Announcing the New Senior Prevention Strategy Officer
On May 5 Student Affairs Vice Chancellor Amy Johnson announced that Christi Hurt will join UNC Student Affairs in the new role of senior prevention strategy officer this summer, following a competitive, nation-wide search. Hurt will assume her new position at Carolina on July 6.
The senior prevention strategy officer role — developed as part of the Chancellor’s significant financial and institutional commitment to sexual assault prevention, intervention and support — will serve as UNC-Chapel Hill’s principal leader and collaborator on interpersonal and gender-based violence prevention. Reporting to Johnson as a senior member of the Student Affairs leadership team, Hurt will lead the development of a cross-campus violence prevention strategy (and creation of a long-term funding model), including sexual assault and harassment, dating and domestic violence and stalking. Additionally, she will oversee our Student Wellness department, in order to take a holistic view regarding wellness, violence prevention and student success.
“I am excited and honored for the opportunity to return to Carolina in this new role," said Hurt. "I look forward to working with partners across campus to develop a holistic and strategic approach to violence prevention, wellness and community safety.”
Most recently, Hurt served as vice president for strategic initiatives with Margolis Healy and Associates and Cozen O’Connor’s Institutional Response Group, where she provided consultation services to colleges and universities across the United States regarding Title IX policy development and implementation, interpersonal violence prevention and response efforts and organizational development initiatives. Prior to this, she held various senior leadership roles in Student Affairs from 2014-2019 and served as director of the Carolina Women’s Center from 2013-2016. Additionally, she served on an interim basis as the University’s first full-time Title IX coordinator and chaired the campus-wide Sexual Assault Task Force to develop the University’s policy on prohibited discrimination and harassment, including sexual misconduct, adopted in 2014. Hurt currently holds an adjunct faculty position in the UNC School of Government, where she teaches courses related to professional communications and nonprofit management.
"In bringing a leader of Christi’s caliber to Carolina, we hope not only to build critical leadership in the field of violence prevention at the University, but to help guide national strategy, policy and best practice," said Johnson in her campus announcement. "Christi has shown an unwavering commitment to address the causes and effects of interpersonal and gender-based violence throughout her career and established herself as a servant-leader and community facilitator who works tirelessly to create conditions in which communities can thrive."
Hurt is soon to be a triple Tar Heel alumna — having already graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in history and a Master of Public Administration — as she expects to complete her doctoral degree in public health leadership this year. She currently serves on several local boards, including the Center for Child and Family Health and the UNC Horizons Program.