Shelton returns to ECU as faculty member

McKenzie Shelton, right, attends the Honors College’s Golden Gala with fellow faculty members Gerald Weckesser, left, and Elizabeth Hodge, second from left, as well as graduate assistant Hunter Smith.

ECU Honors and EC Scholar alum McKenzie Shelton is thrilled to be back at ECU, giving back to the programs she cares about. 

McKenzie graduated from ECU with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film and Media Production from the School of Art and Design and later obtained an MBA from the College of Business. She is also an active alumna of the Honors College and EC Scholars program. 

After her graduation in 2017, McKenzie joined Americorps VISTA, where she was able to work for LexArts in Lexington, Kentucky. Her primary responsibilities were to develop a college internship program for the organization. 

“I gained invaluable experience in fundraising and development, donor relations, public art installation, and grant management,” she said. “In addition to my work with LexArts, I was also performing music at local establishments and worked as a documentarian at Kentucky’s Governor’s School for the Art.”

While she gained invaluable experiences in Kentucky, her desire to teach and the ability to be a performing arts manager led her back to Greenville and ECU. When getting back on campus, she jumped back into teaching HNRS 2000 and HNRS 3000, which were not new to her as she was a student and a graduate student for the class previously. 

These courses are not the traditional classes taught here at ECU. When asked what she thought about being a professor for this course, she said, “This course is team-taught and relies on design thinking and human-centered-design methodologies, both of which demand flexibility, critical reflection, and intensive teamwork. Teaching in these methods is unlike any other college course instruction because the delivery of course content is much less static; it changes reflexively based on what arises with student projects, needs, and environment.”

Throughout her time as a faculty member in this class, she has valued working with so many seasoned and passionate educators, but something also special to her is her relationships with students. 

“It’s such a delight to see one of my honors students and get to have a chat with them about what’s going on in their lives,” she said. 

McKenzie accepted a position as a program coordinator for the S. Rudolph Alexander Performing Arts Series in November. When reflecting on this opportunity, she said, “I feel like I’ve come home!” 

One performance in the series was Pilobolus on Feb. 18th. “I adore dance, though I’ve never had a gift for it,” she said. “Watching people express stories and emotional nuance with their bodies is just incredible. The athleticism! The finesse! Ugh. I love it.”

Story written by Lindsey Fleishman