Chancellor Philip L. Dubois and Brad Lambert, head coach for 49ers football, recently visited Shelby in Cleveland County as part of UNC Charlotte’s Building Regional Support initiative.

This outreach effort by the chancellor features a series of focused visits to the 12 counties that comprise the greater Charlotte region; its goal is to strengthen the University’s relationships within the communities the University serves. Cleveland County is home to 2,200 UNC Charlotte alumni; 998 of them are donors to their alma mater.

As part of this day-long visit, the chancellor met with the region’s largest newspaper, the Shelby Star and with representatives from Cleveland Community College. He discussed educational partnerships and strategies that enable community college students to successfully transfer to the University. Currently, 281 students from the community college are now enrolled at UNC Charlotte

Dubois was the keynote speaker for a presentation at the Cleveland County Rotary Club, attended by more than 80 business and community leaders. Shelby Mayor Stan Anthony presented the chancellor with a key to the city. It was the first key Anthony had presented as mayor. Dubois also met with Ted Alexander, former Shelby mayor. Both officials are UNC Charlotte alumni. In the afternoon, Dubois held  discussions that focused on economic development with Hoyt Bailey, president of DTI Yarns; Adelaide Craver, chair of First National Bank; and  Kristen Fletcher, executive vice president of Cleveland County Economic Development Partnership.

Coach Lambert joined Dubois for afternoon interviews with local Shelby media, and both attended an alumni reception held at First National Bank, hosted by UNC Charlotte Alumni Affairs.  More than 45 University alumni attended, including the family of Ashley Lutz, a UNC Charlotte nursing school graduate from Shelby who passed away in May just after receiving her degree.  The family has created a scholarship in her memory.  College of Health and Human Services development director Heather Shaughnessy and Director of the School of Nursing Dee Baldwin also attended the reception.

Photo: Chancellor Dubois and Shelby Mayor Anthony.