Langston University

by Ellie Melero, Media Relations Specialist

When Sheila McGill agreed to come out of retirement and return to work at her alma mater, she only intended to stay for four months. Thirteen years later, she officially retired… again.

McGill served as the Director of the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships at Langston University from 2011-2024, and after delaying her retirement one last time in March, her last day as a university employee was June 27.

“I believe God led me back here,” McGill said. “That was my assignment, but I think my assignment is complete and I feel good. I hope that if I made an imprint, I hope it’s a positive one that, you know, that my heart showed through all the things that we did.”

McGill began her career in financial aid as a student at Dear Langston. Like many, she participated in the Federal Work Study Program to help pay for expenses while in school. She worked in the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships on the third floor of Page Hall while she studied criminal justice. 

During her time as a student, Dear Langston quickly became a special place to McGill and she was in no hurry to leave. An active member of the campus community, McGill was crowned Miss Langston University in the Fall of 1978. She even participated in the 1978 sit-in protests at the Oklahoma Capitol to save the university when state legislators considered closing the school down.

When she graduated in December 1978 and the Office of Financial Aid asked her to stay on as a receptionist for the spring semester, she gladly accepted. When a position opened for a financial aid counselor that summer, she decided to apply.

From 1979-84, McGill worked as a financial aid counselor. It wasn’t what she had ever pictured herself doing, but she enjoyed the work, she enjoyed helping students, and she felt she had found her calling.

“I tell students, ‘Do not knock federal work study,’” McGill said. “It can give you some valuable work experience, as well as help you pay your bill.”

As time went on, McGill knew she was ready to grow in her career, even if that meant leaving Dear Langston. Eventually, the position of assistant director of financial aid at Central State College opened. McGill applied, and Central State hired her.

She spent the next two years at Central State, now known as the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO), before accepting the position of director of financial aid at Cameron University. Three years later, the director position at UCO opened and a mentor encouraged her to apply.

McGill returned to UCO in 1989 and worked as their director of financial aid for 20 years before retiring at 50.

“When I retired, my plan was to be done with financial aid,” McGill said. “Financial aid was going through some major changes during that time, and I thought, ‘This is a good time to get out’ and I did so.”

Although retired, McGill wasn’t ready to stop working just yet. She worked as a census worker for two years, and she enjoyed getting to know her state better. She had no intentions of returning to work in higher education, but life had other plans for her.

In 2011, a friend asked McGill to be the temporary director of financial aid at Langston University. McGill couldn’t say no.

“One of the things that made me say yes to Langston was being able to come back to where I started,” McGill said. “This is where I started my career, and the opportunity to come back and give back to the place that got me started, that’s one of the things that I feel blessed that I had the opportunity to do.”

That temporary position became a full-time position, and McGill was Dear Langston’s financial aid guru for 13 years. During that time, she impacted a lot of people, especially students.

Nacasaw Coppage, the assistant director of the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships, said it was well known that if a student came in to ask McGill a financial aid question, they would often walk away with a life lesson, too.

“Her impact is her wealth of knowledge,” Coppage said. “If you are a student, you may come in with this one issue, but she explains it and she produces the knowledge where she surrounds it. So when you walk out of her door, you’re positive of the fact of, ‘OK, I can begin this process now. I know what I’m trying to get to, and I’m going to get to that.’”

Her wisdom and encouragement were not reserved just for students.

Coppage said McGill was a well-rounded leader, asking her team members hard questions and pushing them to get out of their comfort zones and grow. Coppage herself is a testament to the quality of McGill’s mentorship.

Coppage worked under McGill for 10 years, starting as a financial aid counselor and, with McGill’s guidance, working her way up to assistant director. But Coppage isn’t the only one who has benefited from McGill’s leadership.

Coppage’s role as assistant director has taken her out of the office for conferences and other professional development opportunities several times, and she has met many people on these trips who know McGill and can attest to the valuable lessons she’s taught them.

“That’s kind of amazing to me,” Coppage said. “Even though you’ve only been at Langston, UCO and Cameron, your touch is widespread. It is more than just those institutions. You’ve touched people that went on and became directors for other institutions. It’s really amazing to see.”

Over the past 13 years, McGill has helped shape the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships into the well-oiled machine it is today. While sad to see McGill go, Coppage said thanks to McGill’s leadership throughout the years, she knows the Office will continue to provide students with high-quality financial aid service.

McGill said though she won’t be on campus as regularly, she hasn’t gone too far. Her granddaughter is a freshman at Dear Langston this fall, and McGill plans to come back to support her and continue to support her alma mater.

“I want to leave with a huge, ‘Thank you!’” McGill said. “Thank you, Langston, for the opportunity to jumpstart my career. This was not my plan, to go into financial aid and for financial aid become a career. That was God’s plan.

“But to circle around and bring me back to Langston, I believe that was part of His plan as well.”