East Spring 2006

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Spring 2006

East

THE MAGAZINE OF EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY

Pirates Storm Manhattan


View Finder Pe e De e h e ads o ff Rusty Boyette, one of four students who served as Pee Dee this school year, takes a break to cool off. It’s so hot in the Pirate suit that all four Pee Dees take turns working football games. What was his best experience this year? “At the UAB football game I got the chance to interact with the mascot from the other team. I slayed the dragon with my sword.” How long has he been a Pirate fan? “Since I was born. My parents used to duct tape my car seat to the bleachers.” Photo by Forrest Croce


Spring 2006

East

THE MAGAZINE OF EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY

F E AT U R E S

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IT ’ S S RO FO R E CU IN NYC By Steve Tuttle Chancellor Steve Ballard leads a contingent of about 30 ECU faculty, staff and students to Manhattan to witness the Carnegie Hall debut of the university’s Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival. Several other events surround the performance, including the unveiling of plans for the university’s new performing arts center.

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G RE E KS , ALL G ROWN UP ? By Bethany Bradsher Fraternities and sororities change with the times to keep step with a new generation of students who wonder what Greek Life is all about.

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CLUB SPORTS: NOT YOUR FATHER’S TEAM By Bethany Bradsher The image of club sports as leisurely softball games is sent to the penalty box by ECU’s new ice hockey team. Snowboarding, surfing and scuba diving are also attracting growing numbers of students.

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DO CTO RING NE W YO RK SP ORTS STAR S By Marion Blackburn New Yorkers cheer rabidly for their Giants and pack Madison Square Garden to see their Knicks. Fame and huge fortunes ride on how well those athletes perform. Who’s responsible for their health? Ronnie Barnes and Lisa Callahan, two ECU grads who are biting whole chunks out of the Big Apple.

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FRO M O UR RE ADE RS

T H E E CU RE PO RT

FRO M T H E CLASS RO O M

CLASS NOT E S

UPO N T H E PAST


From The Editor

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braham Lincoln once said that God must surely love common-looking people because he made so many of them. If that’s true, then North Carolina must surely hate dentists because we produce so few of them. We’re talking about ­dentists these days because the ECU Board of Trustees has officially requested $80 ­million from the state to build a dental school in Greenville. Do we need more dentists? You look at the numbers and do the math. That’s the number of law schools in North Carolina, at UNC Chapel Hill, N.C. A&T, Duke, Wake Forest and Campbell. The State Bar Association says those five schools graduated 1,100 lawyers last year. We will have even more new attorneys next year when two additional law schools open in Greensboro and Charlotte. That’s how many medical schools there are in the state—at UNC, Duke, Wake Forest and our own Brody School of Medicine at ECU. According to the ­registrars at those schools, the four graduate about 375 new doctors annually. Number of divinity schools in North Carolina, at Duke, Wake Forest and Campbell. They graduate about 350 new ministers per year. Number of pharmacy schools in North Carolina, at UNC and Campbell. They produce about 200 new pharmacists annually. A third pharmacy school opens next year at Elizabeth City State University. Number of dental schools in North Carolina. The UNC Chapel Hill School of Dentistry graduates about 75 new dentists a year.

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If you’re keeping score, the tally is 1,100 new lawyers a year, 375 new doctors, 350 new ministers, 200 new pharmacists and 75 new dentists. Is 75 even enough to replace the dentists who retire each year? ECU, which takes a refreshingly practical approach to serving its community, thinks there’s something wrong with those numbers, which is why it proposes building a dental school. North Carolina ranks 47th among the states in the ratio of dentists to population. Four counties in eastern North Carolina have no dentists at all, and three counties in the region have only one dentist each. The North Carolina Dental Society believes 600,000 children in the state aren’t receiving basic dental care. One in three kindergarten children arrive at school with untreated tooth decay. Trustee Robert Hill said that, if given the chance, ECU will train dentists much like the Brody School of Medicine trains doctors—with a focus on family medicine delivered close to home. A dental school at ECU would only admit North Carolina ­residents and would focus on those interested in serving rural areas, Ballard said. To us all those numbers add up.

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We want to say a special thanks to Ronnie Barnes and Lisa Callahan for giving so ­generously of their time for interviews for their profiles in this issue. They also were troupers about finding a time both could be together in one spot to take photos. That turned out to be on early Friday morning, Feb. 19, just before Callahan jetted off to the NBA All-Star Game. Barnes was getting an early start on a weekend working at Giants Stadium in anticipation of serving jury duty. It was chilly, rainy. Meeting them ­brightened our day.

East THE MAGAZINE OF EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY Spring 2006 Volume 4, Number 3 East is published three times a year by East Carolina University Division of University Advancement 2200 South Charles Blvd. Greenville, NC 27858

h EDITOR Steve Tuttle ART DIRECTOR Brent Burch PHOTOGRAPHER Forrest Croce CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Marion Blackburn, Bethany Bradsher, Jimmy Rostar, Denise Walsh CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Kyle Fisher, Don Hazelwood, George Kalinsky, Anja Mäläskä CLASS NOTES EDITOR Franceine Perry Rees

h DIRECTOR OF UNIVERSITY MARKETING Clint Bailey

East Carolina University is a constituent institution of The University of North Carolina. It is a public doctoral/ research intensive university offering baccalaureate, ­master’s, specialist, and doctoral degrees in the liberal arts, sciences and professional fields, including medicine. Dedicated to the achievement of excellence, responsible stewardship of the public trust, and academic freedom, ECU values the ­contributions of a diverse community, supports shared ­governance, and guarantees equality of opportunity. ©2006 by East Carolina University Printed by The Lane Press 50,000 copies of this public document were printed at a cost of $26,692.56 or $.53 per copy.

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WINTER 2006

From Our Readers East

THE MAGAZINE OF EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY

Maynard’s Midas Touch INSIDE:

BUIlDIng the fUtURe In theIR footstePs B o U n C I n g B aC K

Industrial Technology was renamed the Department of Technology Systems in 2004 about the time it moved from Flanagan to Sci Tech. The department now offers bachelor’s programs in design manufacturing, industrial distribution and logistics, industrial technology, ­information and computer technology, and engineering. The department also offers master’s programs with a content focus in advanced technological areas such as digital communications, network management, ­information assurance, manufacturing, industrial ­distribution and logistics, occupational safety, and ­performance improvement. You can learn more at the department’s web site, www.tecs.ecu.edu/tsys.

A magazine with the right mix

It was a loblolly, not a longleaf

My East magazine arrived yesterday and like usual I planned to put it in the stack of ­reading material next to the bed to eventually glance through. That night the cover of East grabbed my attention and I began to look through it. Starting from page 3 I was hooked. I read it cover to cover for the very first time ever. It was the right mix of ­different types of articles. A business success story, new buildings on campus, and sports news kept me reading with great interest. The pictures were also fantastic, so many kudos for the photographer(s). For future articles I would love to know more detail about how some of the original ECU departments have grown, changed, moved, renamed, etc. For instance I graduated from the School of Industrial Technology. At the top of page 15 in East you show a picture of the Flanagan building. On the bottom left of that building was the entrance to the School of Industrial Technology. It was a small department in the basement. Looking at that door entrance brought back so many memories. I have often wondered if the department still exists, what building is it in, has the name changed, and what became of some of the professors that made such a valuable impression on me and really impacted my future. Thanks again for a wonderful magazine. Please congratulate all of your staff. —Gary Halstead ’75, Richmond, Va.

Just a note about the photo of the pines on the back cover of East magazine. Those trees were loblolly pines (Pinus taeda) not longleaf pines (Pinus palustris). To botanists and ­ecologists there is a world of difference between the two species. By far the majority of pines one sees in eastern North Carolina today are loblolly pines. Longleaf was once the dominant species on uplands but the landscape was changed due to ­conversion to agriculture and plantation ­silviculture and fire suppression such that loblolly and various hardwoods have replaced longleaf on most remaining forested tracts. Longleaf pine and the timber and naval stores industries associated with it were the mainstays of North Carolina’s economy for 150 years during colonial and early statehood times. I believe it is important to understand this ­historical link. —David Knowles, Lecturer, ECU Department of Biology Here are two simple ways to ­distinguish between ­loblolly (left) and longleaf (right), which I learned from web sites Dr. Knowles ­suggested. As the name implies, longleaf pine has needles up to 18 inches long. The cone also is large, up to 10 inches long. Loblolly needles are shorter (four to nine inches) and the cone is smaller (three to six inches).

East has evolved

East magazine has evolved into one heck of a publication and I am sure it will get better and better with you at the helm. I hope to meet you some day, possibly at a ball game at Dowdy-Ficklen. Many thanks again and ­congratulations on your new career.  —Chip Wooten ’87, Cary California Pirates

I think an interesting article for the magazine would be about the large number of ECU alumni who live in Southern California. Off hand, I can think of at least 10-12 who live within a five-mile radius of myself. Many of us went to see Chancellor Steve Ballard in Beverly Hills when he and his family were here this past summer. Many of my friends are shocked by the number of former Pirates out here and how close knit we are. That is one of the great things about being a Pirate, how you make a bond with someone and you remain friends for life. I am still in regular contact with other ECU alumni scattered all over the country. —Robert Rose ’96, Redondo Beach, Calif. I would book a flight to LAX in a Hollywood minute but that would overlook bands of Pirates in other farflung locations. Where else can we find clusters like Southern California? Send us a note… Where’s the subscription form?

