UNC Global Continues Success of Annual Passport Drive
November 28, 2017
UNC Global Affairs
Lili Zay '20 and Lucky Prachith '19 hold their new passport photos, courtesy of Chancellor Folt.
For another year, UNC Global saw great success with its annual passport drive, hosted on Nov. 14 and 15 in the FedEx Global Education Center. The drive provides a convenient way for the Carolina community to apply for, renew and ask questions about passports and encourages international travel and education. This year, a record number of 390 students, faculty, staff and family members applied for passports.
U.S. Department of State officials were on campus to answer questions and accept applications on both days, and the UNC One Card lent their assistance with taking and printing official passport photos. UNC Global coordinated the drive with volunteers from all across campus providing logistical support.
“We want to make work, study and travel abroad as open and accessible as possible to UNC’s students, faculty, staff and their families. This passport drive is a great way for us to help make the path to a meaningful global experience much smoother,” said Katie Bowler Young, director of Global Relations for UNC Global.
This year, Chancellor Folt helped to make the event even more accessible by offering complimentary passport photos for the first 50 students who arrived at the drive each day, for 100 total free passport pictures over the course of the drive. Seventy-three undergraduate and 27 graduate students received free photos courtesy of Chancellor Folt.
“It was a lovely surprise to find that Chancellor Folt was paying for the photos of the first 50 students,” said Lili Zay ’20, who benefited from the Chancellor’s support.
The Center for Global Initiatives (CGI) also continued its Passport to Go! program, which allows first-year and transfer students to apply for their first passport with the application fee fully funded by CGI. This year, 103 students were awarded funding.
Faith Jeffers ’21 was one of the Passport to Go! recipients, and was able to get her first passport for free. “The process did go very smooth,” she said. “I simply filled out the application, took my picture and waited in line. I do want to study abroad or simply take a trip out of the country during my college experience within the next four years. The experience [of the passport drive] was great, and I’m so excited that I was given the opportunity to get a passport.”