Iv Culp grew up with Carolina Basketball.

The 1993 Carolina graduate, whose full name is Robert George Culp IV, (yes, “Iv” is short for the roman numerals) would attend games with his father, Robert “Rob” George Culp III (’68), and his mother Susan Barber Culp (’68), original Smith Center donors.

“We’ve always been big Carolina basketball fans,” said Iv. “I remember going to the 1982 National Championship with my parents, the last game in Carmichael, the first game in the Dean Dome, and we always watched games as a family with my brother (Graham Culp ‘98) and my sister (Lee Culp Henry). I loved it, and my dad loved it. It was one of those things that just passed down generationally, and we enjoyed being a part of it.”

As big of a role as Carolina played in the family’s lives, when Rob passed in 2018 it just made sense for the Culp family to honor Rob’s legacy by finding ways to support Carolina Athletics. The first was by endowing a track and field scholarship in Rob’s name because he had always been “big” into running.

The next way to honor Rob came in a rather non-traditional way. A member of the Rams Club Executive Board, Iv was in a meeting with Carolina Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham when the topic of facilities was reviewed.

“Somehow it just came up in passing, and Bubba said, ‘You know, one of my biggest hang-ups is that I hate how dirty the seats are in the Smith Center,’” Iv recalled.

“I thought to myself, ‘Wait a minute. This is definitely something we can fix.’”

“We’ve Got To Figure This Out.”

Iv is currently the President and CEO of CULP Inc., one of the largest textile companies in North America, focusing on a wide range of mattress and upholstery fabrics around the globe. The company was founded by his father, Rob, and grandfather, Robert G. Culp, Jr., in 1972.

“In our business, we’ve been focused on performance products for the last five years,” said Iv. “Everything in upholstery, whether its home or hospitality, is looking for cleanable products. We have a really advanced line of fabrics we offer named “LiveSmart” that is stain-resistant, and that I knew would be perfect for the job. I was immediately thinking ‘We’ve got to figure this out.’”

In talking with The Rams Club about giving, Iv, his family and CULP Inc. decided there would be no better way to honor Rob Culp than to adorn the seats in the Smith Center with the fabric created by the company he started nearly 50 years ago.

“[My dad] would absolutely love it,” Iv said. “It would validate the fact that we can make the products that can meet the standard. The first thing he’d say, just because he was the consummate salesperson and always looking for new business, would be ‘Oh, this is awesome! What other arenas can we do?’ That’d be the first thing he’d want to know.”

LiveSmart, Live Fast, Live Together

The decision was made to use CULP’s “LiveSmart” fabric, which touts itself as moisture repellent, stain resistant, fade resistant and heavy duty – a perfect combination for the Smith Center’s nearly 10,000 lower-level and mezzanine seats.

“When they brought in the fabric to show us and demonstrate its capabilities, they literally poured Coke on the fabric, and wiped it right off with a dry rag,” recalled Smith Center Director Brett Botta. “Then they did the same thing with ketchup and two or three more ‘pain points’ for us, and they all wiped right off, which was pretty cool.”

The fabric was a great fit, but the key for both the Athletics Department and CULP was matching the exact pantone shade of Carolina Blue – which, like it or not, is not a very common fabric color in the upholstery world and would require some trial and error to match exactly. Enter Tammy Buckner, CULP’s Senior Vice President of Design and Marketing, who was responsible for the color matching.

“We took multiple fabric samples to the Dean Dome to make sure that when the lights were turned on, it didn’t cast any other color on television or in the arena itself,” Buckner said. “I was a bit concerned. I didn’t want the seats to look purple in the lights. It was a long process, but we were determined to get it right.”

Beginning in March 2021, the cushions in the lower bowl and the mezzanine were removed in 2,000-2,500 seat blocks and shipped away to be re-covered. All of the cushions were back in place by October. In the meantime, each of the plastic seats left behind in Chapel Hill underwent a “deep cleaning” of their own, resulting in an entirely “refreshed” seat for Carolina Basketball ticketholders.

Iv notes that CULP is a publicly traded company that still feels like a family business, which makes it even more special to carry on the legacy started by his father and grandfather. Culp’s gift was two-fold – as CULP Inc. donated the fabric for the project, while the Culp family paid for the labor needed to install the new seat cushions.

“It’s a perfect marriage of what our company’s values are,” said Iv. “We’re a public business with a family culture. To my dad, family and business were the same, and it’s truly special to be able to honor him in this way.

“It freshens up the Dean Dome so much,” he continued. “It’s a beautiful place anyway, but they now have crisp, clean, fresh, bright fabric. It was great working with Carolina, and fun seeing their reaction. It makes me feel better to see a clean seat that utilizes today’s fabric technology. What was there before was amazing, but it didn’t have the technology that is available today.”

While not an enhancement that’s “noticed” by many people, the reception for the new fabric has been very positive.
“I’ve heard a handful of comments from our ushers and gameday staff this season that someone came up to them and thanked them for cleaning the seats,” said Botta. “It’s definitely been well received from those who have noticed or made comments about it.”

Growing up watching games in what was then known as Carmichael Auditorium to the Dean E. Smith Center, the Culp family’s generous donation will ensure that Carolina fans will continue to have a fantastic experience at the Dean E. Smith Center for years to come.

“You think of a lot of athletic gifts as just being cash,” said Clint Gwaltney, Senior Associate Athletic Director for Smith Center Operations. “But it’s just really impressive that Iv’s company has done so well, and we were able to utilize what they produce in such a neat fashion here in the Smith Center. You never know how you can contribute. Think outside the box when you think about how your generosity and your philanthropy can help us as an athletic department.”