Perhaps I missed it, but I don’t see any ­subscription info anywhere here in the Winter 2006 issue. —Barry Garrison ’69, Charlotte

That’s because East is not a subscription publication in the customary sense. It is sent exclusively to more than 60,000 donors and other friends and supporters of the university. To begin or continue receiving East, send a donation to the East Carolina Annual Fund using the envelope inserted in these pages. You also can make a ­donation online by going to ww.onestop.ecu.edu/donations. Send your letters and comments to tuttles@ecu.edu

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The ECU Report Hands across the water

Dr. Jonathan Dembo pulls a protective glove over his hand before carefully removing Specimen No. 1283-1297 from the vault in the Special Collections Department at Joyner Library. The artifact is more than 400 years old and shows the effects of centuries of weathering but there’s no mistaking what it is. It’s a gold signet ring with a lion crest. Dr. Dembo, who heads Special Collections, gently slips the ring on his finger and demonstrates how it was used to emboss the lion figure into drops of hot wax to seal a letter. The ring probably was last used for that purpose by a member of the doomed Lost Colony, which disappeared into the mists of time around 1585. Two of the colonists were members of the Kendell family, whose crest was a prancing lion. ECU archeologist David Phelps discovered the ring and other artifacts at a site near Buxton on the Outer Banks, which an increasing number of experts believe was the site of the Lost Colony. A flintlock, coins, pipes and other artifacts consistent with the colonists also were found there. Today the ring holds a new significance —as a symbol of ECU’s growing reputation in coastal archaeology. Before discovery of the Lost Colony relics, the university grabbed headlines around the world for its work recovering an 18th century shipwreck believed to be the Queen Anne’s Revenge piloted by the pirate Blackbeard. ECU researchers also discovered the oldest shipwreck ever off the coast of Alaska. Now, ECU trustees have approved the building plan for the Coastal Studies Institute, a project between ECU, the UNC System and Dare County to develop 40 acres in Manteo. The project has received $1.3 million for planning.

It was an unusually warm winter day in Greenville when the president of the University of Oulu in Finland stopped by to renew his school’s student exchange program with East Carolina. Many ECU students were wearing flip-flops and shorts that day, including some of the nine Oulu students enrolled at ECU this semester. It was 50 degrees colder that day in Finland, but ECU student Korie Amberger, an anthropology major from Kinston, still wanted to get outside to see more of his home-away-from-home. He tried ice-skating and later went for a run. “That…was, like, wow,” he wrote in his blog. “My eyelids kept freezing together and I was covered with ice when I was done. I need to get some goggles for sure.”

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The student exchange program between East Carolina and Finland’s second-largest university is an example of a new emphasis at ECU on providing students with international experiences. In 2004, the university adopted a five-year plan to increase international programs, including international exchange students, student study abroad programs and faculty research and teaching opportunities. With that groundwork now in place, “next year has been declared the year of living abroad,” says International Programs Director Terry Rodenberg. Rodenberg says his goal is to double to 500 the number of foreign students attending ECU by 2009 and to have at least 300 of our students studying abroad. Fifty-three ECU students were studying abroad this ­academic year, 19 of them in England. ECU created an international dorm on

Anja Mäläskä

With this ring…

Left: ECU students Josh Hall, Matt Leggett and Korie Amberger on the campus of the University of Oulu in Finland, where they are enrolled this semester. Right: University of Oulu students Arto Kaukko and Mervi Koistinen at ECU.


campus within Jones Residence Hall last fall, and the university redesigned and expanded its web site to offer more detailed information about its international programs. ECU students can use the site to take virtual tours of nearly 70 foreign campuses offering accredited programs. For foreign students coming to Greenville, the site offers practical tips not only on academics but also on ­making friends, dating, tipping and rules on drinking alcohol. What’s it like studying overseas? “So far it has been really nice here, getting to dive into a new culture and experience a whole new lifestyle,” says Matthew Leggett of Grifton, another of the three ECU students at the University of Oulu. “The one thing I told myself when I got here is that you can’t look at this culture as being bad or wrong, you just have to except that it is all different and I think that is why I enjoy it here so much.” Korie Amberger is chronicling his experiences in Finland at his blog, www.xanga.com/ home.aspx?user=Korie_In_Finland.

ECU braces for dental school North Carolina’s rank as 47th among the states in the ratio of dentists to population would improve dramatically if the General Assembly funds construction of a new dental school at ECU. University trustees officially requested $80 million for the project and asked the UNC System Board of Governors to add the money to next year’s budget. Trustee Robert Hill said the mission of a dental school at ECU would be similiar to that of the Brody School of Medicine which trains family doctors and encourages them to remain in eastern North Carolina. The dental school will admit ­students interested in ­serving in rural areas. Like the medical school, it will only admit North Carolina ­residents, he said. The university plans to develop eight to 10 oral health centers in rural areas throughout the state where dental students will learn and work during their fourth year of study. If state funding is secured this year, the new dental school could admit its first class in

Furnished

The ECU Report

From left, Louis Sewell, Lanny Wilson, Stan White, Tom Betts and Marvin Blount

three years. Dr. Greg Chadwick, East Carolina University associate vice chancellor for oral health and a former president of the American Dental Association, was pleased. “This obviously is the first official step, and I can’t tell you how excited I am about this step,” Chadwick said. “The first step is ­usually the hardest.”

Pave my street, Matey! Old college ties often are cited as clues to influence in business and politics, but who would have thought it mattered in getting your street paved? Not that we would ever suggest it might help, but it probably ­wouldn’t hurt to mention your ECU ties when doing business with the N.C. Board of Transportation. There are five ECU alumni currently ­sitting on the 19-member transportation board, the body that oversees the DOT and its $1.6 billion annual budget. There also are five UNC Chapel Hill graduates on the board, which leaves nine seats for all the other schools to fight over. Transportation Board members are appointed by the governor to represent ­specific regions of the state, and the ECU

group is responsible for everything east of I-95. RBC Centura banker Thomas A. Betts Jr. ’68 of Rocky Mount represents the ­northern counties along the interstate. Beach developer Stan M. White ’75 of Nags Head represents the northern coastal counties. Attorney Marvin K. Blount III ’93 of Greenville represents the east-central counties from I-95 to the coast. Developer Lanny T. Wilson ’86 of Wilmington represents the southeastern counties. Louis W. Sewell Jr. ’61 of Jacksonville, a retired Golden Corral executive, is an at-large member representing rural transportation interests. Eastern North Carolina recently has ­benefited from several major highway ­projects, including the Fayetteville Outer Loop, the US 64 Williamston Bypass and the Wilmington Beach Bypass. Some other major projects are getting started, including the Greenville Southwest Bypass, a project to ease existing and anticipated traffic congestion flowing into the medical complex. Right-of-way acquisition is scheduled to begin next spring for the Southwest Bypass, which will become a new artery stretching 13 miles from US 264 at the western edge of Greenville southward toward Ayden, where it would link up with the existing NC 11.

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Cliff Hollis

do you see it? we do.

www.ecu.edu

We see it in the tiny mechanical clamps of a robotic surgical system whose use is being pioneered by our physicians. We see it in a patient whose diabetes disappeared after having gastric bypass 足surgery. We see it in the new cardiovascular research institute providing groundbreaking study and treatment of heart disease. We see the top producer of nurses and allied health professionals in the state. We see an institution where research and technology help fulfill a mission to save and improve lives. At East Carolina, we see a place working to ensure a healthy tomorrow. And you will see it, too.

East Carolina University Tomorrow starts here.


Top honors for ECU ads

Turner Network Television

The ECU Report Matthew Perry and Ron Clark

You might have been in the waiting room of your dentist’s office recently, thumbing through the latest Time or Sport Illustrated, when you saw a full-page ad about health care at East Carolina University (shown at left). That ad, along with others about teacher education, research, and construction at ECU, appear regularly in a number of national and regional magazines. They also appeared earlier this spring in major news­papers across North Carolina. The series of image ads, produced by University Marketing and the Department of University Publications, received top honors in two competitions this winter. The ads won the Grand Award for paid advertising in the Council for the Advance­ment and Support of Education III District 2006 ­competition and the Admissions Marketing Report Gold Award for magazine advertising series in its twenty-first annual Admissions Advertising Awards competition. The ads highlight several of the univer­ sity’s points of pride and were designed both Clark’s life a TV movie as teaching moments and opportunities to That’s “Friends” star Matthew Perry palling showcase the good works and wealth of around with school teacher extraordinaire opportunity that exist here. In addition to Ron Clark ’94, whom Perry will portray in a Time and Sports Illustrated, they have appeared new TV movie about the ECU graduate’s in Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, Forbes, stunning success teaching disadvantaged Our State, and Metro. ­children. Turner Network Television will air University Publications, which designs “The Ron Clark Story” in June as the next East magazine, also received a CASE Special installment in its Spotlight Presentation Merit Award and an Admissions Marketing series. TNT says the two-hour biopic closely Report Bronze Award for a student recruittracks Clark’s experiences as a freshly minted ment viewbook for the School of Art and ECU education major who, by chance, ended Design (right). The department won CASE up teaching at a rural elementary school in Special Merit Awards for an East eastern North East Carolin Carolina MBA program advertisement a University Carolina. His innovaand a booklet for the dedi­cation of tive teaching methods the new Perkins and Wells Memorial garnered worldwide Organ at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church attention. Later, Clark in Greenville. Admissions Marketing taught at an inner-city Report gave a Bronze Award for a school in Harlem, ­billboard advertising the MBA where he produced sim­program and a Merit Award for a ilar successes. His 2003 booklet about East Carolina’s book, The Essential 55, ­doctoral program in coastal was a best seller. Clark’s resources management. latest ­project is the Ron Tomorro w starts here.

Clark Academy, a new ­private school in inner-city Atlanta. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. Pictures is filming a movie about the aftermath of the 1970 Marshall University plane crash, with actor Matthew McConaughey starring as the football coach who led the team the following year. Seventy-five players, coaches, boosters and reporters died in the crash, which occurred on the team’s return flight after a loss to East Carolina in Greenville.

