Shirley Ort

Shirley Ort
Student Aid — UNC Chapel Hill

Who are you?

My life is a lot about work, but it is more than work too. As associate provost and director of scholarships and student aid at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, my work is centered on figuring out how to get money for students to go to college, fairly distribute those funds, and achieve public and donor confidence in how we have spent their funds so we can continue this good work. I gain great satisfaction from connecting people or ideas, and from creating opportunities for others.

My life is simple. I have wonderful friends. Traveling is a passion of mine, and I love to journal as I discover new worlds. I live for my visits to Greece. My family and an extended network of dear friends sustain me.

How did you get to where you are today?

I went to a small rural high school in Camden, Michigan where few, if any, went on to college. I was inspired by the owner of a guest resort in Northern Indiana, where I worked each summer from ages 16–21. All resort employees lived onsite, in a private residence. I was the youngest—the only one in high school. The others were all college students. The resort owner and the college students had a profound impact on me. They took me to me to my first concert, to see summer stock theatre production, and to my first meal in a restaurant. I wanted to be like them. They invested in me, and this elevated my aspirations for myself.

My high school principal visited my house after I graduated from high school and brought one college application-for Spring Arbor College (now Spring Arbor University). He told me it was a college I would do well in—if admitted—and a place that would help me stay there if I gained admission. I applied, was admitted three days before classes commenced, and the rest is history! Once I got to college, my biggest challenge was paying for it. I started my freshman year in 1964, the year before there were any federal student aid programs. I owed money on my bill at the end of the year. Although I was always in arrears—despite the fact that I worked full-time during my junior and senior years—they always let me return.

Where do you see education in the future?

Though I worry about things a lot—particularly the soaring high school dropout rate among low-income youth—I continue to believe that American people are very resilient. When we understand a problem, we usually start to tackle it. However, we seem to be slow in figuring this one out. Thankfully, I think the momentum is growing.

We need a greater presence of role models among youth in schools. We also need to change our public school funding structures so that students across all income levels have access to good instruction and a diverse and college prep-driven curriculum.

What keeps me up at night is an obsession with news reports that portray a world where the future does not look as bright for our children or grandchildren as it did for us. When I grew up, I was sure that tomorrow was going to be better than today. Now, I have lost that certainty. But young people whom I meet on campus—who daily overcome adversity—give me hope.

Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
A: I think it is time that I return to Central America. For a long time I have had an interest in Nicaragua and El Salvador. I did an independent study on Nicaragua in the area of international law while in law school in the 1980s. Later I served as an elections monitor for the 1994 national election in El Salvador. I was touched by the warmth and embrace of the people. That experience is happily chronicled in my mind and documented in photo essays and portraiture as well. It is time that I revisit both the people and the progression of international law.

Q: What about you might surprise us?
A: My family did not have bathroom in the house until I was the age of 13. At that point my mother told my father, who was a tenant farmer in rural Michigan, that we would have a bathroom by "next winter" or he could find her in Florida. It worked! And so did the indoor plumbing the next year.

Q: What is the most important thing we can do as a nation, community, or educators to help people achieve their dreams and reach their personal goals?
A: I hope we can begin to simplify messages about the benefits of education and simplify our processes for accessing education.