EC Alumni - Winter 2014

WINTER 2014

A Tradition of Legacies

12 from fifth street to sesame street Dr. Valeria

Lovelace ’73 uses television to enhance education.

16 east carolina’s family tree Legacy families at

East Carolina show the University’s past, present, and future.

22 fighting for health Capt. Mike Herring ’80 combats

disease to improve public health.

DEPARTMENTS

FEATURES

Allie Rawl ’13, shown with her parents Julian W. “Bubba” and Barbara Basnight Rawl. Allie is the fourth generation of a family with ties to ECU, one of many legacy families at East Carolina.

ON THE COVER

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dear pirate nation

pirate connections

photo gallery

legislative matters

advancement update career corner

around campus

a look back

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EC Alumni, the magazine of the East Carolina Alumni Association, takes a closer look at the accomplishments of our alumni, bringing you engaging feature articles highlighting their success. EC Alumni also features news from around campus, updates from University Advancement, career advice, how alumni and friends can support ECU’s legislative initiatives, and a look back at the University’s treasured history.

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We Believe! In our last issue, I wrote to you about the “We Believe” spirit that is alive and well at East Carolina. I wanted to share a couple examples of the University’s impact on the world around us that keeps our students, alumni, faculty, parents and friends BELIEVING in ECU!

ECU’s work on diabetes research is well documented and places our University as a leader in the field. In particular, the work of Dr. Lesley Lutes and her team of researchers that study the impact of diabetes on other behavioral

conditions like depression is an area that has garnered ECU some recent attention from the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation. The Foundation recently awarded Dr. Lutes and her partners Dr. Doyle Cummings, Dr. Kerry Littlewood, and Dr. Kari Kirian a $450,000 grant to continue their research. East Carolina was one of only three universities to receive a grant from Bristol-Myers. The other two were the University of Michigan and the University of Colorado - prestigious company for our fine researchers.

Our student athletes inspire the “We Believe” spirit as men’s and women’s basketball are off to hot starts and our gridiron Pirates are going bowling again after a 9-3 regular season. Our football team once again proved why many call ECU the football school of North Carolina by garnering road wins over in-state rivals UNC-Chapel Hill and North Carolina State.

There are many reasons “We Believe in ECU!” Our friends at UNC-TV recently did a great job of sharing these reasons in a feature that aired last month. This video highlights our impact on healthcare and the economy of eastern North Carolina, our Honors College and our engineering programs. You can watch the video at http://video.unctv.org/video/2365129815.

In this season of thanksgiving and celebration, your friends at the East Carolina Alumni Association wish you and yours a joyous holiday season. Thank you for all you do to keep believing in ECU!

GO PIRATES!

Paul J. CliffordPresident and CEO

The mission of the East Carolina Alumni Association is to inform, involve, and serve members of the ECU family throughout their lifelong relationship with the University.

Paul J. CliffordPRESIDENT AND CEO

Christy Angle ’95ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR ALUMNI PROGRAMS

Monique BestACCOUNTING TECHNICIAN

Jackie DrakeASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR ALUMNI COMMUNICATIONS

Candi High ’97ACCOUNTANT

Michael S. Kowalczyk ’09, ’10ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR ALUMNI PROGRAMS

Shawn Moore ’91, ’98DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI PROGRAMS

Doug Smith ’00, ’07VICE PRESIDENT FOR

ALUMNI MEMBERSHIP & MARKETING

Chelsea Ward ’13ALUMNI CENTER COORDINATOR

Chris Williams ’01ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR ALUMNI MEMBERSHIP

EC Alumni (ISSN: 2152-3886) is published quarterly by the East Carolina Alumni Association. The Alumni Association is a member of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and Council of Alumni Association Executives (CAAE) and is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that operates interdependently with East Carolina University. The views expressed in EC Alumni magazine do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of the Alumni Association or the University. Reproduction of EC Alumni in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

©2014 East Carolina Alumni Association

Read EC Alumni online at:PirateAlumni.com/ECAlumni

ISSN: 2152-5668

To contact us or comment on this magazine:252-328-4723 | 800-ECU-GRAD

[email protected]

Send change of address to:East Carolina Alumni Association Taylor-Slaughter Alumni Center

Mail Stop 305East Carolina University

Greenville, NC 27858-4353

EC Alumni is paid for with non-state funds.

DEAR PIRATE NATION

VOL. 7, NO. 1ALUMNI

Let’s Be Social!

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Facebook.com/ECAAFanPage

Twitter.com/PirateAlumniUse the hashtag #piratealumni

PirateAlumni.com/Linkedin

Flickr.com/Photos/PirateAlumniTag your photos with piratealumni

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Networking Events

We believe in the power of the Pirate Alumni Network! Connect with other East Carolina graduates at one of our many upcoming networking events across the Pirate Nation! Advance your career and meet fellow Pirates in your area, including graduates who are leaders in their fields. Networking events will be held at the following locations and dates.

Charlotte, NCJanuary 14 at 5:30 p.m.NASCAR Hall of Fame

Raleigh, NCFebruary 12 at 7:30 a.m.Irregardless Café

Greensboro, NCFebruary 12 at 12:00 noonLibby Hill Seafood

Greenville, NCFebruary 13 at 7:30 a.m.Varsity Club

Washington, DCMarch 5 at 5:30 p.m.Old Ebbitt Grill

Virginia Beach, VAMarch 6 at 5:30 p.m.McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood

Greenville, NCMarch 11 at 7:30 a.m.City Hotel & Bistro

New Bern, NCMarch 11 at 12:00 noonBaker’s Kitchen

Class of 1964 Golden Alumni Reunion

Members of the class of 1964 are invited to come home to East Carolina on May 8-9, 2014 to reunite with fellow Pirates for a special Golden Alumni Reunion over commencement weekend.

Plan to arrive Thursday afternoon in time for campus tours, followed by the Senior Celebration Dinner with the class of 2014 to honor the accomplishments of East Carolina graduates past and present. The evening will end with the Candlelight Ceremony where the 1964 graduates will pass the torch of Pirate pride to the University’s newest alumni, the class of 2014. On Friday

morning, the class of 1964 will wear golden robes to lead the graduating class into Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium for commencement, followed by a reunion luncheon.

Participants will receive a Golden Alumni medallion and memory book.

For more information, contact Assistant Director for Alumni Programs Christy Angle ‘95 at 252-328-1958 or [email protected], and be sure to check for updates at PirateAlumni.com.

Service Month

The University’s motto Servire, meaning “to serve,” encourages students, staff, and alumni to give back to their communities. Pirates are encouraged to volunteer at their favorite non-profit or charity or wherever help is needed across the Pirate Nation throughout the month of April. Service unites Pirates no matter where they are! If you are an alumnus looking for a way to volunteer, or if you are a community organization that could use some help from volunteers, get involved with Service Month! Contact Director of Alumni Programs Shawn Moore ‘91, ‘98 at at 252-328-5775 or [email protected], or visit PirateAlumni.com/ServiceMonth.

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PIRATE CONNECTIONS

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6,805 ‘Like’ usFacebook.com/ECAAFanPage

18,754 Event PhotosFlickr.com/photos/PirateAlumni

8,808 ConnectionsPirateAlumni.com/Linkedin

4,320 FollowersTwitter.com/PirateAlumni

152,422 Total Alumni

1,768 Life Members

6,054 Annual Members

1,788 Student Members

New Home?Quickly update

your ECU

record online

PirateAlumni.com/UpdateInfo

Pirate Career Casts

Pirate Career Casts are monthly interactive webcasts that allow East Carolina graduates to develop their careers with nationally recognized experts. Top consultants, CEOs, authors, and speakers will provide ways to get ahead in today’s competitive workplace.

Held the first Wednesday of every month at 8:00 p.m., Pirate Career Casts are free for Alumni Association members and $10 for non-members. Participants can log in from any computer with an Internet connection with the URL and password provided upon registration.

For more information, contact Assistant Director for Alumni Programs Christy Angle ’95 at 252-328-1958 or [email protected], or visit PirateAlumni.com/PirateCareerCasts.

SAVE THE DATE!Saturday, April 12

PirateAlumni.com/2014RoadRace

Career Entrepreneurism January 8Presented by Ben Casnocha, author of The Start-up of You!

Career Exploration February 5Presented by Richard Bolles, author of What Color Is Your Parachute?

Networking March 5Presented by Dr. Ivan Misner, founder of BNI, the world’s largest business networking organization

Leadership April 2Presented by Al Duncan, motivational speaker and youth advocate

TwitterMay 7Presented by Susan Whitcomb, founder of Career Coach Academy and Job Search Academy

Job SearchJune 4Presented by John Boyd, author of The Illustrated Guide to Selling You

PIRATEALUMNI.COM 5

PIRATE CONNECTIONS

Angela Moss ’97, ’98, Chair Raleigh, NCNeal Crawford ’85, Vice Chair

Norfolk, VAGlenda Palmer-Moultrie ’79, Secretary Derwood, MDDean Browder ’77, Treasurer

Winston-Salem, NCJim Newman Jr. ’68, ’74, Past Chair

Raleigh, NC Paul J. Clifford, President and CEO

Greenville, NC

William Burnette ’96 Virginia Beach, VAAdrian Cullin ’04 Charlotte, NCJim Dill ’79 Richmond, VANeil Dorsey ’65, ’66 Winterville, NC Ralph Finch ’67 Midlothian, VAJeff Foster ’83 Winterville, NCKeith Frazier ’94 Raleigh, NC Dave Fussell Jr. ’90 Rose Hill, NCMark Garner ’77 Greenville, NC Robin Good ’80 Katy, TXDuane Grooms ’80, ’82 Columbia, SCJames Hammond ’66 Poughkeepsie, NY Melanie Holden ’79 Raleigh, NCJohn Israel ’82 Norfolk, VAWesley Johnson ’85 Powder Springs, GACharlie Martin Jr. ’68 Greenville, NCMarian McLawhorn ’67, ’88, ’97 Grifton, NCMichael McShane ’66 Alexandria, VADan Spuller ’06, ’07 Raleigh, NCAinee Lynnette Taylor ’97 Winterville, NCAllen Thomas ’92 Winterville, NCJason Tomasula ’00, ’03, ’10 Charlotte, NC

EMERITUS MEMBERS:Sabrina Bengel New Bern, NCVirgil Clark ’50 DeceasedCarl Davis ’73 Raleigh, NCDave Englert ’75 Norfolk, VAErnest Logemann ’68 Winston-Salem, NC Brenda Myrick ’92 Greenville, NC

BOARD DIRECTORS

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Help Recruit the Next Generation of the Pirate Nation at ECU Today

ECU Today introduces potential students to East Carolina University and brings them face-to-face with orientation and admissions staff. We invite East Carolina alumni to answer questions about your East Carolina experience and help recruit new ECU students from your area. ECU Today events reconnect you with your alma mater by sharing a glimpse of ECU in a fresh, new light. Come discover why “Tomorrow Starts Here” and help to bring the best and brightest in your community to ECU.