Researcher wins NIH grant An elderly woman falls at home and breaks her hip. Weakened by the injury and long recovery, she develops pneumonia and dies. Would you say that the cause of her death was the pneumonia or the fall? ECU researcher Sherri Jones says the real culprit was the dizziness, one of several related maladies known as vestibular disorder. Treating dizziness might prevent thousands of injuries and deaths among seniors, she believes. Dr. Jones, an associate professor in the 7


Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders in the School of Allied Health Sciences, is researching the role genes may play in dizziness and imbalance, funded by a $1.4 million research grant from the National Institutes of Health. She thinks the answer lies hidden in the ears of mice, whose genes and inner ear are very similar to humans. Her early research yielded encouraging results, so now she’s studying additional mouse strains and adding anatomy and genetic components to her work. She and her collaborators are looking specifically at strains they initially identified to characterize the dysfunction in detail, which could lead to mapping the chromosome contributing to gravity receptor dysfunction. Of particular interest is identifying mouse strains with abnormal balance but normal hearing and the opposite—deaf mice with normal balance. “Our studies suggest that there may be some unique genes for that to happen,” said Jones, a license audiologist. “If it’s a gene, I want to find it.”

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Centennial celebration begins East Carolina’s celebration of its first century will commence next year and continue through 2009 as the university commemorates the official chartering of East Carolina in 1907 as the first step toward the opening of classes in 1909. Dates for many centennial events will be announced soon. Among the first marking the occasion is university historian Henry C. Ferrell’s new book, Promises Kept, which chronicles the past quarter century, a period when he says ECU kept promises made in the past. “By 1980, the university had assembled a body of intentions—promises—to cultivate,” Farrell writes in the introduction. “East Carolina had been successfully desegregated. Undergraduate degree programs won new students. Fine arts had obtained essential physical plants. Arts and Sciences also ­benefited from construction and library expansion. The professional schools…had either realized long standing building goals or had plans to obtain them. Medical ­education…completed the last touches to its core campus. Other graduate programs, while postponed by the UNC System, made their way slowly and ­cautiously to reality.” “We have met here to begin the foundation for a great ­institution of learning that will be a power in Eastern North Carolina,” T. J. Jarvis, a ­former governor and trustees ­chairman, said at the July 1908 ground­breaking for the first buildings on campus. “We never can begin to ­calculate the value it will be to North Carolina, especially to this eastern section, and more especially to Pitt ­county and Greenville. When those standing here live to be as old as I am, you will look back with pride to the day when Pitt county and Greenville gave $50,000 each for the erection of this ­institution. “

A Centennial Task Force is overseeing the celebration under the direction of honorary chairs Richard and Jo Eakin and John and Gladys Howell.

Extending cancer victims’ lives A new study led by an ECU physician gives added hope to the more than 7,000 women who die each year in the U.S. from endo­ metrial cancer. The study found that giving two chemotherapy drugs to women after ­surgery for an advanced form of the cancer reduces the risk of recurrence by 29 percent and extends survival by 32 percent compared with results from current treatments. The lead author of the study, published online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, is Dr. Marcus E. Randall, professor of ­radiation oncology at ECU’s Brody School of Medicine and director of the Leo W. Jenkins Cancer Center. Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecologic cancer in the United States. The American Cancer Society estimates that this year 40,880 women will be diagnosed with the disease and 7,310 will die.

ECU graduates to new diploma There’s something unique about the roughly 2,500 students who will graduate this spring: their diplomas will be different than anything ECU has bestowed in more than 20 years. The most noticeable thing about the redesigned diplomas is that they are bigger—11 by 14 inches compared to the 8.5 by 11 inch sheepskins that the university has ­handed out since 1984. Another noticeable change is that the student’s major will be prominently displayed. Also, the documents are being printed on higher-quality stock, the lettering is in a new typeface and the ECU seal has moved to a more prominent position. “People who see it say it looks more like what a diploma should look like,” said Assistant Vice Chancellor Angela Anderson. Alumni who want a copy of their diploma in the new format should wait until after June 1 to make the request through the ­registrar’s office.


Sports marketing goes big time ECU expects to gain greater visibility, and realize a tidy profit to boot, through an arrangement reached with ISP Sports to ­market the rights to Pirate athletics. The deal guarantees the university an annual rights fee plus additional payments based on revenue generated by ISP, which is based in WinstonSalem. The contract covers all sales and ­marketing associated with ECU’s 19 inter­ collegiate teams, including radio and television programming, game programs and other athletics publications, and signs in all campus athletic venues. ISP will base a three-person staff on campus to manage those activities. Heading up the effort will be Jimmy Bass, 49, who was appointed to the new position

of senior associate athletics director for ­external operations. Bass, whose position will be funded by ISP, most recently was senior associate director of athletics at Mississippi State University. He was associate executive director of the Wolfpack Club at N.C. State University from 2000 to 2005, where he directed the campaign that raised $60 million to expand Carter-Finley Stadium. He was ECU’s assistant athletics director for marketing from 1989 to 1994. East Carolina joins 27 other universities aligned with ISP Sports. The group includes ACC schools Clemson, Georgia Tech, Miami, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, as well as Conference USA members Houston, Marshall, Southern Miss, Tulane, UAB and UCF.

A rts

Sept. 2 @ Navy Sept. 9 @ UAB Sept. 16 Memphis Sept. 23 West Va. Sept. 30 open Oct. 7 Virginia Oct. 14 Tulsa

Oct. 21 SMU Oct. 28 @ USM Nov. 4 @ UCF Nov. 11 Marshall Nov. 18 @ Rice Nov. 25 @ NC State

June 27-July 1—ECU/Loessin Summer Theatre presents Guys and Dolls, the oddball romantic comedy, at 8 p.m. nightly, with a 2 p.m. Saturday ­matinee, in McGinnis Auditorium. Tickets are $20 and $30. Call 1-800-ECUARTS.

April 20—International Association of Jazz Educators combo ­session, 10 a.m. at the Greenville Hilton. Free.

April 23—ECU Symphony Orchestra and Combined Choirs perform at 3 p.m. in Wright Auditorium. Call 252-328-4370.

Fall may seem far off but it’s not too early to reserve your seats for Tailgate 2006, the gathering of the Pirate Nation before home football games. Hosted by the Alumni Association, the tailgates feature food from area restaurants and entertainment. Last year’s tailgates sold out before the season began. Make your reservations early by visiting PirateAlumni.com.

C a l endar

April 13–May 22—Exhibition of works by Master of Fine Arts thesis students, Welling­ton B. Gray Gallery. Call 252-328-6336.

April 21-22—The annual Billy Taylor Jazz Festival kicks off with clinics, workshops and concerts. The ECU Jazz Ensemble will perform Friday MFA thesis student evening at the Greenville Hilton, followed by a gala concert featuring guest artists Saturday evening at the Greenville Hilton. For ticket ­information, call 1-800-328-4788.

Fall football dates set

Ashley Nicole Pierce with her silk batik April 28—The Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival will present works by Schubert, Schumann and Faure ­during its season finale at 8 p.m. in the Brody School of Medicine Auditorium. Featured artists include Thomas Sauer on piano, Jennifer Frautchi on violin, Ara Gregorian on viola and Colin Carr on cello. Call 252-328-4370.

July 11-15—ECU/ Loessin Summer Theatre pre­sents The Fantasticks, the world’s longest- running musical featuring such memorable songs as “Try to Remember,” at 8 p.m. nightly, with a 2 p.m. Saturday matinee, in McGinnis Auditorium. Tickets are $20 and $30. Call 1-800-ECU-ARTS. July 25-29—ECU/Loessin Summer Theatre presents Footloose, a stage adaptation of the movie, at 8 p.m. nightly, with a 2 p.m. Saturday ­matinee, in McGinnis Auditorium. Tickets are $20 and $30. Call 1-800-ECU-ARTS.

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Making Housecalls on New York Sports Stars New Yorkers cheer rabidly for their Giants and pack Madison Square Garden to see their Knicks. Fame and huge fortunes ride on how well the athletes on those teams perform. Who’s responsible for their health? Ronnie Barnes and Lisa Callahan, two ECU grads—both from eastern North Carolina—who are biting whole chunks out of the Big Apple. 11


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New York Giants

Healer of

Giants By Marion Blackburn

With NFL team salaries soaring above $90 million, caring for star quarterbacks and gifted wide receivers means protecting a considerable financial investment. The New York Giants, whose worth Forbes estimates at $806 million, have entrusted that responsibility for more than 20 years to one remarkable man, Ronnie Barnes ’75.

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The first graduate of ECU’s athletic training program and a native of Wilson, N.C., Barnes is vice president of medical services for the Giants, making him the go-to man for player conditioning, rehabilitation, injury recovery and overall health. He’s not a ­medical doctor; he has a staff of physicians, athletic trainers and specialists who work for him. He is considered a lifesaver by some, including Giants assistant coach Pat Flaherty, who told the New York Times it was Barnes who prodded him to undergo tests that uncovered a cancerous tumor. “If he had waited until the end of the season he

­wouldn’t have made it,” Barnes says. Barnes, 54, cares so deeply about the bodies of the Giants that he’s come to represent the team’s soul. That was evident last October when the Giants’ beloved owner, Wellington Mara, died at age 89. One of the architects of the NFL, Mara had owned the team for 75 years, since inheriting it from a brother when he was 14. Mara had approached Barnes in March with a question. “He says, ‘I have a lump under my arms. What should I do, Dr. Barnes?’ Later, they found out that cancer had spread to a lymph node under his arm,” Barnes remembers.

