a collaboration between the UNC School of Government and Western Carolina University.
Ni-Eric Perkins signing his name on the Tar Heel Bus Tour logo on the side of the bus.

In their words

“The University’s mission in a broad sense is to serve the people, the state of North Carolina and enhance the quality life in as many communities as possible. This bus tour experience has allowed me to see that firsthand. It’s something that I won’t forget in all my years of working at UNC.”
Two-photo collage: Bus Tour attendees near sign reading

The Lost Colony Theatre🚍

“The Lost Colony,” originally written by Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Green — a 1921 Carolina graduate — has played every summer since 1937 except during World War II and 2020. Andy Griffith ’49 once performed in it. The outdoor drama won a Tony Award for theatrical excellence in 2013, and its story is taught in North Carolina public schools in the fourth grade.
Two-photo collage: Hands holding a Cherokee language book; and Bus Tour attendee checking out Cherokee art.

New Kituwah Academy/Qualla Arts and Crafts Co-op Mutual🚍

The Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians is the largest federally recognized Indian tribe east of the Mississippi River and one of three federally recognized Cherokee tribes. Tour attendees learned about the Cherokee language through the Kituwah Preservation and Education Program and checked out Cherokee products, including baskets, jewelry and carvings, at the Qualla Arts and Crafts Co-op Mutual.
Two-photo collage: Bus Tour attendee holding a drone; and large bird landing atop a chimney.

Pine Island Audubon Sanctuary🚍

The Pine Island Audobon Sanctuary preserves 2,600 acres of marsh, maritime forest and beaches. It also serves as a site for collaboration between UNC-Chapel Hill (specifically the Carolina Drone Lab) and Elizabeth City State University on a project funded by the North Carolina Collaboratory. Using drones, the project aims to preserve marshes that provide flood protection and prevent erosion along the Currituck Sound.
A man speaking to Tar Heel Bus Tour attendees aboard a boat.

In their words

“It was really fascinating for me to see that our University, based here in beautiful Chapel Hill, has far-reaching impacts across the entire state — all the way out to the Outer Banks and the Atlantic Ocean.”
Two-photo collage: Bus Tour attendee in hallway of Mobile Dental Clinic near painting saying

Dentistry in Service to Community program (Blue Ridge Health/UNC Adams School of Dentistry)🚍

A nonprofit, community-based health organization, Blue Ridge Health offers several health services with a goal to ensure equitable access. That includes dental care, and Blue Ridge Health regularly works with UNC Adams School of Dentistry students as a part of the Dentistry in Service to Community program. In fixed clinical sites and mobile health clinics (like the one tour attendees checked out), dental students develop their skills while ensuring oral health care is accessible to all.
Randall Styers standing next to a dentist outside a mobile dental clinic.

In their words

“Along the tour, we kept hearing stories about the ways that University faculty and programs reach out to these communities very far away from Chapel Hill and facilitate the good things going on in those places — whether it was in health care or helping with people who are experiencing homelessness, marginalized people who need medical care, on and on and on. There were so many connections that we heard about.”
Man shaking the hand of a Bus Tour attendee in Warrenton. Seen in the background is a historical marker for the

Health Promotion and Disease Prevention: Environmental Justice🚍

As their bus toured Warrenton, attendees listened to insights from William A. Kearney, director and board chair of Warren County Environmental Action Team, a nonprofit that builds on Warren County’s environmental justice legacy. Protests in 1982 over the relocation of illegally dumped toxic waste helped launch the environmental justice movement, and Warren County is seen as its birthplace.
Rhon Manigault-Bryant and a fellow Tar Heel Bus Tour attendee walking outside near the bus.

In their words

“Carolina is deeply impacting — and I would say in really substantive ways — the things that are going on across the state. We traveled many, many, many miles, and to see all of the ways and all of the spaces, I think is pretty powerful. ”
Man shaking the hand of a Bus Tour attendee in Warrenton. Seen in the background is a historical marker for the

Development Finance Initiative Kannapolis (UNC School of Government)🚍

About a 30-minute drive north of Charlotte, Kannapolis has orchestrated the revitalization of its downtown, work done in concert with the Development Finance Initiative at the UNC School of Government. The DFI assists local governments achieve their economic development goals. Kannapolis is one of 250-plus projects DFI has taken on, and the city has turned a mostly vacant downtown into a mixed-use destination through public-private partnerships.

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