In this University Spotlight, we’re going to take a look at the University of Slamstox founder Pedro: University of North Carolina Wilmington, aka UNCW. UNCW already exists for 75 years! A fantastic location at the beaches of North Carolina. Wilmington is a place where students, surfers, tourists and retirees regularly intermingle.

UNCW is known for its NCAA Division 1 sports program that appears in the CAA conference. In addition, the university has a number of special study programs including Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Marine Science and Marine Biology. We’re taking a deep dive into the world of the Seahawks.

The Campus

UNCW has approximately 18,000 undergraduate and graduate students each year. A large part of them live on campus. UNCW has a very beautiful and large campus, full of campus-style buildings, water, greenery, sports facilities and nice restaurants.

One of the most “important” buildings of the university is “Wagoner Hall”, also known as “Wag”. This is the largest buffet restaurant on campus where you can get fresh meals from 07:00 to 23:00. This is important for student-athletes to re-fuel after a long day or before a heavy practice!

The famous “Chancellor’s Walk” runs through the center of the campus, a long path through which all students walk to get from one school building to another. At the end of Chancellor’s is the Clock Tower, one of the campus’ iconic historic features.

The official color of the university is Teal: a mix between blue and green. The students can regularly be found in teal colored gear. “Bleed Teal” is a common phrase among the Seahawks.

UNCW also has one of the largest recreation centers in the US. This center was built in 2000 and expanded considerably in 2013. With a few thousand square meters of fitness equipment, an indoor and outdoor pool, futsal courts, basketball courts, a climbing wall, yoga studios, squash courts and much more, there is always something active to do for everyone!

Location

Wilmington is seen as a gateway to the beautiful and long beaches of the Carolinas. A fantastic place with nice weather almost all year round, and where you can definitely surf! The most famous beaches in the area are Wrightsville Beach and Carolina Beach. In Wrightsville Beach you can head to the Mexican restaurant “Tower 7”, one of the best Mexican Grills you will find in America! Downtown Wilmington is beautiful with a historic center and a beautiful boulevard on the river. Wilmington has been voted Best American Riverfront several times. The city is located between the Cape Fear river and the ocean where you can be within half an hour to relax after your long day.

The fact that the beach is also well used by the students becomes immediately clear every year during “Beach Blast”. Beach Blast is an event for all UNCW students to kick off the school year. A day full of activities, fun and other fun things, on the beach. Thousands of students gather there to start the new school year. All kinds of stunts are devised by companies to be part of Beach Blast. For example, a few years ago a helicopter flew over the beach and scattered 1 dollar bills all over the beach. The entire university ran into the water to collect the money. This later became a lawsuit against the company, but a nice stunt for the students!

Sport

The UNCW Seahawks have several teams in the NCAA Division I, including eight men’s sports teams. In addition, eleven women’s teams are active. Apart from the official “NCAA” sports, the university also has surf, sailing and ultimate frisbee club teams. Nearly 400 student athletes compete at the university, having won 90 championships in three divisions and 21 sports since entering Division 1! One of the former student-athletes is the founder of Slamstox Pedro Mol. Pedro played for the Seahawks in the 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 seasons, winning the conference title three times with his team. During his early years in America, Pedro kept an old-fashioned blogspot in which he wrote in detail about his stories and experiences. Highly recommended to get insider information!

The Trask Coliseum is the nest where the basketball players play their home games. The stadium opened in 1977 during a grand opening with the Seahawks going down fighting Wake Forest. During the last renovation in 2013, an LED installation was installed with large screens above the field and the number of possible visitors was expanded to 5,200. It also contains multiple classrooms, a medical laboratory and the office of the academic support employees.

Pedro is not the only Dutchman who has represented the UNCW Seahawks. Our tennis player Jacco Arends started in the 2021/2022 season and is having a great time “at the W”. Dutch basketball player Vita Stam has also shined in Seahawk uniform, after she came over from the Dutch women’s team and George Mason University. Moreover, very soon we will tell you about a new Slamstox athlete who will represent the Seahawks. So stay tuned!

Fun

The official mascot of the Seahawks is Sammy C. Hawk, a mythical bird that emerges from the sun. Sammy lives in the sea outside the sports season and during the season he transforms into the form of a Hawk to attack the opponents as prey. The mascot is always dressed in green, blue and yellow colors. Green and blue refer to the ocean and yellow to the beaches. It’s always a big mystery at UNCW who the person is who gets to walk in Sammy C. Hawk’s costume. Rumor has it that Pedro knows who this person is, and is still in touch with him to this day!

Study

UNCW is part of one of the 17 universities in the North Carolina system. They aim for a strong academic experience to provide creativity, critical thinking and a community experience. From April 2022 they will start a new Ph.D program in Pharmaceutical Chemistry.

UNCW is nationally ranked as a university in all of America and almost all the studies they offer are linked to master’s programs in the Netherlands and in other countries. For example, after obtaining his bachelor’s degree, Pedro followed an MBA at UNCW, which was combined with an exchange program at the University of Valencia in Spain. Endless possibilities! For a complete overview of all study options at UNCW, it is best to take a look at the website.

Are you the next Seahawk?

Have you become excited about UNCW and do you already see yourself shining like a Seahawk on the sports fields of this beautiful university? Fill out our form and get in touch with our specialists!