“I went with him to all of his appointments and radiation. He was in the hospital for 30 days and I probably spent 25 of those nights with him. For him to want me there was a wonderful opportunity, and a tribute.” When Mara died last fall, his funeral was held at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York with about 2,200 people attending and the cardinal presiding. In the eulogy, Mara’s ­oldest son, John, singled out Barnes for ­special thanks. “My father’s face would light up when Ronnie walked into the room. Nobody took better care of him and there was no one that he trusted more.” 13


Breaking new ground

Once, athletic trainers needed to know only one thing—how to tape a sprained ankle. But that changed dramatically in the 1970s amid a movement to improve ­academic training in what was an increasingly important field. ECU had one of the nation’s first sports medicine programs and Barnes became its first graduate. He had been the trainer for his high school, the Wilson Fike Cyclones, where he worked alongside coach Henry Trevathan and best-friend Carlester Crumpler ’74 to defy the odds and snare three state championships. “From the beginning he was the Ronnie we know today,” says Trevathan, now retired and living in Fountain, N.C. “Very interested, very dedicated, very punctual. Whatever it takes to be a trainer, he had it all. He could have done anything. But he also had character, personable qualities, along with the passion. They were all there in the 10th grade. “Coaches liked him, players liked him, parents liked him,” he says. “He was good at what he did. He studied, he would check out everything.” “Whenever it came time to get something done, Ronnie was there,” says Rod Compton, who for many years served as the Pirates’ head athletic trainer and today is assistant professor of health education. “He had great people skills and that shone through. He very quickly rose to the top.” “His demands for excellence appeared early,” Compton remembers. “I’d trust my life with his skills and his ability to handle injuries and emergencies. He is very talented and can pick up things very easily. People think if someone can tape an ankle they’re a good trainer. But there’s so much more to it than that. You have to be good with people, good under pressure.” “You want to be the best you can be,” says Barnes, 54. “Creating new ideas, being at the forefront. Making life better has driven me. There’s no greater way to have someone think of you than for them to say, ‘Ronnie Barnes is an excellent athletic trainer.’ That for me is the reward of hard work.” Barnes’ father, a Baptist minister, and mother, a homemaker, both deceased, set high standards for him. “There are good values in eastern North Carolina,” he says. “The caring 14

about people, the sense that you are respon­ sible for someone else and not just yourself. There is a lack of selfishness. These are the kind of Down-East values I learned. I had wonderful parents, who got it right. They had wonderful personal values and wanted me to do better than they’d done.” From a master’s to the majors

Within five years of graduation, Barnes completed a master’s degree at Michigan State University and made the major leap to the National Football League. By 1980 he was the Giants’ head athletic trainer. He has seen the team through three Super Bowls—two wins and a loss—while gaining respect from his peers in the Big Apple and beyond. “It’s a big job, because football is a ­collision sport,” he says. “There are lots of injuries to the musculoskeletal system. Lots of illnesses.” Like the players they serve, sports medicine professionals operate like a team, with physical therapists, orthopedic surgeons, internal ­medicine physicians and even counselors pulling together to keep players fit and strong. “My job is to put the team together, organize them, give them the ‘Giants’ approach— the Ronnie Barnes approach—to how we are going to treat our athletes,” he says. “Athletes should not be treated any ­differently than regular patients, except that in sports, there is a real sense of urgency for answers. Because once a player gets injured, in about six days, there’s another game day.” Mike Hanley, who as ECU’s assistant director of athletics for medical services is responsible for the football team’s health, considers Barnes a sounding board for ­difficult situations. “Without question, I’ve called Ronnie for help,” Hanley says. “He’s gone out of his way to help. He has time for everyone. It’s like he’s known them all his life. He has a natural ability.” “You can’t be in the position Ronnie Barnes is in and not stay on the cutting edge,” says Dr. Katie Walsh, ECU’s director of sports medicine and athletic training. “Players want the best and they will find the best. They will replace an athletic trainer in a nanosecond if they don’t.”

The Giants haven’t replaced theirs in more than 20 years. In fact, the team promoted Barnes and made him a key member of the management team in 2004. “Being an officer of the company allows you to have a seat at the table when football business is being ­discussed,” Barnes says. “That allows me to etch out some territory for medical care. I’m not a physician, but I bring some of the same things, such as setting up a system that works, helping them have access to ­specialists, following up on their care. That responsibility falls on me. There are models where physicians are in charge of that.” Pioneering new techniques

After a quarter-century with elite athletes, he has a unique insight into their problems and has contributed research on hydration, injury patterns among athletes, sudden death


“Athletes should not be treated any ­differently than regular patients, except that in sports, there is a real sense of urgency for answers. Because once a player gets injured, in about six days, there’s another game day.”

and orthopedic medical conditions. Barnes also has supported new approaches that aggressively emphasize conditioning, physical health and mental well-being. Athletic ­trainers are responsible for the prevention and rehabilitation, and are present on the field during games to evaluate injuries and decide who returns, and who sits out. “We’ve really come a long way in injury prevention,” he says. “Preconditioning involves year-round conditioning and ­flexibility. You want to recognize muscle deficits before an athlete is injured.” The National Athletic Trainers’ Association has twice selected Barnes the National Professional Trainer of the Year. He joined the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Hall of Fame in 1999 and NFL physicians voted him Athletic Trainer of the Year in 2002. He was named to the Athletic

Hall of Fame at ECU, Michigan State University and Wilson Fike High School. He also co-authored a textbook, Athletic Training and Sports Medicine. Barnes has been a generous supporter of ECU over the years, creating the Ronnie Barnes Sports Medicine Scholarship for ­juniors and seniors in the athletic training major. In 2002, the university recognized his contributions with the Ronnie Barnes African-American Resource Center at Joyner Library (www.ecu.edu/cs-lib/trc/rbarnes.cfm). This collection holds biographies, journals and other materials documenting the AfricanAmerican experience. Barnes, who has never married, likes to travel and is planning a visit to the Far East. He has visited Africa, Asia, South America and Europe where, he says, the museums in Amsterdam were a special treat.

Once home, he was set to begin his next big project, helping the National Athletic Trainers’ Association’s first capital campaign for research and education. He is also ­working on a study of shoes as related to football injuries. His year will kick into high gear when football season rolls around again. When it does, he will again be among the Giants, watching for the subtle signs that an athlete is in trouble, such as in the case of a young player experiencing hip pain. At Barnes’ request, he went for tests that found a tumor that required major bone surgery to remove. “That’s my role,” Barnes says. “I hear the complaint, assess it, triage to the doctor and make sure there’s a sense of urgency about how it is managed. We don’t just say it’s a sprain, or it’s muscle soreness. We take the East time to figure it out.” 15


Turning Pro in By Marion

By day Dr. Lisa Callahan mostly treats women with sports injuries. She’s a

16


n Sports Medicine Blackburn

George Kalinsky for Madison Square Garden

an expert in the field who literally wrote the book on women’s fitness.

Then at night she worries about her really tough cases—the 14 big guys on the New York Knicks pro basketball team.

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hat’s a pattern Lisa Rowland Callahan, B.S. ’83, M.D. ’87, has ­followed since her childhood in Washington, N.C. While other girls were content to play with their dolls, she took hers apart. When she received a transistor radio for her birthday, she dismantled it as well. It was more ­interesting figuring out how her toys worked than playing with them. Callahan edited her high school paper and arrived at ECU on a full scholarship. She ­gravitated toward science and medicine and grad­uated magna cum laude before completing her M.D. at ECU’s medical school in 1987. Nineteen years later, she’s admired as one of New York’s best sports medicine doctors. She is medical director of the Women’s Sports Medicine Center at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan, where she sees professional and recreational athletes. She also is director of player care for basketball’s Knicks and the New York Liberty of the WNBA. She lives in a stylish apartment on the Upper West Side a block off Central Park. She writes a fitness column for Self ­magazine and turns up on TV frequently as a guest on Good Morning America, the Today Show and the Lifetime channel. Callahan’s best-sell-

ing book, The Fitness Factor: Every Woman’s Key to a Lifetime of Health and Well-Being, was published in 2002 and is now available in paperback. She is a former host of Recipe for Health on the Food Network. “I never set out to be the first in anything, but it seemed like the right thing to do at the time,” she says before catching a plane to Houston to serve as a trainer at the NBA All-Star Game. Journalism to knee joints

Though Callahan didn’t set out to rewrite the rules, she often did just that. There were no women doctors in rural eastern North Carolina when she was growing up, but she imagined herself one just the same. A turning point was a knee injury she suffered in ­college. Unimpressed with her medical care, she realized doctors weren’t always attuned to women athletes and their unique needs. “They said, ‘Nothing is broken; go home.’ I thought, maybe nothing is broken but ­something is messed up,” she remembers. “I basi­cally figured out how to rehab my own knee. That really got me interested in sports injuries. “Because of those experiences along the

way, I didn’t feel [women’s] issues were taken as seriously. There were questions, such as, ‘Why, when I’m running a lot, do my periods stop?’ There weren’t good answers for that.” As a family medicine doctor, Callahan, 44, emphasizes a person’s overall health, ­compared with specialty approaches that focus on specific concerns such as joints. Before choosing medicine she excelled in journalism. She was editor of her high school literary magazine and attended the Governor’s School for the gifted in 1978, where she ­edited the newspaper, The Fourth Estate. ECU welcomed her with an Alumni Honors Scholarship and she took classes in many subjects before choosing biochemistry. Her undergraduate research was on fetal ­alcohol syndrome. Her brother, Greg Rowland ’81, and sister Melanie Rowland ’87 MBA ’89, also graduated from ECU. Dr. Chris Bremer, professor emeritus of family medicine at ECU’s Brody School of Medicine, remembers Callahan as an ­enthusiastic student who sought solutions to health concerns. “She’s done a lot without a lot of fanfare,” he says. “But she doesn’t just think in terms of women’s issues. She thinks in terms of being a doctor.” 17


Her expertise in family medicine was ­recognized when she became the first fulltime family medicine physician to join the faculty of the Hospital for Special Surgery. This hospital, which focuses on muscle and skeletal health, including orthopedics and rheumatology, provides team physicians for the New York Knicks, WNBA Liberty, the New York Giants and the New York Mets, among others. “Most people think of sports medicine as orthopedics. But there’s more family medicine to it than they realize,” Bremer says. “Family medicine physicians can think about the whole patient and the way things work together, instead of just as an organ system. For instance, if a patient who’s pregnant wants to work out, a family medicine doctor can help her find the best program. An 18

o­ rthopedist can help with a groin pull, but who will help an athlete who is asthmatic? There are many things that don’t fall into one niche.” A pattern of firsts

Sports medicine programs were just ­beginning when Callahan graduated from medical school. She became the first fellow of a nascent program at the San Jose Medical Center, part of the Stanford University School of Medicine. She also directed the San Jose faculty practice before moving to New York with her husband, Mark, in 1994. There she took a job as an assistant team physician for the football Giants. She was recruited by fellow Pirate Ronnie Barnes (see ­accompanying story). Even in Manhattan­­­she found her ideas

were considered novel. She became the first family medicine physician to receive an ­academic promotion at Cornell University, where she is associate professor of clinical medicine. At the Hospital for Special Surgery, she and a colleague started the Women’s Sports Medicine Center, treating women athletes competing in the Olympics, World Cup Soccer, the World Rowing Championships and Federation Cup Tennis. The center became a model for others like it nationwide. When she encountered gender bias along the way she followed her own game plan. “Every woman who is one of the first in their field probably goes through some tough experiences,” she says. “But a certain amount of that comes with the territory. You have to just get beyond it. If you don’t let little things


“We have to teach girls and women that exercise is not about being thin. It’s about being ­physically strong.” derail you and just show people what you are and what you can do, then gender very quickly does not become an issue.” It’s not an issue inside her office at Madison Square Garden, where the players tower above her petite frame. The players are unbelievably tall and amble around like giants. But they smile and soften up with their favorite doc, Lisa Callahan. “The players look at her like a big sister and she has a way of getting them to understand, almost an instinct, that they really respond to,” says Roger Hinds, the team’s head athletic trainer. “She helps them see that we are really concerned about their welfare. She breaks down the barriers, and develops trust. Once they trust you, they become more comfortable with allowing you to take care of them.”