Wilmington, NCMonday, March 3, 2014 6:30 p.m.

Charlotte, NCTuesday, March 4, 2014 at 6:30 p.m.

Raleigh, NCThursday, March 6 2014 at 6:30 p.m.

Virginia Beach, VAMonday, March 10, 2014 at 6:30 p.m.

Fairfax, VATuesday, March 11, 2014 at 6:30 p.m.

Looking to promote your business?

The Alumni Association is proud to announce a partnership with Alumni Concepts to produce the Pirate Alumni Business Directory. This online listing of Pirate-owned businesses is a great way for Pirates to support each other. Businesses owned by ECU alumni can get listed for free for ninety days. Alumni can search the directory for free anytime. A mobile app version is also available. For more information, visit PirateBusinessDirectory.com.

Fayetteville, NCTuesday, March 18, 2014 at 6:30 p.m.

Greensboro, NCThursday, March 20, 2014 at 6:30 p.m.

As they become available, complete details will be posted on our events calendar at PirateAlumni.com/UpcomingEvents


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The team of Ashley Leonard ’04, Adrienne Matthews ’05, Brian Edgerton, and Al Godwin (not pictured) are the two-time champions of the ECU ALUMNI SCHOLARSHIP CLASSIC golf tournament that raises funds for alumni scholarships.

Alumni volunteers Linda Thompson Thomas ’81 and Glenda Palmer Moultrie ’79 ride in the annual HOMECOMING PARADE representing the recently reactivated Black Alumni Chapter.

Ted Hollingsworth ’79 was named the East Carolina Alumni Association’sfirst Legacy Parent of the Year at the inaugural PIRATE ALUMNI LEGACY BRUNCH on September 15 during Family Weekend. The Pirate Alumni Legacy Brunch honored families of current ECU students with two or more generations of Pirates (including parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, siblings, and/or cousins). The brunch was a sold-out event with more than 140 participants.

PIRATEALUMNI.COM 7PHOTOGALLERY PIRATEALUMNI.COM 7

The 2013 ALUMNI AWARDS CEREMONY was held October 18 at the Greenville Convention Center. This year’s honorees were (L-R) Distinguished Service Award recipients Bill Furr ’65, Mary Plybon ’71; Honorary Alumni Award recipient Harvey Lewis; and Outstanding Alumni Award recipients Philip Houston ’77, J. Fielding Miller ’84, Jerry Tolley ’65, ’66, and George Whitfield ’59.

Capt. Mike Herring ’80, Ashley Boarman ’08, Sage Onderdonk ’00, and Carmin Black ’07 recently gave back to ECU by visiting campus to talk with today’s students about their careers.

< < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < Year after year ALUMNI TAILGATE is the place to be before all home football games. Participants are treated to delicious food, cold Pirate beverages, music, games for the kids, giveaways, and a visit from the ECU cheerleaders.

> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Several hundred alumni and friends gathered in Raleigh for the ECU VS. NC STATE PREGAME PARTY and AWAY GAME TAILGATE hosted by the Alumni Association and Pirate Club.


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On September 30, Congress was not able to reach an agreement on a spending measure for fiscal year 2014, leading to a sixteen-day partial government shutdown. The shutdown had a variety of impacts on higher education. Federal Student Aid was minimally impacted since most programs are forward funded. Tuition assistance (TA), funds for active-duty military to pursue a degree, was suspended during the shutdown and will not be retroactively issued for classes that began after October 1.

Academic research across the country, ranging from sophisticated biomedical experiments at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to daily undergraduate essays on college campuses, was interrupted. In addition to forcing the closure of government buildings where research was conducted, the shutdown also cut off access to a multitude of electronic resources on which many researchers depended. Nonoperational websites included the Library of Congress, the U.S. Census Bureau, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Institute of Education Sciences at the Education Department.

After sixteen days of battling over the partial government shutdown, Congress passed a temporary Continuing Resolution (CR) to re-open the government and extend the debt ceiling. The agreement is temporary and leaves unresolved FY14 spending levels, including questions of whether the automatic spending cuts, known as sequesteration, will continue in January.

Agencies that administer grants for university and institutional research have had to reschedule or even cancel some review meetings, push back application deadlines, and slow the granting of new awards in an effort to make sure reviewers have sufficient time to access applications and effectively complete reviews. The NIH has said that the government shutdown came at one of its busiest periods, and

has advised researchers to keep an eye on the NIH Guide (http://grants.nih.gov/GRANTS/guide/) for its updates. All NIH October grant application submission deadlines would be rescheduled to dates in November so applicants would have access to NIH staff, help desks, and electronic systems. The eRA Commons and other NIH extramural electronic systems were online and accessible to the public starting October 21. One week after the shutdown, the NSF posted guidance and updated revised proposal deadline’s on the agency’s website and said Advisory Committee meetings would be canceled through December unless an exception was granted by the Acting Director. Other Panel and PI meetings were to be postponed through the end of October, pending directorate and office review.

The agreement President Obama signed into law on October 16 to effectively end the government shutdown established the first bicameral budget conference since 2009 that will work on deciding next year’s spending and possibly even take into consideration tax code overhaul and changes to entitlement programs. The congressional conference committee has a December 13, 2013 deadline to come to an agreement on FY14 spending levels. The House and Senate each passed fiscal year 2014 budget resolutions earlier this year, but the two chambers are far apart in their top-line funding levels, with the House at $967 billion and the Senate at $1,058 billion. If the conference fails to come to an agreement, the government could shut down again on January 15, 2014 and would face federal loan default on February 7, 2014.

The Government ShutdownImpacts on Higher Education

PIRATEALUMNI.COM 9

Where Pirate Memories Continue...“My life at Cypress Glen is just beginning. I’ve measured my expectations against the experiences of my friends and they have supported my decision to become a permanent resident. Who better to affirm a life decision than those people I have trusted, respected, and worked with for so many years?”

Official Partner

Janice Faulkner enrolled at East Carolina just a few days after she graduated high school. After earning her B.S. and M.A. degrees, she dedicated 38 years to East Carolina serving in numerous capacities including English professor, Director of Alumni Affairs, Chairman of the Board of ECU Credit Union, Director of the Regional Development Institute, and Associate Vice Chancellor for Regional Development. Janice was also a founding member and first chair of the ECU Board of Visitors. She was awarded Distinguished Alumnae Award in 1993, an Honorary Doctorate in 1998, and in 2009 received ECU’s most prestigious award, the Jarvis Medal. After taking an early retirement, Janice began a distinguished career in government, including North Carolina Secretary of State, Executive Director of NC Democratic Party, and Commissioner of North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles. Her active service and significant contributions to numerous organizations in Eastern North Carolina are immeasurable.

Janice Faulkner ’53, ’56Cypress Glen Resident since 2013

www.cypressglen.org

A gift from your retirement plan (IRA, 401(k), and other qualified retirement plans) can enable you to leave a perpetual legacy at ECU while capturing multiple tax benefits.

When you gift a percentage or specific dollar total from your retirement plan to East Carolina University through the East Carolina University Foundation Inc., East Carolina University Medical & Health Sciences Foundation Inc., or the East Carolina University Educational Foundation Inc. (Pirate Club), you can help future students

while gaining a tax advantage. By utilizing this specific asset, where often the greatest amount of your wealth resides, you can avoid/reduce income and estate taxation. This asset is among the most difficult to pass to heirs/beneficiaries because it is a deferred tax asset. For these reasons, gifting this asset versus others with less tax burden allows you to take better care of your heirs while leaving a perpetual legacy at ECU. This easy process can be done through one simple piece of paperwork (Beneficiary Designation Form) provided by your plan provider. For

more information about this planned gift or joining the Leo W. Jenkins Society, please call 252-328-9573 or e-mail [email protected]. You may also find more information online at www.ecu.edu/devt.

Greg Abeyounis, CFREAssociate Vice Chancellor for DevelopmentOffice of University Development 2200 S. Charles BoulevardMail Stop 301East Carolina UniversityGreenville, NC 27858-4353

ESTABLISH YOUR LEGACY: SUPPORT EAST CAROLINA


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E Richard L. Caudle Gives Back to ECU in his EstateBorn in 1945, Richard Caudle went to high school like anyone else, but a recommendation from one of his high school teachers changed his life forever. Ms. March recommended that Richard apply for admission to East Carolina University. It turned out to be the only college he applied to and, for that, he has no regrets. He was accepted and says, “My years at the university were challenging, but they were some of the best years of my life.” Because of his wonderful experience, he decided to give back to ECU. He hopes that by including the University in his estate planning, he will be able to make a real difference in the lives of other ECU students. “I know how much I benefitted from my college experience and would like to afford others the chance to have that same opportunity.”

