Howard Lee, the former mayor of Chapel Hill and North Carolina senator, is one of four special guests UNC will grant honorary degrees during its 2024 spring commencement ceremony on May 11.
The university announced on Tuesday that Lee — who was the first Black mayor in a majority-white southern city in the United States in the 20th century — will be honored with Michelle Dorrance, Deitre Epps, and Richard Stevens during the event at Kenan Memorial Stadium.
Lee will receive a doctor of laws degree, building upon his master’s degree of social work he earned at UNC in 1966. After moving to Chapel Hill to attend the university, Lee ran for mayor after experiencing racism and problems buying a home in predominantly white neighborhoods in town. When he would leave office six years later, he would leave behind the groundwork for several critical systems within the town government and transition to serving in the state government as the Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Natural Resources and Community Development. He would go on to serve four terms in the state Senate and as the chair of the North Carolina State Board of Education.
Dorrance will receive a doctorate of the arts on May 11 for her storied career as a world-renowned dancer. The daughter of Hall of Fame UNC women’s soccer coach Anson Dorrance, Michelle is a native of Chapel Hill and often partners with Carolina Performing Arts through her New York-based Dorrance Dance company. She received a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” recipient in 2015 to help fuel her efforts as a dance choreographer, which often revolves around tap dance and its history, roots, and traditions.
A graphic shared by UNC, featuring Deitre Epps, Howard Lee, Michelle Dorrance, and Richard Stevens. (Photo via UNC University Communications.)
Epps is the founder and CEO of the Durham-based organization R.A.C.E. (Results Achieved through Community Engagement) for Equity. The group helps local stakeholders and agencies learn ways to center equity in their operations and strengthen leadership’s ability to have cultural responsiveness. The university described Epps as “often partnering” with the Gillings School of Global Public Health in order to share ideas of advancing equitable strategies to improve the long-term health of communities across the globe and to address elements of structural racism that leads to decreases of help. She will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree from UNC.
Stevens will be honored after serving several years both in the North Carolina General Assembly, and on the UNC Board of Trustees. A triple Tar Heel — having earned each a bachelor’s, master’s and law degree from Carolina — he served as a trustee in two stints, from 1995-2003 and 2017-2021. He also chaired the university’s endowment fund, the UNC-Chapel Hill Foundation, the UNC General Alumni Association and the Board of Visitors for the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. In addition to serving five terms as a state senator, Stevens was also the senior budget leader in the General Assembly during both a Democratic majority and a Republican majority. During the spring commencement ceremony, he too will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree.
The university has the ability to give up to five honorary degrees each year. Recipients in 2023 included public interest lawyer and Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International Jonathan Reckford, and noted fashion designer and local business owner Alexander Julian. Past leaders honored with such degrees can be found here.
UNC’s spring commencement will begin at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 11, with NASA astronaut Zena Cardman as the keynote speaker. More information about each of the 2024 honorary degree recipients can be found on UNC’s commencement website.
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