It’s all in the attitude

Like many raised in eastern North Carolina, Callahan spent time working in tobacco fields. Her father was a farmer and her mother was from Berkley, Calif. The combination of down-to-earth values and California-style creative thinking gave her unusual drive and initiative. “My father always said, ‘You can’t control what happens to you, but you can control your response to it. It’s all in your attitude.’ He instilled in me that you don’t have to take ‘no’ for an answer.” She tries to keep that positive attitude with her players, including the women ­athletes on the Liberty. “There are days I have to play psychologist, and days I have to play mom,” she says. “Days I play big sister and days I have to play cop. I wear a lot of different hats. “Many people see these athletes as ­celebrities. I just see them as patients. You can’t be star struck, you can’t be emotional. You just have to do your job as a doctor and make good decisions.” She remains dedicated to reshaping ideas about health, especially for women who may think sports are just another way to lose weight. Her research focuses on stress ­fractures and she has authored publications on women athletes and ­pregnancy, bone health, running injuries and women’s ­competitive sports. “Society still tends to treat exercise in the case of women as a means to be thin,” she says. “Women are really judged on a ­cosmetic basis. A lot of times girls and women get this message and take it to an extreme. That leads to ­problems.

“If there is a message, we have to teach girls and women that exercise is not about being thin,” she says. “It’s about being ­physically strong.” A life-long athlete, Callahan and her ­husband are avid cyclists and skiers. Her ­husband also is a doctor, a former Robert Wood Johnson research fellow in internal medicine. They have no children but love their dog, Jamaica. She plans to continue pressing her ideas on women’s health. “I always preach that exercise is one of the most important tools we have for keeping ourselves and our body healthy,” she says. “The next big thing we have to change is to make people understand that fitness and exercise are not just about East looking good.”


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hancellor Steve Ballard led a contingent of about 30 ECU faculty, staff and ­students to New York City in February to witness the Carnegie Hall debut of the university’s Four Seasons Chamber Music Festival. Several other events were planned around the ­performance, including a luncheon with the New York Metro Alumni Chapter and a private tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The trip also presented East magazine an opportunity to meet in person two of ECU’s more notable alumni in the city, Ronnie Barnes ’75 and Lisa Callahan ’83.

At a reception after the Carnegie Hall event, the chancellor unveiled architectural ­drawings of ECU’s planned new Performing Arts Theater, an $85 million theater and teaching ­complex. Dean Jeff Elwell of the College of Fine Arts and Communication said the ­university needs the facility to support its growing theater and fine arts ­program. He said a major fundraising campaign would begin soon. The concert in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall featured ECU Professor of Violin Ara Gregorian with guest violinists Hagai Shaham and Xiao-Dong Wang, violist Maria Lambros, cellist Zvi Plesser and pianist Thomas Sauer. It was the first residency of the Four Seasons festival to be held off campus. Gregorian is artistic director and founder of the festival, now in its sixth season. 20


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An audience of more than 200 loudly applauded the all-star group’s performance of Debussy’s Sonate pour Violon et Piano; Mendelssohn’s String Quintet in B Flat Major, Op. 87; and Dvorak’s String Quintet in E Flat Major, Op. 97 “American.” Before the concert, many from the ECU contingent enjoyed a hearty brunch with ­members of the New York Metro alumni chapter at a popular Eighth Avenue spot near the theater district. There are more than 2,500 alumni in the New York area, according to Chapter President Shannon Smith ’02. The chapter maintains an active schedule of events and will sponsor a freshman send-off picnic in July, she said. The chapter has a web site at www.ecunymetro.com. Howell Binkley ’78 dropped by the reception after the Metropolitan Museum of Art tour. Given his schedule, it’s understandable that he missed the weekend’s other events. Binkley is the lighting ­director for two new plays ­running on Broadway—Bridge & Tunnel and Jersey Boys— as well as the long-running Avenue Q. The three raise to 20 the number of Broadway productions for which Binkley has served as ­lighting director. Additional coverage and photos from the New York events can be seen at our web site, www.ecu. edu/east. Click on “Manhattan Memories.” 21


Chancellor Ballard with the officers of the New

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York Metro Alumni Chapter

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ECU’s planned new Performing Arts Theater Below left: ECU trustee Mark Tipton ‘73 accepts a pledge form for the new center from Dean Jeffrey Elwell.­

Howell Binkley with Chancellor and Mrs. at a reception after the museum tour

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Ballard

Metropolitan Museum of Art 25


Greeks, All

Fraternities and sororities change with the times By Bethany Photography by

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Grown Up?

to remain relevant to a new generation of students Bradsher Forrest Croce

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I

f you remember Greek Life at East Carolina as a blur of ­fraternity parties, rushes and formal dances, you should have spent the night with members of Phi Beta Sigma sleeping in ­cardboard boxes in front of Mendenhall to raise money for the homeless. It was a chilly night, but by morning things began to warm up as the fraternity delivered truckloads of clothes and food to a city shelter.

Of course, sleepovers of the more traditional variety still occur on campus, such as when new Alpha Xi Delta members stayed up late getting to know other women who had just rushed the sorority. Helping girls make good friends remains a hallmark of Greek sororities, but sisters these days also share loads of advice on academics and career choices. Greek Life has changed at ECU. Rush is now called recruitment, pledges are known as new members and sorority members no longer jump around and sing in the front yard on Fifth Street. Another difference is in tone, as when 28

Greek Life director Kay Christian strongly encourages fraternity and sorority members to create a balance of academics, service, friendship, leadership and social life within their Greek experience. This new face of fraternity and sorority life will come into sharp focus this month (April) during Greek Week, which will ­feature a slate of activities, parties and service projects designed to bring all 32 campus organizations together. The main event of Greek Week, a non-alcoholic affair, will be a 5K fun run benefitting the Boys and Girls Clubs of Pitt County.

The buzz around this year’s Greek Week is word that the university is exploring the idea of creating a Greek Village to provide housing for all fraternities and sororities as well as common meeting and social rooms. Why go Greek?

Some 1,200 ECU students are Greeks. Some were drawn in by the community ­service; others were looking more for a social outlet. All will be challenged by the univer­ sity’s Greek system staff to make a decision with lifelong benefits. “Hopefully, your Greek experience is to


prepare you for when you get out of college,” Christian told pledges at a February orientation. “If, in your new-member experience, the social piece is half of the pie, then all you’ve joined is a social club.” Stephen Showfety ’70, chairman of the ECU Board of Trustees and a Pi Kappa Alpha, said he’s seen a thread of community service in the Greek system that has held up through the years. That desire to improve the community should be the tie that binds alumni and undergraduate members together, he said. “While there were other opportunities to be engaged in community service, the Greek system reached those who might not have been exposed through other outlets,” said Showfety. “For me, it was an opportunity to engage in some lifelong friendships, but it had other benefits as well.” ECU’s fraternities and sororities are under the umbrella of three national governing ­bodies. The National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) includes the eight national frater­ nities and sororities whose memberships are traditionally African-American. The National

Panhellenic Conference (NPC) and the InterFraternity Council (IFC) oversee the eight sororities and 16 fraternities whose memberships are historically white. Of the three, the IFC has had the toughest public relations battle. Nationally publicized hazing incidents and movies like Animal House have taken their toll, but members like ECU IFC president Matt Mosley are part of a movement to expand the perception of ­fraternity men. “Probably our biggest stereotype is just drinking and partying,” said Mosley, a ­member of Sigma Phi Epsilon. “But there’s a lot more to it.” Phi Beta Sigma’s “Sleep Out for the Homeless” is a part of that new reputation. That was what attracted Torico Griffin to Phi Beta Sigma. “We’re here solely for ­community service,” Griffin said. “It makes a big impression to hang out with people who all like volunteering. I need positive people around me, and these are my positive people.” After spending part of the summer on a mission trip to Honduras before enrolling at

ECU, Dana White was convinced that she wanted no part of sorority life. But she found herself lonely that freshman year, and her ­sister, who was part of the Greek system before her, convinced her to give rush a try. “I just fell in love with it, and I ended up in a different sorority than my sister,” said White, a junior member of Alpha Delta Pi and the president of the NPC. “Pledging was intense, and I met some of my best friends while I was pledging. We’re all well-rounded. We do have social lives, but with all our fun we put in hard work for our philanthropies and our grades.” Making the grade

The prominence of academics in the Greek landscape is often overlooked, but in fact ­fraternity and sorority members must maintain a minimum 2.5 GPA. In the NPHC, men and women must have a 2.5 just to go through the recruitment process. Christian and Ion Outterbridge, the director of Greek Life, keep track of each sorority and frater­ nity’s grades. The group with the highest