Richard’s parents Sara and Roddye Caudle grew up during the depression years and never had the opportunity to go to college. “They were determined that my brother, David, and I would be college educated and (they) sacrificed tremendously to make that happen,” said Richard. Richard’s father worked as the vice president/sales manager of a textile manufacturer, and his mother was a homemaker. In 1969 Richard’s parents’ hard

work and determination paid off when he graduated with a bachelor of fine arts. The connections Richard made while attending ECU paid off as well. It was the

dean of the School of Art, Wellington “Bud” Gray, who helped Richard land his first job out of college teaching art at a junior high school in Elizabeth City. After three years of teaching, he made a career change and became a welder at the Newport News shipyard in Virginia. He eventually left the shipyard, but continued in construction as a pipe and boilermaker welder; all the while saving money to become a franchised Harley-Davidson dealer, which he accomplished. After seven years of owning the Harley-Davidson dealership in Valdosta, GA, Richard sold it to become a graphic designer at Buescher Communications, a Georgia advertising agency, and then art director at U.S. Press, also in Georgia. Then one day an old friend and former ECU student proposed that they start a dyeing and finishing company, Spectratex, Inc., together back in North Carolina; a proposition that turned out to be a very rewarding and successful venture. After the sale of that company, Richard went into business installing textile machinery throughout the U.S. and Mexico. Eventually he returned to his first love as a cover artist with Delmar Publishing Co. in Charlotte, NC and then as art director at Dominion Press, a Lincolnton, NC manufacturer of greeting cards.

For the last fifteen years since his semi-retirement, he has been a self-employed graphic designer and photographer. “My largest client is Fisher Athletic, a national

“I know how much I benefitted from my college experience and would like to afford others the chance to have that same opportunity.”

PIRATEALUMNI.COM 11

manufacturer of athletic equipment in Salisbury, NC and Camargo, IL and it makes me proud to see that ECU is one of their large customers.” Richard enjoys riding his motorcycle and has just returned from a ride out to Colorado and Wyoming. He spends time kayaking and has lately started jumping out of “perfectly good airplanes,” as he describes them. “I still do my artwork and photography, and was even fortunate enough to be included in ECU’s Eighth Photographic Image Biennial Exhibition.”

“I’m just an average Joe who isn’t able to make large gifts like major donors (can), so

including ECU in my estate planning was the right way to go for me,” says Richard. He adds, “Including the university in your will is a great alternative to an up-front contribution.” He says that even though he won’t be able to see the results of his donation first-hand, or meet the students who will benefit from it, just knowing that his gift will be providing others with the same opportunities given to him is enough. “ECU students receive a top-notch education that enables them to compete anywhere they choose, but the university’s focus on service to eastern North Carolina is especially important,” said Richard.

Ann’s work through the Women’s Roundtable has afforded her the opportunity to tour the new family practice quarters, meet students, and hear presentations by faculty and administrators. When describing her experience with the Women’s Roundtable she says, “We alumnae of ECU have a great opportunity to connect with, and be involved in, the life and future of ECU through the Women’s Roundtable.”

By getting reconnected with ECU, Ann has loved remembering and reliving some of the happiest moments of her life. She would tell any woman who is considering becoming involved with ECU and the Women’s Roundtable that, “with over 75,000 female graduates we are in a position to continue and enhance the ECU mission by our support. As nurturing individuals who care about quality of life we should give back because East Carolina once gave to us.”

Ann is pleasantly surprised to find that ECU continues to commit itself to proposals outlined by her hero, Leo Jenkins. She hopes that everyone understands ECU’s commitment to preparing the sons and daughters of North Carolina to provide medical care to the “homefolks.” She insists that “ECU’s tenacity in adhering to its mission over many decades” continues to impress her.

When she is not working or volunteering, Ann spends her time cheering on Pirate football and the Tennessee Titans, whose running back is former ECU player, Chris Johnson. She also enjoys traveling with friends. She attributes trips to places such as an Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and transiting the Panama Canal, as some of the most memorable moments of her life. While a very adventurous traveler, Ann still enjoys spending time nurturing her small town roots on her farm, with her border collie, Tuxedo, and riding her horse, appropriately named…Journey.

As she first entered East Carolina College in 1962 straight off her family’s farm in Orange County, NC, Ann Neville was immediately challenged by an influential history professor to look beyond her goals of becoming a high school teacher and strive to become a college professor. This challenge set her on a new journey to achieving her aspirations. Activities like serving as president for the Women’s Judiciary, and as house president of her sorority, shaped her into the woman she is today. Her lifetime involvement began when she was a college marshal. While serving punch at Board of Trustees events, she was privy to discussions leading to East Carolina’s fight for university status, and the beginning of plans for a medical school. Ann describes Leo Jenkins as her hero because, to her, he was “a modern-day David struggling with the Goliaths of North Carolina and its university system.” Though the battle to gain a medical school at ECU was tough, she is comforted in knowing that it did, in fact, become a reality.

Her time at East Carolina was just the beginning of her journey. Once she graduated with a degree in history in 1966 and a master’s degree in 1968, Ann went on to teach history at Mount Olive College for the next three years. After her time there, she moved on to work at the University of Georgia department of housing while completing a degree in student personnel administration in higher education. This degree began her forty-year career as a college administrator and instructor in colleges throughout South Carolina and Tennessee. Ann led an accomplished career until she decided to retire from her final job as vice president for student affairs at Martin Methodist College.

Even though Ann worked at other colleges and travelled around the world, she remained a Pirate at heart. Reconnecting with ECU through the Women’s Roundtable and seeing a firsthand view of the progress the University has made, as well as the need to continue this progress, led her to consider making a gift to ECU. She wanted to make a gift that would help continue the plan of preparing native North Carolinians to provide family medical care to people in their community. As a result, Ann started the Ann Neville Scholarship in Family Medicine for the Brody School of Medicine. She gets a sense of happiness knowing that her gift will have a lasting impact in assisting future family practice medical students.

Donor Spotlight: Ann Neville

A favorite quote of Richard’s is, “Kids who learn that they can create, generally don't destroy." He says, “I can't take any credit for that statement. It is very profound and I believe it to be true, which is why I remembered it. To me, it boils down to building self-esteem and self-worth. As one learns to appreciate his or her own uniqueness, they learn to respect it in others.” And what better way to help build our student’s self-esteem and self-worth than to help provide them with a quality education and the means, knowledge, and spirit to create and not destroy.


ceremony at East Carolina University, the crowd of more than 3,000 graduates joined in with her, singing a song they recalled from early childhood and had never forgotten.

“Messages on television count. They are recorded on your hard drive,

lasting for a lifetime,” Lovelace told the graduates. “With the right

prompts, television

ost of today’s college students and recent graduates can tell you exactly how to get to Sesame Street and about all the lessons they learned there, and that’s largely

because of children’s programming expert Dr. Valeria Lovelace ’73.

When Lovelace sang those familiar words as part of her address at the May 2013 commencement

M messages can be retrieved to help or hurt you. So it is important that creators work hard to make as many positive messages for children as possible.”

Many of those very graduates grew up watching Sesame Street when Lovelace directed research there from 1982 to 1996. After earning her bachelor’s degree in psychology

from ECU, she completed her master’s degree and her doctorate at the University

sunny day...sweeping the clouds away

on my way to where the air is sweet

can you tell me how to get,

how to get to Sesame Street?

FROM FIFTH STREET TO

DR. VALERIA LOVELACE ’73 USES TELEVISION TO ENHANCE EDUCATION

of Michigan and post-doctorate work at the University of Kansas in social psychology. Then she got the job at Sesame Street, and worked there fourteen years before starting her own education research and production company, called Media Transformations. She works as a consultant for Go, Diego, Go! on Nickelodeon and Little Einsteins on Disney Junior. She is the curriculum creator and advisor of the award-winning Dora the Explorer.

“I can’t believe that forty years ago, I was sitting where you are sitting, and becoming a graduate of East Carolina University,” she told the class of 2013. “I can still feel the butterflies in my stomach as I thought about my future. Now I look back and marvel at all the doors that a degree from ECU has opened for me.”

Originally from Mount Olive, Lovelace’s first job was packing pickles at the plant there. She took a psychology class in high school and found she loved

the subject. She realized ECU was the school for her when she saw a production of Oliver, the first live play she ever saw. “It really touched me,” she said. It was a key moment in realizing her calling to help children learn through watching and listening.

Lovelace says her experience at ECU prepared her for her career in many ways. She was a “big sister” in Umstead dorm, which helped her understand the issues young people face in making the transition

to college. She also worked in the

counseling center, and volunteered with young children at a local church.

“All of that really helped me tremendously to understand what kind of psychologist I wanted to be and gain experience in different areas,” she said.

She continued to attend plays and concerts at ECU. “I was able to attend so many things I wouldn’t have been able to see otherwise,” she said. “It helped me appreciate the beauty of the arts with so many diverse approaches to music and dance. Those experiences informed what I

was able to bring to the table in children’s programming.”

She was also a founding member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first African American sorority on campus, whose goal was to connect African American students around campus and around the world.

Her favorite professor was Dr. Rosina Chia of the psychology department. “She has been a great supporter and mentor to me throughout my life,” Lovelace said.

She was also inspired by Chancellor

Leo Jenkins. Shortly before Lovelace

came to campus, Jenkins had

led East Carolina to university status in 1967, and was leading the fight to establish a medical school. “He definitely had an impact on me; he had a vision for what East Carolina could be, and I so admired

how he put up such a big fight to grow. It is very impressive to see all the changes in the University and the respect it has gained. Seeing what a leader like that can do has inspired me all my life.”

Lovelace is among one of the first generations of pre-school children exposed to television. When she was three years old, less than half of American families had this technology in their home. By the time she was eleven, ninety percent of children could not only watch television, but watch programs meant specifically for them. She particularly enjoyed Howdy Doody and Captain Kangaroo.

