Nov. 2, 2022 | Stacie Hidek Greene
Burt Kilpatrick graduated from UNCW in 1991 with a degree in business management that he put to use right away by working in small loan and real estate lending. But after a few years, he said, “I felt like I wanted to do something that was a little different.”
He came back to UNCW for his teaching license.
Burt, welcoming students to Bellamy Elementary School
“Some people call it ‘what you’re meant to do’ or ‘a calling’ or that kind of thing,” he explained. “I think it probably is something like that.”
Now, instead of analyzing loan applications, he likes to start his workday by visiting teachers’ classrooms, helping with the car line and greeting arriving students at Bellamy Elementary School. He’s now the principal at the New Hanover County school.
Kilpatrick returned to UNCW again to receive his Master of School Administration in 2008 and said both he and his wife, Kristen Kilpatrick ’93, still feel ties to the university, where they met.
The two just celebrated their 26th wedding anniversary.
“At one point while getting my undergraduate degree, I was the membership coordinator for three organizations: the UNCW Ambassadors, the orientation programs and a social Greek organization, Sigma Phi Epsilon,” he said. “One day I interviewed a freshman for two organizations on the same day.”
He cites working with those organizations, particularly orientation, with helping him develop the leadership skills that helped him start his career.
“I got to work with the associate vice chancellor at the time and [Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs] Pat Leonard – just getting to be around those folks, you really learn from being around them,” he said.