29


S ororities Alpha Delta Pi Members: 72 Living in House: 23 Alpha Kappa Alpha Members: 32 No House Alpha Phi Members: 71 Living in House: 20 Alpha Xi Delta Members: 64 Living in House: 17 Chi Omega Members: 74 Living in House: 18 Delta Sigma Theta Members: 14 No House

Kappa Delta Members: 71 Living in House: 10

Beta Theta Pi Members: 19 No House

Lambda Chi Alpha Members: 33 Living in House: 12

Sigma Alpha Epsilon Members: 49 No House

Sigma Gamma Rho Members: 11 No House

Chi Phi Members: 31 No House

Omega Psi Phi Members: 3 No House

Sigma Pi Members: 20 No House

Sigma Sigma Sigma Members: 67 Living in House: 20

Delta Chi Members: 31 No House

Phi Beta Sigma Members: 8 No House

Sigma Phi Epsilon Members: 39 Living in House: 16

Zeta Tau Alpha Members: 64 Living in House: 21

Delta Sigma Phi Members: 24 Living in House: 8

Phi Kappa Psi Members: 8 No House

Tau Kappa Epsilon Members: 19 Living in House: 8

Zeta Phi Beta Members: 12 No House

Kappa Alpha Members: 33 Living in House: 15

Phi Kappa Tau Members: 31 Living in House: 14

Theta Chi Members: 16 No House

F raternities

Kappa Alpha Psi Members: 12 No House

Pi Kappa Alpha Members: 62 Living in House: 11

Kappa Sigma Members: 41 Living in House: 11

Pi Kappa Phi Members: 28 Living in House: 8

Alpha Phi Alpha Members: 15 No House

Delta Zeta Members: 61 Living in House: 17

cumulative GPA is honored each semester. “Greek Life is here to complement the ­academic mission of the university,” Christian said. “It is not to take away from it.” Christian has noticed a disconnect between the image Greeks think they have on campus and actual impressions held by non-Greeks. Only six percent of the ECU student body participates in Greek Life, ­compared to nearly 15 percent at UNC Chapel Hill. Considering their minority ­status, the true battle of ECU Greeks is ­letting the rest of the community know who they are and what they’re doing, she said. “I think the Greek students think that they have a bad rap on campus,” Christian said. “But I think they don’t have any ­reputation on campus. Because they live in Greekdom, they think, ‘Oh, we do all of these good things, and people don’t know about it, they just know about all the bad things,’ And I’m going, ‘I don’t think they know about the good or the bad. I don’t think they really know you exist. I don’t think you’re on their radar.’” But Outterbridge and Christian know they have a good story to tell. They know that while Greeks are a fraction of the student body they traditionally hold the majority of Student Government Association positions. Also, the university knows from experience 30

that alumni Greeks stay connected ­emotion­ally and financially. “This university would not be this ­university without us,” Outterbridge said. “We bring so much to the table.” “Greeks, I don’t think people understand,” said Deidra Morrison, the student vice president of the NPHC and a member of Zeta Phi Beta. “We don’t run the campus, but we have the highest GPAs, the highest number of volunteer hours, and we do more stuff than people ever see.” The village concept

One development that would increase Greek visibility is the construction of the rumored Greek Village somewhere near the heart of campus. Outterbridge and Todd Johnson, associate vice chancellor for campus living and dining, have made visits to other campuses, including UNC Charlotte and Mercer University, which have constructed Greek complexes. UNC Charlotte broke ground last winter on its Greek Village, an 11-acre site on campus. The university currently has no Greek houses. The complex consists of 13 houses to accommodate 350 students with meeting rooms and other support facilities capable of serving almost 900 students. The village will provide a large outdoor commons area.

Mercer University in Macon, Ga. opened its $7 million Greek Village in 2000. The complex consists of 18 fraternity and sorority houses that accommodate about 150 students. Houses come in two sizes—with 10 suitestyle bedrooms for the larger fraternities and sororities and four bedrooms for the smaller ones. All houses have a chapter meeting room. An ECU Greek Village wouldn’t take the place of ­fraternity and sorority houses, Outterbridge said, but would supplement them and give organizations that don’t have houses a place to live and meet. Greek Life staff know they need solid support from the undergraduate Greek community and Greek alumni if such a hub ever becomes a reality. “It’s a great way to engage alumni who might not otherwise be in the loop,” said Showfety, who learned about the Greek Village concept during a presentation Christian made to the trustees early this year. But then as now, students join for a ­myriad of different reasons. And then as now, it’s an experience that, whether it’s heavy on service or heavy on social, helps give definition to the years spent at ECU. “People are like, ‘You’re buying your friends,’” said Jenna Beach, a sophomore from New Jersey and a new member of Alpha Xi Delta. “Actually, you’re making relationships that you can’t pay to get.” East


Greeks by the numbers… at ECU ■

The number of Greek chapters at ECU is about the same but overall membership has declined somewhat over the years. There were 32 soror­ ities and fraternities on campus in 1990 with a total membership of 1,411. That compares to 33 chapters with a membership of 1,194 students today.

Greek Life showed renewed strength this year. Membership in the 16 IFC houses grew 4 percent from last year to more than 500. NPC membership increased by 7 percent to 585.

The largest growth in membership this year was in the traditionally African-American sororities and ­fraternities, up 20 percent from the 2004-05 academic year to more than 140 students.

Because of tougher fire codes and safety regulations, fewer students live in Greek houses today than years ago. The total living in all houses this year is 248.

About 30 percent of all Greeks had a GPA of 3.0 or higher last academic year.

and nationally ■

More than 85 percent of the student leaders on some 730 campuses are involved in the Greek community.

All but eight U.S. presidents have been fraternity men since 1825 when the first social fraternity was founded. Today, 76 percent of the members of the U.S. House and Senate are Greek.

Of the nation’s 50 largest corporations, 43 are led by fraternity men and sorority women. About 85 ­percent of the top executives of Fortune 500 companies belong to a fraternity or sorority.

Greeks volunteer 850,000 hours for community service each year and raise more than $7 million for charity.

A U.S. government study shows that more than 70 percent of all those who join a fraternity or sorority ­graduate. That compares to less than 50 percent of students who don’t join a fraternity or sorority.

Above: A group of sorority sisters paddles down the Tar River during a 1988 Greek Week event. Below: Lambda Chi pledges assemble during rush week in 1981.

Sources: ECU Office of Greek Life, North American Interfraternity Conference 31


Club sports:

Not your father’s team By Bethany Bradsher


Kyle Fisher

Men’s Baseball Basketball Cycl Equestrian Fen Field Hockey F Golf Men’s Ice H Lacrosse Lacro Rugby Scuba/D The image of club sports, Skiing/Snowbo whichSoccer once was W Men’s known mostly Soccer Women for friendly Softball Surfing softball games on fields just Men Swimming off campus,Tenni Women’s has been Volleyball Wate sent to the Water Polo penalty box. Wa Wake­boardingB Taijutsu Isshinry Kw Tai Chi

T

oday’s club sport of choice at ECU is ice hockey, which created a minor Pirate sensation during its first season. Hundreds of fans turned out for its games at Greenville’s Bladez on Ice, including a 4-2 drubbing of the UNC Chapel Hill team. Who plays club sports? People like Brent Falcon, who has been lacing up his skates and taping his hockey stick since he was a boy.

Falcon thought his days of hitting the puck were over when he came to ECU, which does not have an ice hockey rink. But after Falcon’s hockeyless freshman year (“I just hated it,” he said), a local couple decided to turn the Greenville roller skating venue into an ice rink. Falcon saw an ­opportunity and started looking for other enthusiasts on campus, mainly among

­students from northern climates. “These are all guys who have played ­hockey since they were young kids,” said Falcon, now the president of the ECU club hockey team. “We were fortunate that we get to play the sport we love a little bit longer.” There’s a team for practically every other interest. Matt Holley came to ECU from Jacksonville with a surfer’s craving for the

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M aking

varsity team and had to stop for some reason. Hodges has found that the coaches of ECU’s varsity sports consider it an advantage to have a club level of the same sport. Club sports give students who don’t make the varsity team a place to play the sport they love and it provides a ready recruiting pool for walk-on talent. Wayne Cox, a Greenville doctor and ­former competitive hockey player who is serving as the coach of the ECU club team, said that the team has given Pirate sports fans another opportunity to back a winner. And while the majority of club sports will never attract the type of following that hockey has, they can remind the ECU faithful that gifted athletes of all stripes are putting on the ­purple and gold every weekend, some in sports that even the most avid ESPN viewer doesn’t understand. “It doesn’t take much time, it’s fairly cheap, we’re just out here having fun,” said Corey Fleitz, one of the officers of the club hockey team. “Half of us didn’t think we’d play anymore; we thought our career was done four years ago. Now we’re back, and East it’s awesome.”

the

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ollege golf coaches aren’t known for their celebrity status, so Kim Lewellen was surprised when a shopper at a ­furniture store stopped her and said, “I know who you are. You’re from the Big Break. You really disappointed me with that shot the other day.” Lewellen, who signed on as ECU’s women’s golf coach in January, has been seen regularly on the Golf Channel reality show Big Break V in which 11 amateur women compete for a chance to play in a real LPGA tournament. The winner also gets a new sports car and other prizes. At 34, Lewellen is the second oldest contestant and one of the only mothers (she and her husband, an Episcopal priest, have two children). She thinks those factors gave her an edge in the pool of 1,000 ­applicants considered for the show. Others think it was her swing that landed her the spot. She was a two-time All-ACC performer and an All-American at UNC Chapel Hill who captured the NCAA Eastern Regional golf tournament championship as a ­senior in 1993. She turned

34

Kyle Fisher

one competition, last fall at Wrightsville Beach, but the group tries to get together whenever they can for weekend trips to the beach. No two club sports are exactly alike in their competition or practice schedules or in their travel habits, Hodges said. Most play their sports against other club teams from universities throughout the region, and some compete against non-Division I programs like Pitt Community College or North Carolina Wesleyan. The 17 members of the Men’s Frisbee Club travel to tournaments as far away as Florida, Georgia and Maryland. Matt Robinson, the president of the Frisbee Club, was a high school soccer player who came to college with a lingering desire for practice and competition. “One of my friends talked me into coming out for this, and now I’m in my fifth year,” said Robinson, whose team practices twice a week. “The more serious athletes on the team are the ones that did play sports in high school. It’s an easy transition for us.” Most of the club athletes at ECU are ­former high school athletes like Robinson or even students who started out playing on a