“I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT FORTY YEARS AGO, I WAS SITTING WHERE

YOU ARE SITTING, AND BECOMING A GRADUATE OF EAST CAROLINA

UNIVERSITY. I CAN STILL FEEL THE BUTTERFLIES IN MY STOMACH AS

I THOUGHT ABOUT MY FUTURE. NOW I LOOK BACK AND MARVEL AT

ALL THE DOORS THAT A DEGREE FROM ECU HAS OPENED FOR ME.”

Lovelace on the set of Sesame Street with her favorite professor Dr. Rosina Chia


“I was truly fascinated by children’s television” Lovelace said. “I saw it as a safe place where puppets were a part of everyday life, and where there was always lots of laughter and fun.”

Lovelace’s doctorate focused on the effects of TV on learning for girls. She had a group of girls watch a video of a girl repairing a car before asking them to make the repair on a model on their own.

“I could see them learning so much from watching a girl repair a car motor in a video, and they could replicate everything she did,” Lovelace said. “I thought they would need further instruction or practice in addition to the video, but they watched it one time and they got it.”

That research changed how Lovelace thought about the effects of television.

“It is possible to create something that teaches all by itself, if it is done in a way that really works,” she said. “Television can help all students learn and receive information. The school system can get so bogged down with limited resources, but maybe television could help expand learning in a positive way. Then there could be a real change in our country. That’s a vision I have.”

As she was completing her post-doctorate work, she attended a conference that included many influential figures in children’s television and research, including

staff from Sesame Street. “Little did I

know, they were looking for a director of research,” she said.

Having heard about her dissertation,

they interviewed her on the spot and offered her the job by the end of the conference.

“That was nothing but God,” Lovelace said.

Planning for Sesame Street actually started in 1966 when Lovelace was in high school, and the first episode aired in 1969. It was the first research-based program to explore the educational capabilities of television for children to help prepare them for school. It had high ratings from the start and quickly became an American institution.

Lovelace says, “It was an amazing place to work, filled with lots of talented people and a real mission that matched my belief that all children should have a wonderful educational experience. We believed in diversity of representation, so all children see themselves and others in a positive light.”

In founding Media Transformations, Lovelace saw an opportunity to expand the role of girls and minorities on television, and create positive messages about Latino culture and Spanish language through developing curriculum for “Dora the Explorer.” Challenging the idea that a show with a leading girl character could not carry an entire audience of boys and girls by herself, Dora the Explorer has won many awards, including an Emmy and a Peabody

Award, the world’s oldest award for electronic media.

Lovelace was selected as one of ECU’s 100 Incredible

Women in 2007. She also served on the ECU Board of Trustees from 1989

to 1997. “That was a wonderful

experience to

come back to a university and see how it actually works and see the effects of long-term dedication and planning,” she said.

She is also an adjunct professor of psychology at Bergen Community College and Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey.

Lovelace has helped educate untold numbers of children, but she says her proudest accomplishments are seeing her three sons graduate from college, and being married to her husband Charlie Lovelace ’74 for thirty-eight years. “All the other things have been great, but family comes first,” she said.

“I’m very proud to be a graduate of ECU,” Lovelace says. “I see the University as one that is continuing to rise. With each step, I take such pride in what has been accomplished. I think about the needs of the eastern NC community and how this University meets those needs, and that gives me great hope for the future.”

Speaking at commencement was a fulfilling experience for Lovelace.

“When they asked me, I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I was so honored, and so touched just by them thinking of me. Standing in front of the students, I was so happy to be able to give something back to the University in some small way.”

She told the graduates to use their achievements to make a positive impact in whatever they do.

“As Dora the Explorer would say, you did it!”

At left, Lovelace conducts research for Sesame Street with children. At right, Lovelace on the set of Sesame Street with Barkley the dog.

PIRATEALUMNI.COM 15

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When fellow students ask Rachel Allen “Allie” Rawl if she is related to the family after whom the

Rawl building is named, she reluctantly says yes to play down the connection. But as the fourth generation of a family with a history of devotion to East Carolina, Allie is part of a tradition of legacies at this University.

Allie graduated in December 2013, one hundred years after her great-grandmother Josephine Fleming Little Rawl graduated in 1913. Josephine’s husband Edwin E. “Skipper” Rawl Sr. founded the School of Business at East Carolina and served on the Board of Trustees, and eventually became the namesake of ECU’s Rawl building. Josephine’s son and Allie’s grandfather,

Edwin E. Rawl Jr., went on to help found the Pirate Club.

“I grew up wearing purple and gold,” says Allie. “ECU is a great place to be. I’m proud to say that I will be an East Carolina alumna. I’m proud to have this last name.”

Allie is not alone. So many legacies are woven into the history of East Carolina, each with their own unique stories, but all connected by a sense of family and pride in the community.

While some students come to East Carolina knowing they are part of a long tradition, some students choose East Carolina only to find out later that it was meant to be.

Freshman Savannah Price didn’t realize how far her family history extends with East Carolina until she came to campus.

She knew her parents came to ECU, and had long been a Pirate fan, but it took her a while to realize that she is a fourth generation Pirate with over a dozen family members who are graduates.

“I realized the legacy after I got here,” she said. “I didn’t know my granddad went here until we started looking all this stuff up. I’m just now getting a lot of these stories. It’s what we do, we just pick ECU.”

Savannah’s many family members have pursued several different degrees and careers, but she is a theater education major. While Savannah is following her own career path, some families share not only the same alma mater but the same calling as well.

Fran Wilson ’70 is the third of four generations of teachers who all graduated from East Carolina.

east carolina’s family treeLegacy families at East Carolina show the University’s past, present, and future

PIRATEALUMNI.COM 17

Left: Barbara, Allie, and Bubba Rawl. Right: Allie Rawl dressed as an ECU cheerleader as a child.


“It’s really kind of neat; it’s something we’ve always been proud of,” says Fran, who taught for more than thirty years in Pitt County at A.G. Cox Middle School and Wintergreen Intermediate.

Fran’s daughter Sharon Bates ’00 teaches food and nutrition at South Central High School. Fran’s mother, Christine Hellen Snuggs ’44, taught for many years across the state. Her great-grandmother Helen Christine Tyson Hellen, who went by Christine Hellen after she married, taught briefly in Bell Arthur after graduating in 1915.

From the past to the present and beyond, the history of East Carolina can be traced through these and other legacy families.

Roots in the Past

When Josephine Rawl first came to campus in 1911, it was the East Carolina Teachers Training School. The campus had

just five buildings on forty-seven acres and Fifth Street was a dirt road. Tuition was $32 a year for day students, and degrees were completed in two years. Josephine was one of thirty graduates in the class of 1913.

“I knew Mama Jo well, she was like my own grandmother,” says Allie’s mother Barbara Basnight Rawl, who married Josephine’s grandson Julian W. “Bubba” Rawl. They both attended ECU in the early 1970s.

“She was a woman of faith and full of words of wisdom,” Barbara recalls. “She loved East Carolina, and she passed on the lessons she learned here. She was a character.”

Josephine was very active during her time on campus. She participated in the campus’ first Shakespearean production, The Taming of the Shrew. She was involved with Alpha Omicron Pi sorority and the Daughters of the American Revolution throughout her life. She taught for many

years at Pactolus School. A photo from the University’s 2007

centennial calendar shows Josephine and her classmates in front of the old Austin building wearing long dark skirts and white blouses with armbands bearing the number thirteen in their class graduation photo.

It was after finding this photo that Allie and her family realized her legacy began one hundred years ago. Though Allie doesn’t remember, she did get a chance to “meet” Josephine when she was about a year old, before she passed away.

“Allie still feels those roots today,” Barbara said.

While Allie will wear modern synthetic purple robes for commencement, Fran’s grandmother had to sew her own graduation gown. This was a requirement at the time, according to Fran. Her grandmother was one of forty-eight graduates in the class of 1915.

Fran’s grandmother decided after two weeks that teaching was not for her, and stayed home to raise her children, but she started a tradition in their family.

By the time Fran’s mother Christine, now ninety-one years old, came to campus in the early 1940s, it was East Carolina Teachers College. The campus consisted of ninety-eight acres and a little over 1,200 students.

Campus had expanded greatly in the 1920s and early 1930s. The Wright building, completed in 1925, served as the main gathering place for registration, basketball games, dances, and religious services. The Flanagan building had recently been completed in 1939.

Christine was very involved during her time on campus. She was editor of the yearbook her senior year. She played the part of a monkey in a production of Little Black Sambo, and she also worked in the campus post office. Campus had a thriving social life as the ratio of male students increased with veterans returning from the war.

“I think it’s wonderful that we all went to East Carolina,” Christine says. “I don’t know where I would be if it weren’t for East Carolina.”

Fran greatly enjoyed her time at East Carolina during the late 1960s. She lived in the dorms all four years, starting in Umstead and then Wilson, which has since been torn down. She was involved in Delta Zeta sorority, and worked as a lifeguard at the campus pool. At that time, it was

Top: Josephine Rawl with the Class of 1913.

Bottom: Helen Christine Tyson Hellen with the Class of 1915.

PIRATEALUMNI.COM 19

inappropriate to wear shorts on campus. She and her friends use to get hamburgers at the Hardee’s and a place called the Little Mint.

“I was here when Old Austin was here. I saw it get torn down in 1969,” she said. “Campus has really changed, but the growth has been exciting to see.”

Both Fran and Christine were able to do some of their student teaching at Wahl-Coates Elementary School right next to campus.

In a twist of fate, Fran’s daughter Sharon did not major in education. Instead she earned a degree in apparel and merchandising, but after a year of trying to work in that field, she realized that teaching was in her blood. She earned her teaching license through lateral entry and has been teaching ever since.

“When my daughter started teaching, I was so excited, and her grandmother was beyond thrilled,” Fran said.

