View complete article and references at Commemorative Landscapes of North Carolina at: https://docsouth.unc.edu/commland/monument/27
Description: A bronze statue of a muscular ram, standing on a cobblestone base with its front left foot stepping forward, gazes towards the sky. On the front of the stone base is a plaque. The statue weighs approximately one ton, and is said to be the largest statue of a ram in the world. It stands nine feet tall on top of the four foot tall platform. Irwin Belk commissioned the statue to honor and inspire UNC's athletes.
Nickname: Ramses, The Bighorn Ram
Inscription:
THE WORLDS LARGEST RAM / PRESENTED TO THE UNIVERSITY AND / ITS ATHLETIC TEAMS WITH PRIDE BY / IRWIN BELK - CLASS OF 1945, / WILLIAM IRWIN BELK - CLASS OF 1971, / MARILYN BELK WALLIS - CLASS OF 1975, / CARL G. BELK - CLASS OF 1982, AND / ANNE REYNOLDS BELK - CLASS OF 1985. / Dedicated: November 18, 2002 / Sculptor: Kent Ullberg.
Dedication date: 11/18/2002
Creator: Kent Ullberg, Designer, Sculptor
Materials & Techniques: Bronze statue, stone base
Sponsor: Irwin Belk, William Irwin Belk, Marilyn Belk Wallis, Carl G. Belk, and Anne Reynolds Belk.
Cost: $The family who donated declined to reveal how much they spent on the statue.
Unveiling & Dedication: John Montgomery, head of the Educational Foundation, and Director of Athletics Dick Baddour both spoke at the dedication. Irwin Belk and his son Carl Belk were the only Belk family members present at the unveiling
Subject notes: The Ram mascot of UNC came into fruition in 1924, when Vic Huggins, head cheerleader at the time, suggested the idea to the athletic director and received $25 to purchase a ram. Jack Merritt, the star of the 1922 football team nicknamed the "Battering Ram," was the inspiration for the mascot. Huggins purchased a ram from Texas and it was first introduced for the 1924 VMI game. With the game scoreless at both ends in the fourth period, Carolina's Bunn Hackney stopped to rub the ram's head for good luck before taking a field goal which resulted in a 3-0 victory for the Tar Heels.
Location: At the entrance of Kenan Football Stadium on UNC's campus, facing outwards, where it greets the crowd as they enter the stadium.
Landscape: The sculpture sits at the entrance of Kenan Football Stadium on The University of North Carolina's campus in Chapel Hill.
City: Chapel Hill
County: Orange
Subjects: Animal Monuments