The Golf Channel

waves. Feeling a bit landlocked, Holley ­connected with a few other surfers at ECU and then called the Recreational Services department. Club sports director Gray Hodges had him fill out some paperwork and, ensured that he had at least two other surfers to serve as club officers, the first ECU Surf Club since the ’80s was official. “It’s been a chance to meet new people and actually experience how many people like to surf,” said Holley, whose club includes 12 men and two women. “There are a lot of people here who come from coastal areas.” Club sports started at ECU in 1972 with the organization of the Goju Shorin Karate Club, and Hodges took over as the director of the program in 1994. Since his arrival, the number of club sports has increased from 18 to 30, with student interest serving as the major catalyst for the birth of new clubs. “Students usually come in, and it depends on how industrious they are,” Hodges said. “They usually start as quickly as a month, and sometimes it takes the whole semester to start. And then usually after about two years you know if it’s going to be successful.” The surfing club has participated in only


PICK YOUR SPORT

N

ot everyone can play Division I ­football, but nearly 600 ECU ­students can and do stay fit by ­playing club sports. They’re ­coming out in droves this spring to sign up for one of 30 teams that range from snowboarding to scuba ­diving to budo taijutsu.

her

big

break

pro after ­college and won a tournament in Europe. Filming took place for two weeks last October at Turtle Bay in Hawaii, and while Lewellen can’t reveal the outcome, she did survive the first three weeks of the show’s run. One contestant is ­eliminated each week on the basis of her ability to succeed in various golf challenges. “I really didn’t feel like my chances were all that good,” said Lewellen, who previously coached the men’s and women’s teams at The Citadel. “I think I fit an age bracket and a ­character that they needed.” Lewellen, a Raleigh native, was ­hesitant when she heard about the ECU vacancy. But after visiting campus and meeting Athletics Director Terry Holland, she seized the opportunity. Lewellen is focused on making the Lady Pirates tournament ­contenders. In the off-season, she will continue working on her own game by playing on the Futures Tour, the LPGA’s ­developmental circuit. —Bethany Bradsher

Club Sports Men’s Baseball Women’s Basketball Men’s Basketball Cycling Equestrian Fencing Field Hockey Men’s Frisbee Golf Men’s Ice Hockey Men’s Lacrosse Women’s Lacrosse Women’s Rugby Scuba/Diving Skiing/Snowboarding Men’s Soccer Women’s Soccer Women’s Softball Surfing Swimming Men’s Tennis Women’s Tennis Women’s Volleyball Men’s Water Polo Women’s Water Polo Water Ski/Wakeboarding Martial Arts Budo Taijutsu Isshinryu Tae Kwon Do Tai Chi

35


From the Classroom

Blending the Classics with Cussing By Steve Tuttle

I

t’s a bit surprising that the most popular class at ECU is Greek and Latin for Vocabulary Building 1300, offered by the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. Heavy on Latin and Greek ­vocabulary, the class examines the many ways English is a product of the Classic and Romance languages. Just how popular is it? One ­hundred thirty students crammed in a classroom with 120 seats last summer ­session, a time of year when the campus usually is deserted. Classics 1300 was voted No. 1 in a campus newspaper popularity poll by students who raved about the professor—Dr. Steven Cerutti —and his entertaining lectures, which always begin by exploring the origins of a “word of the day.” Cerutti usually chooses words that typify the strong Latin or Greek roots of many common English 36

words. But sometimes he selects a shocker. Take fornication, for example, one recent word of the day. To explain how the word came to mean having sex outside marriage, Cerutti gave a lesson in Roman architecture, which was defined by its use of graceful arches. The Latin root word for arch is fornic, so any large building using many arches was a fornication. Similarly, a ­building with walls strengthened against attack was a fortification. A good example of fornication architecture in Rome was the Circus Maximus, where vendors sold wine and bread from shops set up under the arches of the palatial stadium. To attract customers to the arena on days without chariot races, some shops became brothels. Randy Romans of the day would cloak their reasons for visiting the Circus


Maximus by saying, wink, wink, that they were going “arching.” Now, Cerutti has compiled that and many other illuminating peeks inside the English language for a new book, Words of the Day: The Unlikely Evolution of Common English. It’s the fifth he’s written on the topic and it’s required reading in his class this semester. The book is illustrated by ECU student Joel White. “It’s unfortunate that everyone seems to focus on the off-color words we examine in class and in the book,” Cerutti says. “But I believe strongly that you can’t fully understand and appreciate our language without knowing how it evolved.” Not studying some words —the four-letter kind—would be like studying European history and omitting Stalin just because he was a bad man, Cerutti says. He is careful to warn students in the class syllabus that those with sensitive ears may be offended by some words discussed in class. However, all the blue words can be found in the Oxford English Dictionary. Some come to class already aware that English is constantly ­evolving, and not just those driving freshly painted and repaired cars. Until this generation, pimp was an off-color word meaning a shady character who controls prostitutes. Now it has morphed from a noun to a verb and acquired a positive image, as in “pimp my ride.” In Words of the Day, Cerutti reminds readers that words are powerful and should be used with precision. He cites the example of the ­former Virginia lieutenant governor who once commented that a looming budget deficit meant the state would have to be niggardly in

its spending on certain programs. “He used the word absolutely ­correctly, meaning the state had scanty or meager resources. But some people thought he was making a disparaging remark about AfricanAmericans. It caused such a ruckus he had to resign.” Most students take the class as an elective to satisfy degree ­requirements in General Education/Humanities. But many come back for more, which explains the interest in Cerutti’s other classes, Introduction to the Classical World 2000, Women in Classical Antiquity 2400, The Ancient City Rome 3400 and The Ancient City Pompeii 3410. When he came to ECU in 1992 after finishing his doctorate at Duke University, Cerutti was asked to improve the university’s ­offerings in the classics. He expanded the classical studies program, redesigned the Latin curriculum and introduced Greek. Nearly half of the more than 60 classes now offered by the department explore classic languages, arts and culture. For the modern minded, the department also offers German, Spanish, Russian, Japanese and Italian. Cerutti says he was inspired to write Words of the Day during a tour of the Tower of London, where a guide explained that the ­condemned once were required to pay the executioner for chopping off their heads. If the sack of money offered tipped the scales ­favorably, the executioner would use his sharp axe, not the dull one. From that ghastly exchange, Cerutti learned, have grown the concepts of “tipping” and “severance pay.”

East Carolina Annual Fund Shape the future. When you give to the East Carolina Annual Fund, you answer the university’s call to serve. You enhance ECU’s degree offerings. You support undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships. You keep research and technology on the leading edge. When you give to the Annual Fund, you raise the quality of ­education for tomorrow’s leaders. Visit us online to make your gift today. It’s quick, easy, and secure. www.giving.ecu.edu 252-328-9579


Joinyour fellow“Pirates”—

And come home to Ironwood to live, play and relax. The standards of excellence being set by our University and the ECU Alumni are reflected in the growth of our University, our award-winning healthcare and health care research facilities and the City of Greenville. At Ironwood, we share those same standards of excellence. Ironwood is the address of choice for East Carolina University Alumni, providing residential excellence, championship golf and devoted members. Join your fellow “Pirates” and come home to Ironwood! For more information on Ironwood and our exciting growth, contact Jackie Britt at 252.752.4653 or 800.343.4766 and visit our websites —

www.ironwood-realty.com and www.ironwoodgolf.com.

200 Golf Club Wynd, Greenville, NC 27834

252.752.4653 / 800.343.4766

www.ironwood-realty.com • www.ironwoodgolf.com


Pirate Connections ECU coming to an iPod near you

The East Carolina Alumni Association now offers free subscriptions to news specifically related to Pirate alumni using RSS tech­ nology. Alumni also can subscribe to receive free podcasts of the association’s radio show, A Pirate’s Life for Me!, and our monthly Pirate Career Call series. RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, is a popular means of sharing content (such as news headlines) without requiring users to constantly visit a Web site to see what’s new. RSS feeds contain headlines and hyperlinks to longer articles or Web pages. To sign up for the free service, visit PirateAlumni.com. Alumni help UNC-TV raise $23,000

ECU employees joined alumni from Durham, Orange and Wake counties in March to help raise over $23,000 during ECU Night at UNC-TV. Each spring, ECU is the only university with its own volunteer night to take donor pledges during UNC-TV’s “Festival” event. ECU is also the only university that underwrites a public television program, Nova on Monday evenings. Alumni spotlight

Sabrina Bengel of New Bern, the current treasurer of the Alumni Association Board of Directors, came from Connecticut to attend ECU and never left the area.

