Order of the Old Well (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

The Order of the Old Well is an honorary organization founded in 1949 by a group of students and faculty at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill to honor students for exemplary and otherwise unrecognized service to the University. Membership in the Order has been open to both male and female students from its founding.

The Order of the Old Well was formed in 1949 by a group of students and faculty members under the guidance of Dr. Ernest L. Mackie, Dean of Awards. The organization honors students who have demonstrated exemplary, unrecognized service to the university either independently or through an organization. Typically, these persons have served in a generous capacity and displayed a willingness to perform functions that do not offer recognition. Nomination guidelines stipulate that candidates for membership should not have been previously honored for their service by another campus organization and should not be nominated based on service in highly public or well-recognized leadership positions.

The original members were selected through open interviews in Steele Building. The interviewees were evaluated based on a point system that took into account self-help, work, scholarship, honors, and participation in student government, publications, dramatics, music, athletics, or other campus organizations. More than one hundred seniors were interviewed, resulting in fifty-five original members. From this first class in 1949 to the present, membership in the Order of the Old Well has been open to both male and female students.

Officers of the Order of the Old Well include president, vice president, treasurer, secretary, and member-at-large. Listings of past officers may be found in the Yackety Yack, available in the North Carolina Collection. These officers lead monthly meetings, maintain relations with other campus honorary organizations, plan the Order's annual banquet, guide the member selection process, and plan the tapping and induction ceremony.