Roy, Wanda Williams Donate $3 Million Towards UNC Scholarships

UNC basketball coach Roy Williams and his wife, Wanda, have donated $3 million towards UNC scholarships — their largest one-time gift to the university — amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The whole world is in a tough situation right now — financially, health wise, everything you can think about. And we are in a position to be able to do something about it. It just seemed like it was the right idea at the right time,” said Roy. “We hope others might be encouraged to do some things as well.”

The donation from the Williamses will go towards supporting scholarships for athletes, Carolina Covenant Scholars and Chancellor’s Science Scholars.

This is the second time in the past year that the Williamses have donated a significant amount towards the university. Last spring, Roy and Wanda donated $600,000 towards scholarships for spring-sports student-athletes whose seasons were cut short by the pandemic. According to the university, this brings the grand total to more than $5.8 million that the Williamses have given to UNC in the 18 years Roy has been head coach.

Roy and Wanda Williams have always had a passion for Carolina, and in particular for our students. We're grateful for their generous gift and for the impact it will have on the Carolina community for generations of students to come. https://t.co/AMVBF2SU77

— Kevin Guskiewicz (@KevinGuskiewicz) March 8, 2021

The donations made by the Williamses to the university have normally been kept private and without fanfare. In a release, Wanda said the pair were urged by a desire to help UNC with its future ambitions amid the pandemic.

“We realized that there were a lot of things that the University was trying to do that they weren’t going to be able to do if somebody didn’t step up and provide some funds to do that,” said Wanda. “We started looking at what we might do in the future, what we might spread over a few years, and we thought right now is when they need it.”

Of the gift made by the Williamses, $1.5 million will go towards the Carolina Covenant, $1 million will go towards Carolina Athletics to endow a scholarship in men’s basketball and $500,000 will go to the Chancellor’s Science Scholars.

According to the release, it was Wanda’s idea to endow a scholarship for the 13th man — the last player receiving a scholarship on the team.

“When Roy played ball here, he was on the ‘freshman team,'” she said. “It was actually a huge deal that he made that team, but there were so many freshman players that year and some really good walk-ons that he never got a chance to play varsity. He never got that particular invitation, but he would have been the last man on the bench.”

Roy and Wanda’s son, Scott Williams, was invited to Carolina’s bench as a walk-on during his time at UNC and the Willamses said the want to ensure opportunities like that stay in place.

“It was strictly her idea,” Roy said. “I wish it were mine, but she usually comes up with better ideas than I do anyway. Doing something to endow scholarships for UNC Athletics is important to us, to the future of the men’s basketball program — all of these programs have been really important to us.”

Featured image via ACC Media

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Roy, Wanda Williams Donate $3 Million Towards UNC Scholarships

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