{"id":14014,"date":"2016-06-15T10:29:33","date_gmt":"2016-06-15T15:29:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/college.unc.edu\/?p=14014"},"modified":"2024-07-02T16:28:30","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T16:28:30","slug":"a-love-of-carolina-basketball-and-poetry-endowed-professorship-honors-57-championship-team-donors-wife","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collegearchive.unc.edu\/?p=14014","title":{"rendered":"A love of Carolina basketball and poetry: Endowed professorship honors \u201957 championship team, donor\u2019s wife"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"From<\/a>
From left, 1957 team members Joe Quigg, Bob Young and Lennie Rosenbluth. (photo courtesy of Bob Young)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Bob Young and Lennie Rosenbluth came from their native New York City to Carolina \u2014 as recruits for a team destined to become 1957 basketball national champions \u2014 they dined on some strange concoctions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had Southern fried chicken, turnip greens, hush puppies and things we\u2019d never heard of,\u201d said Young. \u201cBut it tasted good right away, because we were hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, his main impression wasn\u2019t about food. \u201cThe most important thing was the way the people of North Carolina received us, the students and everyone, and how welcome they made us feel. It was one of the best four years of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

After graduation, Young joined the U.S. Marines and went on to a successful career in sales and marketing at companies including The New Yorker<\/em> magazine.<\/p>\n

Now retired in Naples, Fla., he recently bequeathed $2 million to the College of Arts and Sciences for the Robert F. and Patricia A. Young and the 1957 Carolina Basketball Team Professorship of Poetry. He wished to honor his beloved wife, Pat, who died April 12, and the team.<\/p>\n

Beverly Taylor, chair of the English and comparative literature department, called Young\u2019s generosity \u201ca wonderful way for an alumnus to honor his past at UNC by investing in the University\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough some students today are a bit afraid of studying poetry, they often discover a lifelong passion when they do,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Poetry? Pat Young loved it. She wrote some herself. She earned a degree in fine arts from Finch College and worked on what Young called \u201cthe creative side\u201d of businesses.<\/p>\n

Young recently found his wife\u2019s note in one of her poetry books, quoting an unnamed source: \u201cThe books of theologians gather dust upon my shelves, but the pages of the poets are stained with my fingers and blotted with my tears.\u201d<\/p>\n

Young also was versed in verse: \u201cI was an English major, and I took poetry. I struggled with Milton\u2019s Paradise Lost<\/em> and Chaucer, but I loved it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Young recognized the \u201957 team for its prowess on and off the court. \u201cEveryone graduated and went on to successful careers. To me, that was pretty remarkable.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought this professorship was an opportunity to draw attention to their achievement \u2014 having gone undefeated (32-0) and defeating [heavily favored] Kansas in triple overtime [in the championship game] and Michigan State in triple overtime the night before\u201d in the semifinals.<\/p>\n

Young hopes others will give to the professorship to honor the storied \u201957 team.<\/p>\n

Poet and Professor Michael McFee said the professorship will help the department and creative writing program build on a strength that has attracted the best students on campus for generations.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs senior faculty retire, this professorship will guarantee that we can continue to serve students interested in reading and writing poetry by bringing in an outstanding teacher to guide them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Since retiring, Young has worked with the Frank McGuire Foundation, the Marine Corps League, various charities and a school for kids with discipline problems.<\/p>\n

He has a message for alumni who might consider giving to the professorship:<\/p>\n

\u201cNever forget what that education did for you. In large measure, having a degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a stepping stone to a successful career in whatever field you choose.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information on making a gift to the professorship, contact Angela O\u2019Neill, assistant director of development, Arts and Sciences Foundation, 919-843-2745, or angela.oneill@unc.edu<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

By LJ Toler \u201976<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Bob Young and Lennie Rosenbluth came from their native New York City to Carolina \u2014 as recruits for a team destined to become 1957 basketball national champions \u2014 they dined on some strange concoctions. \u201cWe had Southern fried chicken, turnip greens, hush puppies and things we\u2019d never heard of,\u201d said Young. \u201cBut it tasted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":14015,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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