Wednesday, January 10, 2024

Judge Sykes, William Dunn Argue for Larger Stadium, Jan. 10, 1924

Judge Sykes and Dunn Are for the Stadium

Robert H. Sykes of Durham, an alumnus of the University who is deeply interested in all activities here, says that a stadium of ample proportions has got to come, and the sooner University men get together and build it the better.

“We are getting beyond an attendance of from 10,000 to 15,000,” he declares. “Just as the University grows in the enrollment of students, in its faculty, in its buildings, so does it grow in athletics and every other activity. It won’t be half a dozen years before there will be twice as many people wanting to come to a Carolina-Virginia football game as were there this year. You have only to observe what has happened in the North to see the situation we face. Up there they found out several years ago that they must provide room for the crowds that clamored at the gates. It is going to be exactly the same way for us. But we ought to profit from experience and prepare for the throngs in good time.

“This plan for a great stadium should appeal particularly to the University alumni at the ends of the State, who do not get a chance to come back to the Hill often. We who live here in Durham and Raleigh and other nearby places visit the campus any time the whim seizes us, but the men down east and up in the mountains don’t have this opportunity. The big games are the only occasions on which many of them go to Chapel Hill. They are tremendously interested in athletic events, and nothing will appeal to them more than a scheme to give these events a proper setting.

A Word from Mr. Dunn

William Dunn of New Bern sends in his word of approval:

“I am heartily in favor of this stadium proposition as set forth by you in your editorial. I feel sure that, if your plan can be worked out by a committee, a sufficient number of alumni in the State will be found willing to take the shares.”

From the front page of The Chapel Hill Weekly, Thursday, Jan. 10, 1924

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