University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
On Guard for Carolina Fencing’s Future
March 31, 2026 | Fencing
Tucked in a corner of Fetzer Gym is a room with metal strips, cubbies of masks, a wall of mirrors, and a group of student-athletes ready to fight.
While most sports at Carolina might feel like a duel, few actually engage in combat. Fencing isn't most sports. It has evolved from an ancient form of combat to a noble way to settle disputes to today's more intellectual—and technical—system of competing.
Like the sport itself, Carolina's team has seen tremendous change over the years, from humble beginnings as a club sport to producing two Olympians, more than a dozen All-Americans, and numerous ACC team and individual championships.
Through the recent generous support of Frank ('83, sabre) and Barb ('84) Sullivan, they are poised for even greater success. The Sullivans made a gift of $250,000 to the program. They are putting $200,000 toward the operating endowment and $50,000 toward the Friends of Fencing Fund. They are challenging fans of Carolina Fencing to match the $50,000 to provide immediate support.
The First Touch
The first question most people ask a fencer is, "How did you get into that?" For a good chunk of Carolina Fencing alumni, that answer is, "Coach Ron Miller suggested it." Frank is no exception.
He was a Morehead Scholar living in Hinton James his freshman year. Two or three weeks into the school year, a knock on his door brought him face-to-face with the coach that turned fencing from a club sport to a varsity team at UNC.
"Coach found his way to my dorm and asked me if I would be interested in joining the team," recalled Frank. "I don't really know how he knew that I had fenced in high school, but there he was."
Coach Miller was known for recruiting talent out of his classes and even at pickup basketball games at Woollen Gym. If he saw athletic talent, he recruited. He could teach the fundamentals of fencing to a good athlete, and his system laid the foundation of Carolina Fencing.
During the 1970s, when it was a men's-only team, UNC won 8 of the 10 ACC championships. In 1980, women joined the team, but that same year, many ACC schools stopped sponsoring the sport—an unintended consequence of Title IX, a law requiring the proportion of women student-athletes to match the proportion of women within the student body.
From Club to Contender
The year Frank graduated, Carolina had its first NCAA champion fencer. It was a roster of talented student-athletes, assembled mostly through creative recruiting, and scrappy budget management. And they had the ability to win at the highest collegiate level.
"Coach built this program from the ground up and proved it could win," Frank said. "Coach [Matt] Jednak had big shoes to fill, and he has done a fantastic job. He has really taken Carolina Fencing to the next level. We're recruiting top talent globally and we're consistently seeing big wins and top ten finishes in tournaments. Barb and I see that momentum, and we're excited to take it further."
Carolina's men's and women's fencing programs have returned to compete in the ACC. Jednak, in his seventh season at the helm, is a two-time ACC Coach of the Year. During that time, Carolina Athletics' leadership has also grown, along with its commitment to Olympic sports.
"Frank and I were not only impressed with Jednak's talent and success, but also with the leadership from the athletics side," said Barb. "Listening to incoming athletic director Steve Newmark's passion for fencing was inspiring. We saw his commitment to grow the program, and that alignment and timing felt right."
Advancing the Program
While the program has come a long way from recruiting in dorms and basketball courts, intentional investment in its future is still critical. Growing the fencing endowment means long-term stability for the team, and providing current-use funds means improved recruiting and better development of the current roster.
Each sport at Carolina has its own endowment. The annual yield from these accounts, typically 5%, is made available to the coach to help meet needs not covered in the operating budget. "Friends" accounts provide an immediate boost to a coach's budget and can support things like travel, coaching, development, equipment, or other special needs. Together, these resources provide the experience Carolina student-athletes need to excel in their sport.
"Being a varsity student-athlete at Carolina was a great experience," said Frank. "It instilled discipline in me. I learned to balance a lot academically and athletically, made lifelong friends, and I met my wife through a teammate. I'm proud to see the successes Coach Miller always worked toward, and I'm thrilled that Steve Newmark is committed to building on them. Coach Jednak is so talented and doing all the right things to keep the team competitive. All the pieces are there for another championship, and I'd love to see that."
