MC Registrar Supports Future Leaders’ Work, Shares Christ’s Love, Earns DBT’s MVP Award for April
Megan Pritchett doesn’t like to be bored.
As registrar at Mississippi College, she never knows from one day to the next what difficulties she may encounter, what issues she may have to resolve.
And she thrives on the uncertainty.
“I love a challenge,” Pritchett said. “I love people coming to me with disparate things and asking, ‘What can we do with this?’ I love finding a way to make it work, finding a way to execute it, finding a way to make it better.
“I like finding ways to improve.”
It’s a “can-do” attitude that has become something of a trademark for the even-keeled mother of three and 2003 MC alum who has handled every issue thrown her way with quiet aplomb since joining the University staff in 2016.
Pritchett’s skillful problem-solving and professional service to students and their families has helped earn MC President Blake Thompson’s Most Valuable Person Award for April 2024.
Thompson and MC Provost and Executive Vice President Michael Highfield surprised her with the award during a staff meeting March 26 in Nelson Hall. As the monthly DBT’s MVP recipient, Pritchett received a T-shirt, a parking spot of her choosing on campus for a month, a $50 gift card, a gorgeous print of a sketch by internationally celebrated artist Samuel M. Gore, and the right to display a bobblehead of Thompson with his famous golf cart.
A self-professed introvert, Pritchett considers her work to be her mission field.
“Where does an introverted person fit into the body of Christ?” she asked. “Mississippi College is building leaders who are going to share Christ with the world. I can support them and give them the tools they need to go out and share the love of Christ. Every little task I do is helping to get those who are knowledgeable in their field into the world to show people why they are different.
“That’s why I show up every day and give everything I have – because I want to make sure everybody has something new to offer.”
Cindy Hampton, MC information technology systems analyst and previous DBT’s MVP Award recipient, served on the University’s search committee for the registrar’s position. She said Pritchett exuded confidence from Day One.
“She just took over the interview – in a great way,” said Hampton, MC’s longest-tenured employee. “I’ve sat on many search committees here and that was one of the best interviews I’ve ever seen. She left no doubt in my mind that she was the person for the job. And we were right.
“She’s one of the smartest people I’ve ever worked with. She has implemented and improved so many processes for our faculty, staff, and students. She is very thoughtful in all of the decisions that have to be made with the utmost regard to our policies and our mission. She goes the extra mile to support her staff and the whole MC community.
“She’s been a Godsend for us.”
The most challenging aspect of Pritchett’s profession – what she considers the most misunderstood part of a registrar’s duties – is being cast as a rule-keeper. She has developed a strategy to address that nametag.
“Everybody likes rules until they get in their way,” she said. “It’s hard sometimes to find loving ways to tell people that we’re not going to be able to meet their need. But I always try to follow that message with other options. I like to try to find another pathway.
“That’s the problem-solving side of me. I’m never going to say ‘No.’”
She credits the Registrar’s Office staff for helping her live up to the University’s mission and vision.
“I thank God for them because they are exactly what I need on a daily basis, professionally and personally,” Pritchett said. “We are a multigenerational department, so I get advice from grandmothers and mothers, and I get to mentor younger women and men. We get to do life together.
“We’re here to share the love of Christ, and then our jobs come next. It’s rare to work in an environment where everyone wants to be together most of the time. I’m nothing without them, their positive attitude, and the hard work they do.”
A new coworker Pritchett can lean on is her husband, Aaron, who came on board in January as director of institutional research at MC. The couple met when they were 15, started dating the following year, and have been writing their love story ever since. She treasures their daily commute to Clinton from the reservoir area.
“I’ve loved having him work here,” she said. “It’s been Aaron and me for a very long time. He is, without a doubt, my best friend in the whole world. I get to come to work every day with my best friend. It’s great getting to share all those bits of life with him.”
Mississippi College is interwoven in Pritchett’s family. Her grandmother, a Hillman College student, met her future husband when he was training with the Navy at MC before the U.S. entered World War II. Her mother obtained her undergraduate degree from Mississippi College, and her father got his M.B.A. here. Aaron also attended MC, but completed his degree at Liberty University.
With three children – Nathan, 17, Jacob, 15, and Lizzie, 5 – including two knocking on the doorstep of a college education, Pritchett is making sure they are aware of the excellent Christian education MC offers.
“Mississippi College is such a healthy environment – it’s small enough that you don’t get lost,” she said. “Making sure that my kids have the choice of Christian higher education is important to me and my family. We love it here and we want to see it go on for more generations.”
When not at work, Pritchett enjoys employing the skills she developed as a graphic design major at MC: painting, doing calligraphy, and taking part in other fine arts projects. She also likes to garden, read, and play in the backyard with the family’s two dogs and cat. Her most recent avocation is baking (“She makes delicious cakes!” Hampton attests.).
The Registrar’s Office doesn’t often get to bask in the limelight, which makes this DBT’s MVP Award extra special to Pritchett.
“If I’m doing my job well and my team is doing its job well, nobody thinks about us,” she said. “And that’s the way it should be. When people walk through our doors, it’s usually because they are experiencing problems. Many times, we’re just hearing negative things.
“Getting an award like this tells us that what we’re really doing is affecting people in a positive way. That’s always nice to hear.”
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