The Planning Road - Talk to the 2005 Graduating Class
David R. Godschalk FAICP
Stephen Baxter Professor Emeritus


It is a real honor to be chosen as your speaker - you are the 36th planning class to graduate
during my time at Carolina, and the last one that I have been privileged to teach.  For you it’s
the start of your journey along the planning road; for me, it’s nearing the finish.

Your families and friends here today need to know that you made a wise choice in coming to the
Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of North Carolina.

The 2005 report of the Planning Accreditation Board said it well:
The UNC planning program has led the development of the profession in practice and scholarship
for nearly 50 years.  Its faculty are among the giants of the field.  The program has always managed
to score at the top on both scholarship and the teaching of practical knowledge….The program
endows its graduates with an expectation of excellence that sustains them throughout their careers.

I know from working with you that the class of 2005 is a great class, like a vintage wine. You are a
talented group, who could have taken many other career paths, but you chose the high road of city
and regional planning, linking the present and the future, offering the hope of a better tomorrow to
the people and communities that you will work with.

Robert Frost pointed out the implications of choosing a path, in one of my favorite poems -
                                           “The Road Not Taken”

                                  Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
                                  I took the one less traveled by,
                                  And that has made all the difference.

Choosing the planning road will make a difference in your lives... (read more)

Student Award Winners

(pictured left to right, with Bill Rohe and Carolyn Turner)

American Institute of Certified Planners Outstanding Student Award – Allen Serkin
North Carolina Chapter of the American Planning Association
Outstanding Student Award – Leigh Anne McDonald
Louise Venable Coker Award for Best Masters Project – Rachel Fleming and David Edwards (not pictured)
Bruce and Chris Egan Information Technology Award – Jeffrey Kay
Outstanding Class Contributions Beale Award – Lindy Nelson