Michelle Guobadia, senior director of student engagement and director of fraternity and sorority life at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, was recently awarded the 2025 Dr. Robert H. Shaffer Award from the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors (AFA). Presented annually, the award recognizes an individual in the field of higher education who has demonstrated a long-term commitment to fraternities and sororities.
Guobadia has led fraternity and sorority life at UNC Charlotte since 2008. When she first began her tenure at the university, there were 28 Greek chapters with fewer than 900 members. Now, Goubadia oversees a diverse community of over 40 fraternities and sororities with some 1,800 students. Throughout her time with UNC Charlotte, she has focused on hazing prevention and advancing leadership opportunities for fraternity and sorority students.
An active member of the AFA, Guobadia previously received the association’s Sue Kraft Fussell Distinguished Service Award and had a stint on the board of directors. Additionally, she is the leading donor of the AFA Foundation’s Guobadia Graduate and Emerging Professionals Endowment, which provides support and professional development initiatives to both graduate students and new professionals.
Guobadia is a graduate of the University of Delaware, where she was a member of the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority. She received her master’s degree in higher education from North Carolina State University. Before joining the UNC Charlotte administration, Guobadia was assistant director of fraternity and sorority life at George Mason University in Virginia for three years.