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To watch video from the dedication, see http://www.youtube.com/user/UNCChapelHill#p/f/0/NuuOIV-cNlU
For a photo gallery of the event, go to http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3406/75/

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will dedicate the new Eve Marie Carson Garden at 4 p.m. on March 4.

Named for Carolina’s former student body president, the garden is located off Polk Place, behind the Campus Y.

A tribute to Carson, the garden also is intended as a place of honor for all Carolina students, past and future, who pass away before they graduate.

Speakers at the event will be Chancellor Holden Thorp; Bob Winston, chair of the UNC Board of Trustees; Student Body President Jasmin Jones; former Student Body President Seth Dearmin; and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Peggy Jablonski.

Within a few months of Carson’s death in March 2008, a group of students and staff began work to design both a scholarship program in her name and a permanent physical remembrance of Carson on campus. Elinor Benami was named the first Eve Marie Carson Scholar last year.

The garden includes a seating area that orients people toward Polk Place, flanked by colorful seasonal shrubs and flowers that were some of Carson’s favorites.

Every aspect of the garden was chosen intentionally, said Jill Coleman, University landscape architect. The seating area features a blue stone seat set in a traditional campus Chatham stone wall, and the inscription wall is made of Georgia marble in honor of Carson’s home state.

The wall features a quote from Carson: “Learn from every single being, experience, and moment. What joy it is to search for lessons and goodness and enthusiasm in others.”

“One of the nice things about a garden is a sense of nature and order,” said Carson’s father, Bob Carson of Athens, Ga. “It's a great place and, as you've envisioned, it will nurture many wonderful friendships, ideas, laughs and thoughtful moments.”

From the outset, the garden has been a product of student leadership, Jablonski said. “Every detail of the final product reflects their desire to make this garden a place of reflection, interaction and inclusiveness,” she said. “The location choice, on Polk Place near the Campus Y, represents the essence of campus life, a place where the Carolina community comes together.”

The garden was a project of UNC’s Student Government, Division of Student Affairs, Auxiliary Services and Facilities Services. It was funded by private donations from Student Affairs, Auxiliary Services, past student body presidents and friends of Carson.