News Campus and Community UNC to name residence hall in honor of alumnus, generous friend Maurice Koury
| UNC to name residence hall in honor of alumnus, generous friend Maurice Koury |
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| Tuesday, April 08, 2008 | |
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The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will honor the contributions of a generous alumnus and friend – Burlington businessman Maurice John Koury – on Wednesday (April 9) when it re-names a south campus residence hall in his honor. The free public ceremony will be held at 4 p.m. and include remarks from Chancellor James Moeser; Roger Perry, chair of the University’s Board of Trustees; Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Margaret Jablonski; and Koury. Since its completion in 2002, the four-story, state-of-the-art building has been known as Ehringhaus South. A Carolina blue ribbon will be cut on Wednesday, with student residents of the building clad in Koury Hall T-shirts participating, as the building is dedicated as Maurice J. Koury Hall. A Burlington native, born of Lebanese immigrant parents, Koury entered UNC in July 1945 following his graduation from Burlington High School. He graduated with a B.A. in chemistry in 1949 and joined his brother Ernest in managing Carolina Hosiery. Today, he serves as president of Carolina Hosiery Mills, Inc., and over the years his business interests have also expanded to the development of hotels and commercial properties. Koury is one of the University’s most involved contributors of both service and funds, with broad involvement and support to both the University’s academic and athletic pursuits. In 1987, Koury endowed the Edna J. Koury Distinguished Professorship in the College of Arts and Sciences as a memorial to his mother. He has donated funds for the Maurice Koury Auditorium in Kenan-Flagler Business School and has endowed funds for dental research in UNC’s School of Dentistry. Koury has given generously to support programs in the Division of Student Affairs. Other support to Carolina has included a leadership gift to the George Watts Hill Alumni Center. During his second term as president of the Educational Foundation in 1983-84, Koury led the successful fund-raising drive to finance the Dean E. Smith Center. The natatorium adjacent to the Smith Center is named for him. Koury served two terms on the University’s Board of Trustees, was on the Board of Visitors, and was a member of the Medical Foundation of North Carolina, Inc., whose efforts support the UNC School of Medicine. He also was an officer in the General Alumni Association and a member of the Morehead Scholarship Committee. His honors from Carolina include the Distinguished Service Medal of the General Alumni Association (1994), the William Richardson Davie Award (1995) and an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree (2001). Koury Hall houses 263 students in a nearly 73,000 square foot space that features suite-style rooms that include two double bedrooms and a shared, semi-private bathroom. Koury is similar to three other south campus residence halls that were completed with Housing Revenue Bonds in 2002 at a cost of $47 million or roughly $12 million per building. Two of the four buildings were renamed and dedicated in 2007. One was named in honor of George Moses Horton, a poet and slave in Chatham County in the 19th century who sold produce and verses in Chapel Hill to Carolina students and eventually gained his freedom. The other honors former Carolina Chancellor Paul Hardin, who was chancellor from 1988-95 and led the five-year Bicentennial Campaign for Carolina, which raised $440 million in private gifts. A civil rights advocate and attorney, Hardin pushed for integration of Durham’s public facilities in the 1960s and helped double minority representation on Carolina’s faculty. The fourth hall in the group is Craige North. Koury/Ehringhaus South Web page: http://housing.unc.edu/manningeast/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1 Coverage note: Media are invited to cover the ceremony, to be held under a tent on the Ehringhaus Plaza right outside Koury Hall, on the north side of Manning Drive just east of Ridge Road. Parking is available at the Rams Head Parking Deck on Ridge Road. Some parking may be available closer to the building. Television truck operators are asked to e-mail Lisa Katz at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it by noon on Wednesday (April 9) to make parking arrangements. Housing and Residential Education contact: Rick Bradley, (919) 962-5240, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it News Services contact: Lisa Katz, (919) 962-2093, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it |