“I’m a big believer in donating large amounts of private money to the University — now, if we could get the legislature to catch up, we could go further,” Hodding Carter, former UNC professor of leadership and public affairs, said.

The Shuford family runs the fifth-generation North Carolina company Shurtape Technologies, LLC of Hickory. The donors — Jim Shuford, CEO of Stm Industries, Stephen Shuford, CEO of Shurtape Technologies and Dorothy Shuford Lanier of Bedford, New York — are siblings and fifth-generation UNC graduates. Their grandfather, Abel Alexander Shuford Jr., graduated from UNC in 1900.

“The graduates of 1900 could not imagine this world, I don’t think. And we can’t imagine the one that 30 years from now the students that are benefiting from this program will be creating,” Folt said at Tuesday’s presentation.

Folt said the program’s expansion would help foster the innovative thinkers of the future by becoming part of the UNC experience as a whole, as most students spend their first two years in the college and more than 75 percent of undergraduates graduate from the College of Arts and Sciences. The expanded entrepreneurship program will also collaborate with over 30 different majors.

“It doubles the size of this program, and as you heard from Kevin, there are a lot of students that are unable to do it that are just thirsty for this opportunity — that is really exciting to us,” Folt said.

Jim Shuford said the donation went to the College of Arts and Sciences rather than the Kenan-Flagler Business School because of the potential for a broader reach, as these entrepreneurial skills can prepare all students for their futures, not just business majors.

“Preparing these people for the future — it just seemed like the logical thing to do,” Shuford said.

university@dailytarheel.com