Savannah wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for East Carolina.

“One could say I’m a direct product of ECU,” Savannah says. “Both my maternal grandparents and my parents met while attending ECU. Through my family, I have met their fellow classmates and professors, and listened to tales of campus life and the good old ECTC and ECC days.”

Savannah’s grandfather, George Hazelton ’63, majored in physics and went on to teach physics as a professor at Chowan University. He passed away in 2012.

“All of his friends and family asked me if I was going to major in physics like Papa George,” Savannah said. “Nope, I’m a theater education major! I am more like my great-granny Helen Alston, who

earned her degrees in education while it was still known as ECTC. ECU will give me the chance to reach my goal of becoming a knowledgeable and inspiring teacher of drama.”

Branches in the Present

“My parents never pushed college on me, and didn’t push me toward ECU,” Savannah says. “I toured ECU and I knew this was where I wanted to go. I got accepted to other schools, but for me there was no question that I would go to ECU. I feel very at peace here. It was second nature to come to East Carolina.”

For Savannah, being on campus brought her legacy to life.

“During my campus tour, I could sense my mother’s pride and excitement as she told a story about every building we passed,” Savannah said. “I look forward to fulfilling my family legacy and walking in their campus footsteps while acquiring my very own ECU experiences.”

Allie’s ECU experiences began very

Top: Helen Christine Tyson Hellen, Christine Hellen Snuggs, Fran Snuggs Wilson Bottom: Fran Snuggs Wilson, Christine Hellen Snuggs, Sharon Bates

early in life. She was wearing purple and gold and cheering on the Pirates ever since she was little. She grew up knowing that her family had a special connection to the University.

Allie’s degree is in hospitality management. She has had classes in the Rawl building, which was dedicated in 1960. It was the first major classroom

L-R: Helen Babcock Alston, Savannah’s great grandmother. Savannah supporting the Pirates as a young child. Savannah as a student with the Pirate on the Campus Mall.


building built on campus since Flanagan had been built in 1939.

“I had one class in Rawl 103, my first hospitality management class,” Allie said. “I would walk out and see my great-grandfather Edwin Rawl’s portrait by the door. It’s sort of strange to see my last name on the portrait and on the building, but it’s really cool.”

“To have your child graduate from a university where her great-grandmother also graduated is such a source of pride,” Barbara said. “She was born to be a Pirate. It’s more than just history, it’s heartstrings.”

“We are mighty proud of her,” said Allie’s father Bubba Rawl. “Our history is as far back as it goes, and we’re proud of that heritage. To watch the University grow and to see Allie transition into an East Carolina graduate has been amazing.”

Growing up practically on campus is common to many legacy families.

“The only university I ever really wanted to attend was ECU,” Sharon said. “Growing up down the street from campus and living the seasons of change that flowed with the semesters at ECU made life in Greenville exciting. I used Joyner

library in high school, rode my bicycle along the campus sidewalks, attended ECU games, etc. I was always a Pirate! To graduate from ECU was not only an accomplishment, but a chapter in my family history.”

Sharon is a huge Pirate fan and enjoys sharing her love of East Carolina with her students at South Central High School, who may one day attend the University.

Growing for the Future

“I’d like to continue the tradition of our family sending our children to ECU,” Allie says. “Greenville is a wonderful place and I would love to see the tradition continue.”

Allie is considering graduate school, and while she may explore other cities and states, she knows Greenville and East Carolina will always be home.

“It makes me feel very good to hear that my child may send her children to ECU,” Barbara said.

“We’ll have to wait and see what the next story will be,” Bubba added.

Savannah will graduate in 2017, but until then, she just wants to enjoy her time here.

“It’s really cool to be part of a legacy like this,” Savannah says. “I feel like I’m part of history now, and it’s an honor to get to continue it. There’s no pressure, it’s easy!”

Sharon also thinks following the example of preceding family members is easy when everyone shares a passion for East Carolina.

“I am so thankful to have had such wonderful women who love their family and their community to have shown me how to have fruitful career in education,” she said. “It’s amazing to me to see the photo of 1915 and know that 2015 is fast approaching. The foundation laid by my great-grandmother almost one hundred years ago is still being laid one brick at a time, one student at a time.”

Allie, Sharon, and Savannah are just a few branches of the family tree of East Carolina. There are many legacies at ECU, and as the years go by, more and more generations will continue to share their love of East Carolina and strengthen the University.

Current students who are part of a ECU legacy are encouraged to share their story with the East Carolina Alumni Association. Send us your information at PirateAlumni.com/LegacyInfo.

PIRATEALUMNI.COM 21


When people turn on the faucet or sit down to eat in a restaurant, they often take for granted that the water they drink or the food they eat will be safe. However, there is a very important profession that works to ensure that everyone is protected from environmental factors that cause disease, and many of its graduates come from East Carolina University. One of those graduates is Captain Mike Herring ’80, who earned his degree in environmental health at ECU and now works for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“Environmental health is an invisible profession,” Herring says. “We work behind the scenes to make sure the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe, and our work and home environments are all safe. When the system works well, very few people realize that it’s our work that’s keeping them healthy.”

Herring is a senior environmental health scientist and team leader in the Environmental Health Services Branch of the CDC’s National Center for

Environmental Health in Atlanta, GA. This branch is a federal program that provides environmental health support and technical assistance to state, territorial, tribal, and local health departments. Herring’s duties have varied in his twelve years at CDC, but have always been focused on developing the nation’s environmental health workforce. In addition, he has provided extensive training, created and taught courses, published articles, developed policies, and assisted in federal responses to national emergencies.

Herring created the nation’s first

comprehensive course for environmental health professionals on the control of disease vectors, such as mosquitoes, ticks, and rats, through the science and principles of integrated pest management (IPM). He also serves on several national work groups that deal with vectors and public health pests such as the National School IPM Steering Committee and the Federal Bed Bug Task Force.

“Much of my recent activities have been working to enhance the capacity of the nation’s environmental health workforce to prevent vector-

borne disease and also to recognize and respond to vector-borne diseases when they occur,” he said.

Herring has been very concerned about the loss of vector control programs at state and local health departments throughout the country. “More than three million people have been infected with West Nile virus since the disease first appeared in the U.S. in 1999. West Nile virus is a great example of what can happen when a new pathogen we are unprepared for arrives in this country,”

FIGHTINGFOR HEALTHCAPT. MIKE HERRING ’80 COMBATS DISEASE TO IMPROVE PUBLIC HEALTH

PIRATEALUMNI.COM 23

Herring says. “Sixty percent of all diseases that have affected humankind throughout history and seventy-five percent of all emerging diseases in the world today are zoonotic (of animal origin) and many of those diseases are transmitted to humans by vectors. Local health departments are the first line of defense for prevention of vector-borne disease.”

Herring is a captain in the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service. Not many people know that there are seven uniformed services in the United States. In addition to the five branches of the armed forces, there are two other uniformed services: the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service and the Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). There are currently about 6,700 commissioned officers in the U.S. Public Health Service. Approximately 370 are environmental health officers like Herring.

Between his junior and senior years at ECU, Herring completed an internship with the Public Health Service, which eventually led him to his first job. His job has taken him all over the world, but it all started at East Carolina.

ECU was one of the most popular college destinations for students at James Kenan High School in Duplin County where Herring is from. “I spoke to several ECU graduates and current students, and they all loved it. They raved about it,” he said. “I also visited the campus and was greatly impressed with the friendly atmosphere, especially for a large university. One of the people I talked to when I was there told me something I

would never forget: he said ‘at ECU you’re not a number, you’re a person,’ and that stuck with me.”

From an early age, Herring was interested in helping protect people from environmental threats. While in high school, he went to night school at a community college to earn a wastewater treatment plant operator’s license. During the summer of his junior year in high school, he took classes in Raleigh to earn a water plant operator’s license. He used those licenses in a part-time job in the public works department of Warsaw, his hometown.

“That job sparked my interest in protection of the environment and protection of human health,” Herring said. “When I found out that ECU offered a

degree in environmental health, I met with Dr. Trenton Davis, chair of the program. Within five minutes, I knew I wanted to major in environmental health. It is a decision I have never regretted. I look back and I am so glad I chose this field.”

Herring knew from the very beginning that he was in the right program at the

right college. “I greatly enjoyed all my environmental health classes,” he said. “They all had exceptional teachers, and I learned so much from all of them.”

Herring’s first football game is one of the many wonderful memories of his time at ECU. “Coming from a small high school, I’ll never forget the roar of the crowd,” he said. “I became an ECU sports fan from then on.”

While on campus, he loved participating in intramural sports. He was also active in the Student National Environmental Health Association.

“ECU not only prepared me for my career, it helped prepare me for life,” Herring said. “I grew up quite a bit during my four years at ECU. I learned to be self-sufficient and to see the world from a more holistic standpoint. I also learned that being a problem-solver doesn’t just mean you’re good at math. At ECU, I learned to analyze a problem so I could solve it at the root level, so the solution becomes permanent. I still use those skills today.”

After graduation, Herring worked as a public health sanitarian with the Durham County Health Department before being promoted to environmental health supervisor in 1983. In 1988, he accepted a commission with the Public Health Service as a field environmental health specialist in Fairbanks, AK, providing environmental health services to Alaska Native villages. Six months

later, he was selected as chief of the Office of Environmental Health for the Tanana Chiefs Conference, one of the largest Alaska Native Corporations in the state. He also assumed the role of district environmental health specialist for the Interior Alaska Service Unit and North Slope Service Unit of the Indian Health

Herring speaks to an environmental health class at ECU during Homecoming 2013.

“WHEN I FOUND OUT THAT ECU OFFERED A DEGREE

IN ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH, I MET WITH DR. TRENTON

DAVIS, CHAIR OF THE PROGRAM. WITHIN FIVE MINUTES,

I KNEW I WANTED TO MAJOR IN ENVIRONMENTAL

HEALTH. IT IS A DECISION I HAVE NEVER REGRETTED. I

LOOK BACK AND I AM SO GLAD I CHOSE THIS FIELD.”


