Gardner-Webb Alumna Shelby Putnam Combines History, Community and Storytelling at Carolina Theatre

The 2020 Graduate Credits GWU’s Liberal Arts Education, Faculty Mentorship and Leadership Experiences for Helping Shape Her Career

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C.—On those rare occasions when Gardner-Webb University 2020 alumna Shelby Putnam catches a show at the historic Carolina Theatre in Greensboro, N.C., she takes in the beautifully-preserved auditorium and knows she is in the right place. She is reminded why she left her own business to become the theatre’s director of marketing and public relations.

“The first time I walked into the auditorium, my jaw dropped, and I couldn’t believe that there was a building like this still here,” she reflected. “I felt like there’s only one time I could say yes, to being here … and if I don’t say yes to it now, then I’ll never get this opportunity again, to just be a part of this, and be a part of this place.”

Opened on Halloween night in 1927 as a silent-film palace, the Carolina Theatre has evolved alongside a century of entertainment, from screenings accompanied by the Robert Morton pipe organ to today’s concerts, films and live productions. Since joining the staff, Putnam has helped promote an eclectic mix of events, including opera, ballet, comedians, concerts and community programs.

Putnam’s journey to the Carolina Theatre began years earlier with a providential discovery. A native of Rock Hill, S.C., she was looking through family records and discovered a report card showing her grandfather had attended Gardner-Webb Junior College in 1942 and 1943.

“I immediately asked my dad, ‘Where is this? What is this? I thought granddad went to N.C. State,'” Putnam recalled. “And he was like, ‘Well, he also went to this school in the town that you named after,’ and never told me that until that moment.”

The discovery prompted her to apply, and she was accepted. When she visited the GWU campus, the connections continued to emerge. “I ran into one of the history professors who was also in seminary with my dad, and had probably two or three other small- town moments,” Putnam said. “I realized that there’s only so much that’s serendipitous, and sometimes it just is divine timing.”

While pursuing her degree in political science, Putnam immersed herself in leadership opportunities, internships and service projects. As student body president, she encountered a challenge that would steer her in a new professional direction. “When I was in student government, one of the things that we were struggling with was promotion of student events,” she explained.

Looking for solutions, she turned to Gardner-Webb’s marketing team. “The social media manager and I sat down and had coffee probably five plus times at least, just me asking her a thousand questions and picking her brain,” Putnam shared.

Taking what she learned from those conversations, Putnam began taking photos and creating content to promote student events and engage her fellow students. “I found out that I was pretty good at it, and I really enjoyed figuring out how to connect with people,” she said. “If I can use my skills to get people to connect with this student event or with this fundraising event or this free community event where they can meet new people, then I feel like I’ve done something.”

After graduation, she put her photography and marketing skills to work with the Boys & Girls Club in Shelby. “It was really gratifying to know that I could use technical skills to help propel an organization into this next generation and get people to connect with them in a way that maybe they hadn’t before,” she shared.

Her work went beyond marketing. “If I’m going to spend my limited amount of time on this earth doing something, then what do I want it to be for?” she reflected. “I don’t really care to get a bunch of jewels or gain a bunch of fame or money, but I do want whatever I do here and whatever I spend my time doing to have an impact.”

She credits her adaptability and problem-solving skills to her Gardner-Webb liberal arts education. Exposed to disciplines ranging from history and acting to business, psychology and rhetoric, she developed the ability to think broadly and communicate across fields. “If you’re looking at what type of degree will get you the most amount of skills, I would argue, it’s a liberal arts education,” she offered.

Putnam’s experience was also shaped by Gardner-Webb’s small-campus environment. She appreciated being part of a community where people knew one another beyond the classroom. She built meaningful relationships with faculty, including former Associate Professor of Political Science and International Affairs Dr. Elizabeth Amato, whom she credits with broadening her perspective on learning and career possibilities.

“She’s just an incredible mentor and person,” Putnam said. “As a professor, she inspired me to think about learning in more than one way.” Rather than limiting political science to government or politics, Amato encouraged students to examine issues through historical, sociological and economic lenses and emphasized that there was more than one career path for graduates.

As she pursued her degree and various interests, Putnam discovered that her greatest satisfaction came from connecting people with places, experiences and causes that mattered. Her passion for history and service began long before her professional career. A longtime member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, she grew up volunteering and gaining an appreciation for the individuals and institutions that strengthen ties between generations.

Those passions ultimately drew her to the Carolina Theatre in January 2026. Putnam believes theaters have long served as gathering places that bring together people of different generations and backgrounds. “There’s very few places physically that you can see an older couple enjoying something at the same time as a younger couple in the same building, same space,” she observed. The theater, she added, has traditionally been “a place where everyone was welcome.” She sees that every day at the Carolina Theatre as audiences arrive with different stories, backgrounds and reasons for attending, yet share the same experience once the lights go down.

“There’s this moment of awe,” Putnam described. “There’s a realization in that moment that, wow, people have performances and stories and weddings right here. And there’s years and years of history that you can feel, I think, the moment that you walk into the auditorium.”

As the Carolina Theatre approaches its 100th anniversary, Putnam embraces the opportunity to combine the passions that have shaped her journey—history, community engagement and storytelling. “My role here is to be a steward of this building,” she said. “The goal, too, in my eyes, is making sure that this building is here past me.”

Gardner-Webb University is North Carolina’s recognized leader in private, Christian higher education. A Carnegie-Classified Doctoral/Professional University, GWU is home to nine colleges and schools, more than 80 undergraduate and graduate majors, and a world-class faculty. Located on a beautiful 225-acre campus in Boiling Springs, N.C., Gardner-Webb prepares graduates to impact their chosen professions, equips them with the skills to advance the frontiers of knowledge, and inspires them to make a positive and lasting difference in the lives of others. Become More at gardner-webb.edu.