University and state leaders honor William Friday at Memorial Hall

Members of the University community and state higher education and political leaders paid tribute this morning to William Friday, the first UNC-system president and one of the most prominent higher education leaders for the state and nation in the 20th century.

The service, held at Memorial Hall, featured a variety of speakers recounting their interaction with Friday and the many hats he wore as a university president, TV show host and mentor.

Gov. Bev Perdue mentioned her frequent conversations with Friday about the state constitution and its guarantee that a free university education should be provided to state residents “as far as practicable.” She said the percentage of North Carolinians with at least a bachelor’s degree tripled while Friday was president.

Perdue officially declared today, Oct. 17, “Bill Friday Day” across the state.

Former Gov. Jim Hunt also spoke about his customary meetings with Friday in Raleigh. Hunt said Friday always brought plenty of ideas and that he “would have (his) agenda for the next six months, or year” after the system president left.

“The secret of Bill Friday wasn’t just what he did — he did a lot — it was what he got us to do. All the people of this state,” Hunt said.

Viewed by many as the father of the modern UNC system, the system’s first president died peacefully in his sleep Friday on University Day. The day commemorated the 219th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone for the nation’s first state university building, Old East. Friday was 92.

Friday oversaw a period of burgeoning expansion and rising social tensions for the system during his 30-year tenure as president from 1956 to 1986. The system expanded from three to 16 campuses, and Friday shepherded the desegregation of the campuses despite public criticism.

He remained active in his retirement, advocating for low, affordable tuition rates at schools and cofounding the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics in 1989 — an effort to reform athletic programs and ensure that they align with school’s educational missions.

Friday was also the affable host and interviewer on “North Carolina People,” UNC-TV’s longest-running program.

Charlie Rose, co-host of “CBS This Morning” and anchor of his own self-titled nightly program on PBS, said that, along with being university president, Friday should be equally remembered for tackling the rigors of a television program.

“You think faculty members are tough, if you think legislators are tough, you haven’t met television producers,” Rose said.

He added that Friday’s legacy, ultimately, is self-evident.

“It is this University that is his monument. He grabbed it, even though it started in 1793, and he took it in the second half of the 20th century and he crafted it into one of the finest universities this nation has ever seen.”

“This is his legacy.”

Friday is survived by his wife, Ida, and daughters Frances and Mary.

Mary Friday Leadbetter spoke on behalf of the Friday family at the service.

“His legacy will live on,” she said. “Because in the years to come, when in the face of difficult decisions, so many of our citizens will ask themselves, ‘What would Bill Friday do?’”