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Carolina Story: Virtual Museum of University History

Paul Wellstone Memorial Garden

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Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone (class of 1965) was admired by fellow classmates and citizens alike for his dedication to public service in politics, which he said was about "lessening human suffering" and "advancing the cause of peace and justice." A plane crash in 2002 cut short the lives of Senator Wellstone, his wife, their daughter, three members of his campaign staff, and the two pilots. Dr. Joel Schwartz, professor emeritus of political science, and Dr. Gene Nichol, dean of the School of Law, led a fundraising effort to dedicate a garden to Wellstone's memory. Designed by Jill Coleman, UNC's first in-house landscape architect, and UNC landscape supervisor Tom Sudderth, the garden at the southwest corner of Murphey Hall provides a shady resting spot where visitors can study, socialize, enjoy the green landscape, and ponder Wellstone's words, inscribed on plaques attached to the three benches.