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Service. Those two regions comprise nearly half of the state of Alaska.

In 1992, the Public Health Service selected Herring for long-term training. He obtained a master of public health degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (San Antonio campus) in 1993. He was transferred to Albuquerque, NM where he served in a dual role working for both the Indian Health Service Headquarters West and the Albuquerque Area Office of the Indian Health Service. In 1995, he accepted a detail to the U.S. Coast Guard Support Center in Elizabeth City, where he ran the largest environmental compliance program in the Coast Guard for over six years before reporting to his current duty station at CDC.

One of the biggest challenges confronting Herring’s profession today is getting the public and policy makers to understand the essential nature of environmental health work. “It’s difficult for people to understand the importance of what we do until the system breaks down and people get sick or die. We’re working all the time to prevent illness and outbreaks

but unfortunately, people don’t always know it. Increasing public knowledge of the importance of environmental health is a very challenging issue, but it’s something we continue to work on.”

Herring is one of the most highly decorated environmental health officers in the Public Health Service, accruing many honors in his career, including several medals and commendations from the Coast Guard and the Public Health Service, along with various state and federal awards. Most recently, he was presented with the 2013 Walter S. Mangold Award, the highest honor given by the National Environmental Health Association.

“It still hasn’t completely sunk in,” he said. “It’s something I never even dreamed of winning. The people who receive this award are the giants in our field, and I’ve had the privilege to call several of them my friends and colleagues. I’ve learned so much from the previous winners and I’ve tried my best to bring the honor and respect to the field that each Mangold Award winner has done.”

Herring is actually the third Mangold winner with ties to the environmental

health program at ECU. Even with all his achievements, Herring

says his greatest source of pride is his family, his wife and four children, two of whom followed him to ECU.

Herring is still very involved at ECU, and recently returned to campus for Homecoming to speak to students about a career in environmental health in the Public Health Service.

“ECU environmental health majors should be very proud of their program,” he said. “Both the undergraduate and graduate programs are fully accredited and were among the first programs to receive accreditation in the U.S. The program has a great history and it is highly respected throughout North Carolina and the nation.”

In addition to environmental health knowledge, communication and problem-solving skills are also necessary for a successful career and a successful life, and Herring says students will gain that experience at ECU.

“I absolutely love ECU,” Herring says. “I’m so proud to be an alumnus of this great University.”

PIRATEALUMNI.COM 25

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A majority of job seekers fail to recognize the importance of providing appropriate references. If there is one thing to become aware of, it’s that who you use as references and what they say about you can significantly impact a potential job.

Instead of researching positions to identify the best references, job seekers squeeze the same three names and phone numbers on the bottom of their resume. Many job seekers assume they can use references at their convenience. However, this practice inevitably demonstrates a lack of professionalism.

Individuals who speak positively and knowledgeably about your work-related qualities and personal characteristics are the best references to choose. These may include: current and/or previous supervisors, co-

workers, teachers, professors, advisers or coaches. Always ask your references for permission to use their names. If they hesitate at all, move on to someone who can speak of your accomplishments glowingly. Potential employers are not interested in hearing friends or relatives talk about how nice you are. They want confirmation from people “in the know” that you are a dedicated worker and will get the job done.

Provide each reference a copy of your resume along with a description of the job to which you are applying. By doing this, you will provide your references with the appropriate tools to successfully tailor the reference. Ensure you are giving references proper information through alerting them to potential phone calls. Inform them of the name of the company, the position for which you interviewed and the name of the person who may contact them.

When you accept a job offer, take the time to write each of your references a thank-you note. Let them know how much you appreciate them being a valuable part of the process. Lastly, stay in contact with them; you never know when and if you may need to call upon them again in the future.

Strategies for Effective Employment References


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US ALLIED HEALTH

Grant Awarded for Alzheimer’s Research

The Harriet and John Wooten Laboratory for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases Research at ECU received a grant for $50,000 to advance the studies of Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Sonja Bareiss, an assistant professor in the department of physical therapy is one of the lab researchers who will be participating in the study.

The funds will be used to study the effects of physical and cognitive exercise on laboratory animals with symptoms of dementia and how certain drugs can mimic the effects. This grant is the first to be awarded to the lab itself rather than to individual researchers.

Dr. Qun Lu, director of the lab, and a scientist and professor of anatomy and cell biology at the Brody School of Medicine, and Dr. Tuan Tran, an associate professor of psychology at ECU, are working closely with Bareiss on the grant.

The Wooten Laboratory was established in 2008 by Dr. Harriet Wooten in memory of her husband, Dr. John Wooten, an orthopedic surgeon who died of Alzheimer’s in 2004.

Johnson Receives Clinical Practice Award

Congratulations to Sarah Johnson, PT, DPT of the ECU physical therapy department who was presented the Excellence in Clinical Practice of the Year award by the North Carolina Physical Therapy Association at the fall meeting in Asheville. Dr. Johnson is a 2006 graduate of the doctor of physical therapy program at ECU, where she also received a master of physical therapy degree in 2005. Since 2010, she has served as a clinician in the ECU Physical Therapy Clinic treating a wide variety of patients.

ARTS & SCIENCESIn Memoriam: Dr. Kathleen Row

Dr. Kathleen A. Lawler Row, who most recently served as chair of the department of psychology at ECU from 2006 until her retirement in 2012, passed away September 21, 2013, at the age of 66, due to complications from cancer. During her tenure as chair, Row supervised the startup of a new doctoral program in health psychology, increased the number of faculty members in the department, and strengthened the department’s focus on both undergraduate and graduate programs. Upon her retirement in May 2012, the department named its annual graduate student research award in her honor.

“Kathleen was the right person at the right time when she came to the department,” said Dr. Susan McCammon, who succeeded Row as chair of psychology. “She brought stability to the department, and her quiet style of leadership benefited the department in so many ways.”

While at ECU, Row’s work on forgiveness was featured in a public television documentary, “The Power of Forgiveness,” in 2007, and in 2008, she was the University’s nominee for the O. Max Gardner Award. She was author or co-author of dozens of research articles and studies in psychology, psychophysiology and health psychology, and she made numerous presentations at regional, national and international professional association meetings and conferences. She mentored many doctoral candidates. Row was

Dr. Sonja Bareiss and Dr. Tuan Tran of ECU, Alice Watkins of AlzNC, Dr. Qun Lu of ECU, donor and AlzNC board member Laura Gaddis, AlzNC board chair J. Gregory Wallace, and Dr. Paul Cunningham, dean of the Brody School of Medicine at ECU, were among those at the check presentation.

Dr. Row

PIRATEALUMNI.COM 27

a member of the American Psychological Association and was elected fellow in the health psychology division; a member of the Society for Behavioral Medicine; and a member and fellow of the Association of Psychological Science.

In Greenville, Row was a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and their church choir. She sang in the Greenville Choral Society, and she was a contributor to the Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival. Her interests were music, reading, art, travel, cooking and gardening.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to the Friends of Music and the Arts, in care of Church of the Ascension (800 S. Northshore Drive, Knoxville, TN, 37919); the music discretionary fund at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Greenville, N.C.; the Greenville Choral Society (P.O. Box 1357, Greenville, NC, 27835); or the East Carolina University Foundation, designated for the Department of Psychology.

BUSINESSECU Named a Top Business School

For the seventh straight year, the College of Business at ECU has earned top marks, ranking among the best U.S. business schools according to The Princeton Review. The New York-based education services company features ECU in its newly released 2014 edition of “The Best 295 Business Schools.”

Robert Franek, Princeton Review senior VP-publisher, said, “We recommend ECU as one of the best institutions a student could attend to earn a business school degree. We chose the schools we profile in this book based on our high regard for their academic programs and our reviews of institutional data we collect from the schools. We also solicit and greatly respect the opinions of students attending these schools who rate and report on their experiences at them on our 80-question student survey for the book.” The Princeton Review’s survey asks business school students about their school’s academics, student body and campus life as well as about themselves and their career plans.

Dr. Stan Eakins, dean of the College of Business, said, “The College of Business is proud to earn national recognition once again as a best business school. We’re now doing even more to prepare the next generation of leaders, and there is no higher level of accomplishment for us than students who value their educational experience, benefit directly from it, and go on to make a difference in their communities.”

Dixon Hughes Goodman DonationOfficials from accounting firm Dixon Hughes Goodman presented a check for $65,700 to the ECU College of Business on October 2. The generous donation will support the department of accounting and its faculty, ECU’s chapter of the Beta Alpha Phi accounting honor society, as well as the newly established National Association of Black Accountants ECU chapter.

The check was presented at a joint meeting of Beta Alpha Psi and the National Association of Black Accountants at ECU.

Dr. Dan Schisler, chair of the Department of Accounting, said, “We are so grateful for the generosity and ongoing support from Dixon Hughes Goodman. The firm’s donation is pivotal to the Department’s growth and will help us continue to enhance the educational experience of our students.”

DENTAL MEDICINEFaculty and Students Volunteer at Mobile Clinic

ECU School of Dental Medicine faculty and students were among the nearly 400 volunteers who delivered free dental care to those in need in Kill Devil Hills the last weekend in October.

The well-organized volunteers delivered extractions, fillings, cleanings, and partial dentures through the North Carolina Missions of Mercy (NCMOM) portable free dental clinic, an outreach program of the NC Dental Society sponsored by the NC Dental Health Fund.

Hundreds of patients waited outdoors overnight at a Dare County Recreation and Parks gymnasium to receive treatment, braving chilly weather in sleeping bags or under piles of blankets. A total of 635 patients were treated during the two-day clinic.

