UNC MPA Alumna Named Senior Prevention Strategy Officer of UNC Student Affairs

UNC Master of Public Administration alumna Christi Hurt has led a successful career pursuing her passions in women’s issues, anti-violence, and community mobilization. After completing her undergraduate degree in history with a minor in women’s and gender Studies from UNC-Chapel Hill, Hurt pursued her first role after college at the Orange County Rape Crisis Center.
Working at the small nonprofit center, Hurt became inspired by the work of Executive Director Margaret Henderson (MPA Class of 1998). Henderson, who now holds a full-time faculty role at the School of Government and supports the MPA program’s nonprofit concentration, served as a powerful role model for Hurt and was instrumental in her decision to pursue her graduate degree in public administration.

“Her strong leadership of the Center and her wise perspective on so many things led me to explore the MPA degree, which proved to be a good match for me and my growing interest in nonprofit management at the time,” Hurt said.

After completing the program, Hurt moved to Washington to work for the state’s Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs and honed her skills in sexual assault prevention, anti-violence organizing, and collaboration among some of the best activists peers in the field. After 10 years of work on the west coast, Hurt returned to North Carolina and her alma mater to begin her career in higher education administration. Her first major leadership role was as Director of the Carolina Women’s Center – where she was responsible for supporting a small unit and charging efforts in the area of fundraising and community awareness. She then moved into Title IX compliance and eventually into Student Affairs, where she was recently appointed to fill the newly created role of Senior Prevention Strategy Officer. In this position, she will be responsible for sexual assault and gender-based violence prevention, intervention, and support.

“I very much stumbled into higher education administration as a career,” Hurt said. “But I discovered that it has a lot in common with nonprofit management so it has proven to be a good fit for me.”

When asked about how the MPA has supported her along the way, Hurt said she has been able to leverage her degree in each of her roles thus far.

“I have been able to apply my MPA in each of these settings along the way because the courses in organizational management and leadership apply in every setting,” she said. “The course on personnel law has continued to be tremendously useful in every role I’ve had where I am responsible for a team.”

Hurt also credits the Professional Communications course for giving her a solid foundation on a crucial skill. “It was largely through that course that I purged my fear of public speaking, which continues to serve me today.”

Hurt’s current focus is on ending violence not just on UNC’s campus but in the larger community through collaboration and strategic planning. She will be working on developing a plan in accordance with multiple stakeholders across campus including Student Wellness, the Equal Opportunity and Compliance (Title IX) Office, the Carolina Women’s Center, Carolina Housing, UNC Diversity and Inclusion, the LGBTQ Center, and other units that serve diverse populations on campus and have responsibility for community safety.

“I’ve always said that ending violence requires an ‘all hands on deck’ approach,” she said. “I truly believe that ending violence requires everyone to participate, to commit to something in their sphere of influence.”

Besides playing an active role in ensuring campus safety and student wellness at UNC, Hurt is seeing things come full circle as she begins work with the MPA program again.

As an alumna of the program who was inspired by the alumni who came before her, she will be teaching the Professional Communications course oncampus this fall.

“I really enjoy working with these eager students to facilitate their learning and the application of a skillset I know will be valuable in the future.”

She further explains, “It’s especially rewarding when students help design and actively participate in developing their educational environment and to see them achieve their goals and go on to find professional and personal success once the course is over.”

Hurt begins her new university role this month (July 2021) and has been teaching in the MPA program since 2017.