First Black Student Leaders
Richard Epps:
First Black Student Body President
Richard J. Epps, Jr., a Journalism and Radio Television and Motion Pictures major from Wilmington, N.C., was the first Black student elected student body president in 1972. One of only 350 Black students at UNC during the time, Epps was a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece and the Order of the Grail, and a student recruiter for the admissions office. Epps graduated from UNC in 1973 and returned to the university that same year as the assistant director of undergraduate admissions.
References:
- "Epps Seeks UNC Presidency, Elections Set for February 29" Black Ink Newspapers, 1 Feb 1972: https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/2015236558/1972-02-01/ed-1/seq-1/#words=Richard+Epps
- "Epps returns with a new position" Daily Tar Heel, 3 October 1973 https://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn92073228/1973-10-03/ed-1/seq-1/
Karen Stevenson:
First Black Woman Morehead Scholar and Rhodes Scholar
In 1975, Karen Stevenson became the first Black woman to be awarded the Morehead-Cain scholarship. 4 years later, Stevenson was awarded the Rhodes Scholarship, becoming the first woman from UNC and the first Black woman in the United States to do so. Stevenson graduated with a degree in History, going on to earn an M.A. in European History from Oxford and a J.D. from Stanford University.
References:
- UNC News, "No one else can tell you what your path should be": https://www.unc.edu/discover/no-one-else-can-tell-you-what-your-path-should-be/
- Tar Heel Trailblazer: Karen Stevenson https://goheels.com/news/2015/2/10/209883960
- Morehead-Cain, "Judge Karen Stevenson ’79: An Evenhanded Advocate": https://www.moreheadcain.org/blog/judge-karen-stevenson-79-an-evenhanded-advocate/
Last Updated: April 2025