NCMOM clinics are held in different locations around the state each year for those in financial need who have no other options for care. In North Carolina, more than one million adults and children have no source for regular dental care.

Many ECU faculty dentists and students volunteer regularly for NCMOM. “The clinics are not only good for patients,” said Greg Chadwick, dean of the dental school. “The volunteer experience and contact with patients are invaluable for the overall education of our students.”

“NCMOM makes me realize that the health care delivery system in the US is flawed. This comes as no surprise as we are in a time of change,” said third-year dental student Shannon Holcomb.

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Dental medicine students Adam Whiteley (at left) and Chris Cook assisted faculty member Dr. Kentaro Ikeda with patients at the North Carolina Missions of Mercy portable free clinic in Dare County in October.


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“The importance of dental care is often overlooked and patients tend to not seek care until they are in pain. Patient education and preventive are greatly needed to reduce the prevalence of oral health disparities.”

“NCMOM re-affirms why I want to become a dentist,” said second-year student Christopher Cook. “It makes me strive to be a better student and clinician. The impact we have on oral health in two short days is amazing. NCMOM has shown me that my passion for the profession will be life-long.”

Since its founding in 2003, NCMOM has held over 200 two-day clinics across our state and provided more than $19 million in free dental care to over 45,000 children and adults.

EDUCATION2013 Educators Hall of Fame

The College of Education recognized nineteen individuals for their extensive impact in the field of education at the Educators Hall of Fame ceremony and reception held on Saturday, October 26, 2013.

The 2013 honorees were Dr. Sunday Ajose, Gertrude Flagg Dalzell, Dr. Richard Eakin, Dr. Dudley Eargith Flood, Bonnie Taylor Galloway, Margaret Lillian Joyner Hendricks, Dr. Delilah Ann Jackson, George R. James, Betty M. Lamb, Susan Roberts Lanier, Beatrice Forrest Little, Dr. Christopher Douglas Locklear, Dr. Sara B. McCraw, Debbie Cohen O’Neal, Dr. Lon O. Pierce, Dr. William Arthur “Art” Rouse, Dr. Ray Vaughn Spain, Dr. Katalin Szucs, and Rep. Edith Doughtie Warren. Student Katie Stanley, an Educators Hall of Fame scholarship recipient, was the guest speaker.

The Educators Hall of Fame event and scholarship program was initiated in 1999 to permanently acknowledge professionals and associations who have made distinguished contributions to the field of education through service and mission.

Operation LINK

The College of Education has received funding from the NC Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service and the Corporation for National Community Service to begin a mentoring program called Operation LINK, an AmeriCorps afterschool mentoring program that supports children of military families in eastern North Carolina.

The goal of the afterschool program is to reduce the risk factors that adversely affect children’s behaviors and success in school. The program is a partnership composed of military family support networks, veteran groups, ECU, Carnegie Mellon Robotics Institute, community colleges and school districts in Craven, Cumberland, Onslow, and Wayne counties. Students who are selected to participate in the program will receive living allowances and/or education awards.

Program activities are designed to build mentor-to-students support teams. The four major components include a cross age mentoring program (CAMP), web-based virtual robots, community service projects, and summer camps that link children to their families, deployed/returning parents communities, and schools.

Operation LINK will bring approximately $2.35 million to eastern North Carolina during its three-year grant cycle.

FINE ARTS & COMMUNICATION

Fine Arts Alumnae Recognized Internationally

Two alumnae from the School of Art and Design will be included in an international competitive jewelry exhibition.

Schmuck, an exhibition with a fifty-year tradition, is staged annually in March as a part of Handwerk & Design, a major trade fair held at Munich’s Internationale Handwerksmesse. Sharon Massey ’06 and Kat Cole ’12 were the only Americans, of sixty-six artists internationally, selected to participate. Schmuck, along with three other exhibitions featuring top-quality craftwork, skillful design and a high level of craftsmanship, form the core of the fair. Handwerk & Design is the jewelry sector’s premier exhibition.

Massey reports that her Street View Series works are a response to the density of architecture in rust-belt cities like Pittsburg. “I am drawn to the crowded streets and alleyways, the rich patchwork of brick, paint, siding and architectural details that suggest layers of history and personal stories,” she says.

Cole finds meaning and connection through the observance and intimate awareness of the places she inhabits. “With each geographic change, I have become more attuned to the natural and man-made attributes that make each location unique,” she reports. “It is these characteristics: natural landscape, architecture, color palette and distinct regional culture that I channel into my work.”

Chamber Singers Compete in Spain

Professor Andrew Crane posted concert videos of the ECU Chamber Singers on YouTube last year. He noticed that Javier Busto, a prominent Spanish choral composer, commented on one. “This was particularly exciting for us, that someone so renowned,

Sharon Massey’s “Three Brooches,” constructed of steel and paint.

Kat Cole’s “Summit #3a” brooch, crafted of steel, enamel and found materials.

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Goble said that Knight approaches teaching by coaching the students. “She creates a container for students to learn and discover. She asks questions and empowers you in your own discovery process,” Goble said.

Goble, now director of continuing medical education at Southern Regional AHEC in Fayetteville, expects to apply what she learned about research as she moves forward in her career.

“Qualitative research is a skill set for life,” she said. “It teaches you to authentically listen.”

HONORS COLLEGE Pursuing Excellence

Honors College administrators and faculty have traversed the southeast to recruit the most engaged and academically gifted students for the 110 members of the class of 2014. Individual high school visits with prospective students have occurred at nearly fifty schools thus far this fall. Additionally, with the support of alumni and friends, high school counselor events have been hosted in Nags Head, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Fayetteville, and Washington, DC.

Mike Kelly ’72 hosted a luncheon in Nags Head for school counselors at Pamlico Jack’s restaurant. In Winston-Salem, Kathryn ’63 and Robert ’62 Edwards hosted with Kay ’76 and Ken ’68, ’71 Chalk, who generously opened their home for a dinner meeting with counselors. Another successful dinner meeting was hosted at Starmount Forest Country Club by Mary ’71 and Bob ’72 Plybon, Steve Showfety ’70, Cynthia and Mitchell ’71 Hunt, and Rosy ’73 and Joe ’72 Jenkins. The final session was hosted in Fayetteville at Highland Country Club by Dan ’66 and Kaye ’66 Kinlaw, Debbie Brown ’84, and Jennifer Davis ’92.

The Honors College also hosted a pilot program in our nation’s capital to begin spreading the word beyond our state’s borders. This luncheon was hosted at Sequoia Restaurant in Georgetown by Lynn Schubert ’77, Lt. Col. Vince Smith ’84, and Will Yarborough ’78, ’85.

Educating high school counselors about the quality of the student experience and opportunities in the Honors College is critical. There is no better way to accomplish this than by meeting face-to-face. These events are key to recruiting the best students to ECU and the Honors College.

The aforementioned support from ECU alumni and friends is critical to delivering these programs. In addition, the newly launched Honors College Parents Association is engaged in these efforts to continue strengthening the academic reputation of ECU and the growth of the Honors College.

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and halfway around the world, would take the time to tell us he liked our video,” Crane said. “I didn’t think much of it after that.”

In November, Crane received an email that led to an invitation to participate in the Tolosa Choral Contest, an international choir competition held annually in Spain. Busto shared the Chamber Singers video with fellow jury members. All agreed that the choir was worthy of an invitation—as the only American choir in attendance.

The ECU Chamber Singers performed at the competition on October 29 alongside other international choirs, and also performed individual concerts at local venues in the greater Basque region.

HEALTH & HUMAN PERFORMANCE

Professor Helps Students with Qualitative Research

An ECU professor aims to help students navigate through the research process by applying her own unique real world experience.

Dr. Sharon Knight of the department of health education and promotion served as a qualitative researcher on an Institute of Medicine team that managed a congressionally mandated assessment of the president’s emergency plan for AIDS relief. Her experience enables her to share effective qualitative design and processes with students.

Qualitative interviewing gathers complex data and can yield thousands of words or hours of audio recordings. This data is transcribed, analyzed and coded to produce a narrative of the findings. The research explores a wide range of people’s perspectives and experiences.

“All research methods are labor intensive,” said Knight. “The difference is when and how the labor is invested. It can seem overwhelming to cope with all the words that are collected in qualitative research.”

The team developed an extensive audit trail that chronicled all the contacts, interviews and debriefings in the AIDS relief plan.

The qualitative research techniques Knight learned as a member of the team now inform students in HLTH 6700, Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods. She has shared her work through presentations to colleagues and other students as well.

Karen Goble ’12 earned a master’s degree in health education and promotion, with Knight as her thesis director. Goble said that Knight shared resources gained from her personal experiences, providing multiple ways of maintaining documentation including field notes, research logs and a reflexive journal.

“She helped the class develop a tool kit and audit trail to aid with our research,” Goble said. “These tools help you as you navigate through your forest of data.”

ECU professor Dr. Sharon Knight, right, and alumna Karen Goble presented at the North Carolina Chapter Society for Public Health Education annual meeting in Greenville this month. As Goble’s thesis director at ECU, Knight helped explain how to navigate through the mounds of data uncovered in qualitative research.

High school counselors from the Fayetteville area participated in a program to learn about the Honors College hosted by the Kinlaw family.


HUMAN ECOLOGYAlumni Couple Donates $50,000

It was during an evening conversation that Marvin and Joyce ’51 Johnson first considered a donation to ECU. “We are very fond of our alma mater,” said Marvin Johnson. “Home economics, or family and consumer sciences as it’s now called, played such an integral role in Joyce’s life. From teaching at Weeksville and Edenton schools to raising our own children, the lessons she learned were invaluable. We knew that we wanted to help support the program that means so much to her.”

The $50,000 donation to the college, made in honor of Joyce, will fund student and faculty scholarship and research endeavors. Dean Judy Siguaw was grateful to the Johnsons for their donation. “We are thrilled to have alumni and donors like the Johnsons who help support the efforts of our college,” said Siguaw. “As state support continues to decline, we are relying more than ever on the friends of our college to help sustain and ultimately grow our programs.”

