Final answer:
The author claims that the town of Chapel Hill has evolved and changed alongside the growth of the university within it.
Step-by-step explanation:
The claim that the author makes in the passage is b) The town of Chapel Hill has emerged and changed as the university has grown. This is supported by the general context provided about cities expanding due to educational and industrial growth, as implied in the various snippets of the passage provided. It discusses the growth of urban areas as a result of opportunities for education, as seen in the spread of public education and the creation of land-grant colleges. The transformation and growth of cities like Chapel Hill closely relate to the development of educational institutions within them.