The challenge is underway. You can help fencing continue the momentum. To make a gift, click here. To learn more, please contact Lewis Mickey, at The Rams Club, at 919-843-6445 or lewis@ramsclub.com.
While most sports at Carolina might feel like a duel, few actually engage in combat. Fencing isn't most sports. It has evolved from an ancient form of combat to a noble way to settle disputes to today's more intellectual—and technical—system of competing.
Like the sport itself, Carolina's team has seen tremendous change over the years, from humble beginnings as a club sport to producing two Olympians, more than a dozen All-Americans, and numerous ACC team and individual championships.
Through the recent generous support of Frank ('83, sabre) and Barb ('84) Sullivan, they are poised for even greater success. The Sullivans made a gift of $250,000 to the program. They are putting $200,000 toward the operating endowment and $50,000 toward the Friends of Fencing Fund. They are challenging fans of Carolina Fencing to match the $50,000 to provide immediate support.
The First Touch
The first question most people ask a fencer is, "How did you get into that?" For a good chunk of Carolina Fencing alumni, that answer is, "Coach Ron Miller suggested it." Frank is no exception.
He was a Morehead Scholar living in Hinton James his freshman year. Two or three weeks into the school year, a knock on his door brought him face-to-face with the coach that turned fencing from a club sport to a varsity team at UNC.
"Coach found his way to my dorm and asked me if I would be interested in joining the team," recalled Frank. "I don't really know how he knew that I had fenced in high school, but there he was."
Coach Miller was known for recruiting talent out of his classes and even at pickup basketball games at Woollen Gym. If he saw athletic talent, he recruited. He could teach the fundamentals of fencing to a good athlete, and his system laid the foundation of Carolina Fencing.
During the 1970s, when it was a men's-only team, UNC won 8 of the 10 ACC championships. In 1980, women joined the team, but that same year, many ACC schools stopped sponsoring the sport—an unintended consequence of Title IX, a law requiring the proportion of women student-athletes to match the proportion of women within the student body.
From Club to Contender
The year Frank graduated, Carolina had its first NCAA champion fencer. It was a roster of talented student-athletes, assembled mostly through creative recruiting, and scrappy budget management. And they had the ability to win at the highest collegiate level.
"Coach built this program from the ground up and proved it could win," Frank said. "Coach [Matt] Jednak had big shoes to fill, and he has done a fantastic job. He has really taken Carolina Fencing to the next level. We're recruiting top talent globally and we're consistently seeing big wins and top ten finishes in tournaments. Barb and I see that momentum, and we're excited to take it further."
Carolina's men's and women's fencing programs have returned to compete in the ACC. Jednak, in his seventh season at the helm, is a two-time ACC Coach of the Year. During that time, Carolina Athletics' leadership has also grown, along with its commitment to Olympic sports.
"Frank and I were not only impressed with Jednak's talent and success, but also with the leadership from the athletics side," said Barb. "Listening to incoming athletic director Steve Newmark's passion for fencing was inspiring. We saw his commitment to grow the program, and that alignment and timing felt right."
Advancing the Program
While the program has come a long way from recruiting in dorms and basketball courts, intentional investment in its future is still critical. Growing the fencing endowment means long-term stability for the team, and providing current-use funds means improved recruiting and better development of the current roster.
Each sport at Carolina has its own endowment. The annual yield from these accounts, typically 5%, is made available to the coach to help meet needs not covered in the operating budget. "Friends" accounts provide an immediate boost to a coach's budget and can support things like travel, coaching, development, equipment, or other special needs. Together, these resources provide the experience Carolina student-athletes need to excel in their sport.
"Being a varsity student-athlete at Carolina was a great experience," said Frank. "It instilled discipline in me. I learned to balance a lot academically and athletically, made lifelong friends, and I met my wife through a teammate. I'm proud to see the successes Coach Miller always worked toward, and I'm thrilled that Steve Newmark is committed to building on them. Coach Jednak is so talented and doing all the right things to keep the team competitive. All the pieces are there for another championship, and I'd love to see that."
The challenge is underway. You can help fencing continue the momentum. To make a gift, click here. To learn more, please contact Lewis Mickey, at The Rams Club, at 919-843-6445 or lewis@ramsclub.com.
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