Marvin and Joyce met at East Carolina University in 1950. Marvin was majoring in physical education and Joyce in home economics. It was love at first sight. After graduation, Joyce began teaching and Marvin moved to Texas where he trained to fly B-29s. However, the distance could not keep them apart and Marvin soon proposed. Joyce “ceased teaching” and moved to San Antonio. They married on December 23, 1952 at Randolph Air Force Base. Marvin remained in the Air Force for several years and was deployed during the Korean War. After Marvin was released from the Air Force, the couple moved to Kinston where Marvin served as an Air Force flight instructor until the school closed in 1957.

Marvin was then hired by Eastern Airlines where he remained for thirty years. With the exception of three years flying out of Washington, DC, Marvin was based in Atlanta, GA. They made their home in Newnan, GA where they raised three children and now have four grandchildren.

MEDICINEInaugural Class Honored

The inaugural 1972-1973 class of the Brody School of Medicine was honored during Homecoming 2013 by the ECU Medical and Health Sciences Foundation. At that time, medical students would complete one year at ECU before finishing three years at UNC Chapel Hill’s medical school.

The one-year program helped fulfill the vision of Dr. Leo Jenkins, president of what was then East Carolina College, to build a medical school in Greenville. In 1965, a year after Jenkins began his campaign, the NC General Assembly granted approval.

“Oh, what an exciting time to be starting a medical school! The first-year class was just excited to be here,” said original faculty member Dr. Lynis Dohm.

“Considering the politics of those days, I think it was important for our people to go to Chapel Hill and show they were just as good and better in many cases,” said original faculty member Dr. Hubert Burden. “Everybody was under the microscope, and I think everyone passed the test.”

The plan was for the program to gradually grow into two years, then four. But in late 1974, plans changed. The next year, the General Assembly approved a four-year medical school at ECU. The charter class of twenty-eight students enrolled in 1977 and graduated in 1981. Today, the Brody School of Medicine at ECU enrolls eighty students with each class.

The inaugural class members have spread to Ohio, Florida, and the Rocky Mountains, all with impressive accomplishments.

“The earliest graduates are displaying all of the high qualities of the profession, leadership and service, that were imagined years ago,” said Dean Dr. Paul Cunningham.

Inaugural class member Dr. Douglas Privette was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award for 2013 from the BSOM Alumni Society. Dr. Privette has dedicated his career to the cardiac health of eastern North Carolina.

NURSINGIntroducing the Pirate Nurse Network at Vidant

The ECU College of Nursing has partnered with Vidant Medical Center to launch its first alumni network in eastern North Carolina.

A member-driven support organization, the Pirate Nurse Network will offer educational opportunities and social and professional networking for ECU nursing graduates who work at Vidant in Greenville. Already 140 alumni have joined.

“The College of Nursing is very proud of its alumni and wants to stay connected with them,” said Dr. Sylvia Brown, dean of nursing. “It is our desire that networks of Pirate nurses can be established throughout our state and beyond as a strategy to support fellow ECU nurses and a way for them to stay in close contact with our college.”

“Keeping our alumni connected will allow us to do a better job of spreading awareness on all of the great things that we are accomplishing in nursing education as well as raise awareness for areas of need and support,” said Mark Alexander, director of development and major gifts in the College of Nursing.

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Marvin and Joyce ’51 Johnson

School of Medicine Inaugural Class

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“Pirate nurses can now access an organized support system within our hospital as they share their Pirate pride and engage in educational, community service, and recreational activities with nurse colleagues,” said Jessica Griffin, who serves as network liaison where she is a staff nurse in the special care nursery of the James and Connie Maynard Children’s Hospital at Vidant. Griffin also was president of the class of 2001 in the ECU College of Nursing.

Griffin worked with Dr. Linda Hofler, the medical center’s senior vice president-nurse executive, and Cathy Jackson Bunch ’94, staff development assistant in rehabilitation services and MSN student, to set up the network.

STUDENT LIFEPirates Serving Pirates

East Carolina University has a growing and thriving military population. With more than a half dozen military installations within 200 miles of campus, it’s no secret why our campus is proud to have over 1,400 student veterans, active military, servicemembers, and dependents.

In September 2013, East Carolina University became the first school in North Carolina to have a Vet Success on Campus (VSOC) Counselor. The program started in 2009 at the University of South Florida and has grown to more than seventy community colleges and universities in the country. Rick Poe has been assigned to our campus as the VSOC Counselor where he has an office and meeting space in the Brewster Building.

“This puts an experienced and well trained vocational, rehabilitation, and employment counselor on campus full-time,” said Curt Coy, undersecretary for economic opportunity with the United States Department of Veteran Affairs. “This VSOC Counselor is there to help our veterans with their academic endeavors, but is also there to help them with any Veteran Affairs (VA) related issues that they may have.”

These support services include assistance with VA benefits, medical referrals, and career planning as well as special services dealing with physical and mental health situations. Rick Poe’s role gives him the capability to work in partnership with Student Veteran Services, based in the Division of Student Affairs, to serve undergraduate and graduate students as well as ECU alumni.

“The Pirate Nation is very clearly purple and gold, but we are also red, white, and blue,” said Dr. Steve Duncan, ECU vice chancellor of administration and finance and military programs. “We must provide supportive services necessary to ensure that student veterans are successful in their academic pursuits, adjust to a campus environment and eventually transition to civilian employment.”

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ECU continues to strengthen its commitment and services to our men and women in uniform through the creation of the Office of Student Veteran Services to a one-stop military website portal (www.ecu.edu/military) to this new partnership with Veteran Affairs that brought a VSOC to campus.

TECHNOLOGY& COMPUTER SCIENCE

A Family Affair

When Lemuel (LB) Clayton ’73 arrived at ECU to play football in 1964, the first in his family to ever attend college, little did he know that he would not only meet his future wife there, but also begin a legacy of student athletes at ECU.

Clayton chose ECU because of a football scholarship to play for Coach Clarence Stasavich. After enlisting in the Air Force from 1967-1971, he returned to ECU to finish his football career and his degree, and graduated with a bachelor of science in industrial technology.

Clayton met Gail Sykes, an exceptional golfer at ECU, and the two married after graduation. The couple had four daughters, who all attended ECU. His daughter Michelle was an All-American hammer thrower for track and field who earned degrees in 1998 and 2000. Margaret Clayton Cutler received her degree in 2004 and also was part of the track and field team. Megon Clayton Mancini was a teaching fellow who graduated in 2001 and earned her master’s in 2012. Monica Clayton graduated in 2003 after being on the track and field team. Gail was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame at ECU in 2005, followed by Michelle’s induction in 2011.

“The Clayton family is quite an ECU story,” states Dr. David White, dean of the College of Technology and Computer Science. “Not only were they noted ECU athletes, but LB in particular has also been an active supporter of academics.”

Clayton began giving back to ECU immediately after graduation. He is part of the Pirate Club and is a Centennial Pirate member of the Alumni Association. He also serves on the College of Technology and Computer Science’s Advancement Council.

Clayton has worked in the distribution and logistics industry since 1973 and recently retired from Old Dominion Freight Line. He has hired ECU graduates. He says, “Even though ECU is four times the enrollment it was when I began in 1964, it still maintains a ‘family’ atmosphere.” And, as evidenced, he means that literally.

Monica Clayton, Gail Clayton, LB Clayton, Margaret Clayton Cutler, and grandson, Trey Cutler


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Remember Belk HallBelk Hall, one of ECU’s most beloved residence halls, is set for demolition in early 2014. While occupied in the fall of 2013, all Belk Hall residents will be relocated to other on-campus residence halls prior to demolition commencing in January 2014.

Completed in 1966, Belk Hall was named after Mr. Henry Belk (1898-1972). A North Carolina native, Mr. Belk received a bachelor’s degree from Trinity College (now Duke University) in 1923. In 1926, he became the managing editor for the Goldsboro news, and earned wide respect as a journalist. Mr. Belk was partially blind and served on the President’s Committee for the Employment of the Physically Handicapped (1960). He was very active in state and local civic activities. Mr. Belk served as a trustee of ECU (1945-1973) and was chair from 1963 to 1964. ECU became a leader in providing equal collegiate opportunities for the disabled through the aid of Mr. Belk.

Belk Residence Hall will always hold a significant space in the annals of the history of ECU. Belk Hall is a staple of the commitment to excellence and the pride that makes East Carolina University a special campus.

Belk will replaced by a state-of-the-art residential complex. Gateway East and West will serve as the newest addition to the College Hill neighborhood at East Carolina University. The two new residence halls are scheduled to open in the fall of 2015 and will house about 720 students - 250 more than Belk - and will house the vast majority of ECU’s living-learning special-interest communities. Gateway West will have a large multipurpose room that can be separated into three classrooms. Gateway East will have a large computer lab and gathering space for students.

The Remember Belk Hall project is dedicated to reconnecting former Belk residents through sharing memories and photographs over social media, a memorabilia purchase program, and opportunities for donors to name rooms in the new residence hall that will replace Belk. The commemorative brick program will allow former residents to celebrate the forty-seven-year history of Belk Hall. Each brick will be specially selected post-demolition, and will have an affixed commemorative plaque, customized to your unique connection to Belk. Right now, former Belk residents have the opportunity to purchase additional Belk Hall memorabilia. Mailbox covers, door plates, and suite numbers are available to order.

As you honor Belk Hall, you also benefit current and future students at East Carolina University. Proceeds from the personalized brick program support enrichment activities provided by the Division of Student Affairs, through the Residential Scholars Program. The Residential Scholars program supports annual scholarships for upperclassmen living on campus. The students, who are selected through a competitive awards process, are evaluated for their involvement in campus leadership, community service and academic excellence.

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