This is Shuford.

“I mean this with sincerity, every faculty member I have met through the Shuford Program will have a lasting impact on my life. It seems that this program is one of the only ones on campus that deeply cares about its students and treats them as people instead of customers of the curriculum. There are two things that have motivated me to get through my long Tuesdays and Thursdays as a senior in my final semester, my lunch hour in the Shuford suite with Cameron, Molly, and Camelia, and ECON 393 with Bernard.”

“The Shuford Program taught me how to pivot, ask better questions, and build genuine connections. I carry those lessons into everything I do – whether I’m collaborating at work or building my media company, Dear Neighborhood. I stay open to change, lead with curiosity, and focus on understanding people, not just solving problems. It’s helped me build community with intention and navigate challenges with creativity. These skills shape how I show up every day.”

“The Shuford Program was a pivotal component of my undergraduate experience at UNC. I first discovered it through ECON 125 as a general education class and immediately recognized its alignment with my academic and professional goals. The program significantly enhanced my professional skills, complementing the healthcare-focused curriculum of my Exercise and Sports Science major, while also allowing me to explore my creative and entrepreneurial interests. The faculty are deeply committed to seeing student success and pushing you to achieve greatness. I had the privilege of serving as a teaching assistant, where I was able to invest in students the same way that my professor invested in me, which was rewarding. Now, as an alum, I continue to collaborate with fellow Shuford graduates to maintain connections and expand our professional network, as well as use the skills I obtained through the program as a current graduate student in East Carolina’s Occupational Therapy Program, hoping to eventually open my own private practice!”

“I decided to join the Program because of the people. Academic settings can feel like a competition, and with nowhere to land, it can feel like a vast environment. The people of the Shuford program – students and faculty – have bought into the missions of the entrepreneurial mindset and of empowering students with character development through the entrepreneurial lens. Entrepreneurs fail fast, hard, and often, but that fact alone does not give entrepreneurship a monopoly on failure; we all fail. The Shuford curriculum uniquely equips students to understand failure and how to recover from it. These lessons extend beyond the classroom into life as Shuford molds great people who are also able to be great entrepreneurs.”

“Since age 12, I have always been an entrepreneur and never knew it. I joined the Shuford program because of a friend. He told me “you are an entrepreneur, and you have the determination to be successful”, and the rest is history! This program is more than a minor, it is a lifestyle, and it changed my life forever. My academic journey was focused on technology, but I always had the itch for incorporating entrepreneurship in some way. Thus, I built a startup that combines two of my passions: beauty & technology! The best part of Shuford is the realness of the curriculum. I didn’t have to wait after graduation to apply the skills I learned. Because of Shuford, I have been able to build a business while being a full-time student.”

“The Shuford Program has been a transformative part of my academic journey. As a first-generation college student, I often found it challenging to envision myself thriving in spaces dedicated to entrepreneurship. However, the program not only welcomed me but also empowered me to think boldly and embrace creativity. It gave me the tools to take my ideas seriously and the confidence to pursue them with purpose. Through Shuford, I’ve learned that entrepreneurship isn’t just about starting a business, it’s a mindset. It’s about identifying challenges, thinking strategically, and finding solutions that create value for communities.