Shane M. McGee, Institutional Advancement

Background:

As the son of a U.U. minister, I moved around my entire life. I was born in San Francisco while my father was in seminary at Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley. After that I moved to Meadville, PA, Roanoke, VA, New Orleans, LA, and Cleveland, OH. Throughout all of those moves, The Mountain was the only consistent destination in my life. My roots are at The Mountain.

During college I joined the Ohio Air National Guard. My first job after college was working in the office at The Mountain. After that, I moved on to law school in Cinncinnati and have been a practicing attorney ever since. All but the first six months of my career have been spent in the greater Washington, D.C. area.

What attracted you to The Mountain?

I was seven years old when I began coming to The Mountain with my family. So although my first visits were not a matter of choice, my return visits have been. I come back to The Mountain because it's an "easy" place. It's easy to be myself, easy to establish friendships, and easy to interact with others because of the shared values. When you make that long drive up to The Mountain it seems as if you're a million miles away from everything you want to escape. For those reasons, it's a great place to heal, recharge and grow.

What would you like to accomplish in your Board role?

I would like to help facilitate a return to the core values and mission of The Mountain, and to welcome back to The Mountain those people that helped build it. I want to help repair relationships that have been damaged, and give the next generation an opportunity to experience what I experienced as a child at The Mountain.

About your family:

My wife is Shelly McGee. She is also very fond of The Mountain.   

What do you find most important in life?

For me, "life" is the most important thing about life. That is to say, too many people go through life without living. People need to take the opportunity to live life to its fullest, and I think The Mountain is an important part of that lesson. Life is also about leaving something behind. By engaging other people and sharing our thoughts and values we can help improve the world that comes after us.

Anything else you'd like to include?

The fondest memories of my childhood were participating in activities at The Mountain, including the whitewater adventures, hikes and climbs. I hope to have a lot more of those memories before my time is up.