Like many college campuses nationwide, UNC has a majority of female undergraduates. But according to the Times article, it makes dating on UNC's campus tough - so tough that young women are pressured to compete for male attention and are even willing to put up with boorish behavior - including cheating.
"I think the article portrayed us as being more desperate," student Laura Arredondo told ABC11.
The article has sparked outrage on school message boards partly because most students were interviewed at local bars. Still, it's sparked a discussion about the ratio of men to women on campus - a trend that started in the 1970s.
"Clearly there's a different culture when you have more women than men. I don't really see - or we don't hear from the students we work with that it has a particular impact on their social life," Dr. Donna Bickford with the Carolina Women's Center explained.
Bickford says the math in the Times article doesn't add up because it doesn't take into consideration some of the most important numbers.
"We have the highest percentage of students who study abroad than any other school in the country, so clearly those students aren't focused on whether they can get a date with some hot guy," she said.
Just as college is a slice of life, some students say so is dating. The real world comes with its own romantic challenges, which is why some say their focus is elsewhere.
"I don't think people come here to date," said Arredondo.
"So it's not about getting your M-R-S anymore?" asked ABC11.
"No I don't think that," she responded.
But when it does come to finding love at UNC, some students say they'll take these odds over others.
"My dad works at UNC-G where it's 80 percent women and 20 percent men. People make a big deal out of it but I don't think it's a big deal," said student Christopher Jones.
Some of the students quoted in the article say their comments were taken out of context. The New York Times denied our request to interview the reporter behind the controversial article.
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