While moving into Tyler Residence Hall in 1977, she met two students, one of whom happened to be friends of her future husband. “Steve called me sugar and I knew the South was for me and that he was something special,” she says. Despite every intention of returning to Connecticut, Sabrina never left eastern North Carolina and, as she says, “I’ve loved every minute of it!” Sabrina took classes in sports medicine. Steve graduated in 1979 with a business degree and shortly afterward they were married. Sabrina put her degree on hold but still plans on finishing when things slow down a bit. The Alumni Association defines alumni as all graduates and those who attended for two consecutive semesters. While many fall into the latter category, few show the passion for service that Sabrina displays. A travel industry veteran, she is president of New Bern’s Trolley Car Tours and president and CEO of the New Bern River Rats baseball team. She chairs the Craven County Tourism Development Authority, the Friends of the New Bern Firemen’s Museum and is the Craven County Pirate Club represen­tative. The Bengels are loyal supporters of both academics and athletics at ECU. Sabrina’s vision is for ECU to be the ­catalyst of economic development not just regionally but statewide. Steve and Sabrina Bengel

Upcoming Alumni Events Apr. 18 Wake County Chapter—ECU ­baseball game at NC State

Apr. 21 Spring Alumni Awards Ceremony Apr. 27 Chancellor’s Tour, Tampa, Florida May 4 Durham/Orange County Chapter monthly meeting at Piper’s Deli

May 4 Charleston, SC Alumni Social May 13 Alumni Association Baseball Tailgate, UAB vs. ECU

May 19 Black Alumni Chapter—Atlanta, “After Hours Social,” Fox Sports and Grill, Atlanta, Georgia

May 24 North Texas Alumni—Conference USA Baseball Tournament, Houston, Texas

June TBA Children’s Miracle Network Telethon volunteer project, Greater Greenville Chapter

June 26 11th Annual Slaughter-Johnson Golf Tournament at Greenbrier Country Club, Chesapeake, VA

July 12 Greater Greenville Chapter— quarterly meeting at McAlister’s Deli

July 13 Durham/Orange Chapter Summer Freshmen Sendoff

Freshmen sendoffs planned

This summer, the Alumni Association will again sponsor Freshmen Sendoffs in several communities with large populations of incoming students. The sendoffs welcome our newest Pirates and their families to East Carolina while allowing them an opportunity to meet fellow classmates and alumni in their hometown. Once on campus, the new freshmen “Walk the Plank” by passing beneath the Joyner Library columns. The Candlelight Induction Ceremony is a new tradition for seniors that takes place under the Joyner Columns and features the singing of the alma mater and congratulations from the chan­ cellor. Traditions are important for building friendships while on campus and maintaining an affinity to the university after graduation.

39


Class Notes 2005

PATRICK MICHAEL RIDER has been certified by the National Strength and Conditioning Association’s certification commission. Pat, who is pursuing a master’s degree at ECU in biomechanics, is head coach of the Windsor Waves swim team and assistant football coach at Cox Middle School. AMY SHARON PEARCE MOSELEY of Wake Forest was featured in a Jan. 6 Barry Saunders column in the Raleigh News & Observer. The column described Amy’s heroic efforts to locate her beloved fourth-grade teacher so she could be present when Amy married David Moseley in December. DEE DOBSON HARPER of Tarboro is development director for the Ronald McDonald House of Eastern North Carolina. The facility serves families of seriously ill children undergoing medical treatment at Greenville’s Children’s Hospital. ALZO DAVID-WEST received a full scholarship to study for a joint MA-PhD degree in International Korean Studies in South Korea. RYAN THOMAS FULCHER is in the Master of Fine Arts creative writing program at Old Dominion University in Norfolk. JERRY DWIGHT MATHES II is in the MFA program in creative writing at the University of Idaho, Moscow. TABITHA RENEE SLUSHER of Greenville plans to pursue doctoral studies in technical and professional communication at ECU. HEATHER WILLIS will begin law studies at the College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, this fall.

2004

CAROLYN MARIE GREEN, a nurse midwife, has joined the staff at Greenville Obstetrics, Gynecology & Pelvic Surgery, a division of Physicians East. She was formerly a nurse at Pitt County Memorial Hospital. After surviving Hurricane Katrina ­hardships, MATTHEW ROBERT “MATT” SCULLY of Greenville has moved from New Orleans to Greenville to assume a campus ministry position, based at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. JASON SCOTT COOKE is in the ­graduate literature program at Old Dominion University in Norfolk.

2003

KARALEE JOI DEMKO married JACOB COUGHLIN ’98 on July 9, 2005. Karalee is a mortgage loan officer and banking officer with BB&T Mortgage. JESSICA DENISE HALLMAN HOLTON, a staff member at Greenville’s Walter B. Jones Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Center, received the 2005 Community Service Award from the Wilson Regional Resource Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Jessica, a licensed social worker, assists hearing-impaired clients at the treatment center. SHARON MARIE O’NEILL, a teacher at Eastern Elementary School, was recognized by the Greenville Daily Reflector as a “top teacher” in Pitt County. ANNA ­VICTOROVNA MIKHAYLOVA is pursuing a doctorate in linguistics at the University of South Carolina, Columbia. CHRISTOPHER CARTELLONE is serving with the U.S. Army in Iraq.

2002

JUSTIN WARREN JONES of Abingdon, Md., has been promoted to senior associate in the Baltimore office of Clifton Gunderson LLP, the nation’s 13th largest audit and accounting firm. The company has offices in 15 states and Washington, D.C. DR. RACHEL ELIZABETH RAAB of the Bronx, N.Y., a fellow at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center, married Dr. Francois Archambault in April, 2004, at Hilton Head Island, S.C. Francois is a resident at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Manhattan. KAREN LYNN PEADEN TURNAGE is a lawyer in Savannah, Ga., and has an article on integrated divorce laws forthcoming in the

40

Cardozo Journal of Law and Gender.

2001

DR. JOHN PATRICK FERNALD, a ­captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, served a 12-month tour in South Korea as a pediatrician. His wife, DR. AMY ELIZABETH COLEMAN ’02 completed a tour of duty at Balad Air Base in Iraq with the Air Force. She was a flight surgeon with a F-16 unit. JENNIFER ADELE PITTMAN SMITH, a teacher of sixth and seventh grade exceptional children at Farmville Middle School, was ­recognized by the Greenville Daily Reflector as a “top teacher” in Pitt County. DR. KARAH MAHER LANIER of Chesapeake, Va., has served as co-chief resident of radiology at Eastern Virginia Medical Center in Norfolk and has applied for ­neurology fellowships for 2006. DR. REBECCA PERRY WILLIAMS SHOAF of Shelby completed her ­pediatric ­residence at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and has joined Shelby Children’s Clinic. KIMBERLY O’DELL COX is a Regents Fellow in the English doctoral program at Texas A&M University. JEMISON ROGER BESHEARS of San Francisco is an antique firearms specialist at Butterfield & Butterfield Auction House. ROBERT AUSTIN CHURCH of Austin, Tex., is a nautical ­archaeologist at C&C Technologies Survey Services.

2000

MATTHEW DALE WINSLOW of Youngsville has left his position as Franklin County’s planning director to accept private-sector ­employment with a home construction firm. He will help the ­company with subdivision plans and work with engineers and surveyors. LESLI ALLISON BATTS of Greenville has joined Physicians East as a physician’s assistant in the practice’s Quadrangle Division. CHRIS DAVID BLICE, in his third year as principal of Louisburg High School and already recognized as Franklin County’s Principal of the Year, was selected the North Central Region Principal of the Year in a program co-sponsored by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction and Wachovia Bank Corp. He will compete with seven other regional award recipients for a statewide award to be given in April. SUE ANNE BUNDY of Winterville, a fourth grade teacher at Bundy School, and HEATHER MARIE SMITH SULLIVAN of Greenville, a teacher at North Pitt High School, were recognized by the Greenville Daily Reflector as “top teachers” in Pitt County. DR. MARGARET HOOKER WOOTEN PIERSON of Wilmington is in family practice with her husband Noah at Cape Fear Family Medicine. They built the clinic facility and moved into it in the summer of 2004. DR. JOHN TOWNSEND SANDERS served a yearlong deployment with the U.S. Army as a physician in Iraq. His family lives in Lawton, Okla. DR. CHRISTOPHER VAILLANCOURT is a neuroradiology fellow at Duke University Medical Center. Previously, he was a radiology ­resident at the University of South Florida in Tampa. DR. CAREY KERNODLE ANDERS of Durham is researching premature ovarian failure in breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. DR. MARTHA JOHNSTON CHESNUTT of Rocky Mount is working as a general internist at the BoiceWillis Clinic. DR. JENNIFER BALKCUM HELDERMAN of Winston-Salem is a clinical instructor at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and a neonatology fellow. DR. ALISA DAWN INGRAM of Fostoria, Ohio, is a family physician in her own practice. DR. NIKITA WILLIAMS LINDSAY completed a pediatric residency at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte and is now in private practice at Rock Hill, S.C., Pediatric Associates. DR. DONNA ­GRIMSLEY MIZELLE of Clayton completed a residency

program at Greenwood Family Practice and now works at the Benson Area Medical Center.

1999

NICOLE ANN “NIKI” KREEL DOWNS of Sanford, Fla., is an account manager for Hormel Health Labs. STACY EVE JONES DAVIS and MICHAEL WAYNE DAVIS ’98 of Pasadena, Md., ­welcomed daughter Ellison Paige on Aug. 17, 2005. Stacy is an elementary school teacher in Anne Arundel County and Michael is an assistant state’s attorney in Ellicott City. KELLY ANN HART has opened Moxie Clothing on Greenville’s East Fifth Street in a historic building that once housed horse ­stables for the city police department. All ­garments and ­accessories sold are from independent designers, and the store will also feature works by local artists and ­photographers. DR. MELISSA GOLD O’NEAL of Williamston has joined Martin General Hospital’s Roanoke Women’s Healthcare as an OB/GYN specialist. MEGHANN HUGHES VITT BOYD of Winterville, a teacher at North West Elementary School; KRYSTYNA IRENE DEHU CASTRO of Greenville, a teacher at Wintergreen Primary School; and CHRISTINE ELIZABETH MORITZ BRAND ’99, ’00 of Greenville, a teacher at Bethel School, were recognized by the Greenville Daily Reflector as “top teachers” in Pitt County. DR. JESSICA MARIA PINZON TUCKER of Fayetteville works for Cape Fear Regional Medical Center at Stedman Medical Care. DR. BETH ANN TATEROSIAN SIELING com­pleted a breast oncology fellowship at Bryn Mawr Hospital in Philadelphia. Her article on trauma in nonagenarians and ­centenarians was published in the American Journal of Surgery. JAMES WHITLOCK EMBREY of Lusby, Md., is an archaeologist with John Milner and Associates. SCOTT ALAN EMORY ’99, ’00 of Cherry Hill, N.J., is a maritime archaeologist with McCormick, Taylor and Associates.

1998

DR. RAYMOND EDWARD ASHLEY is executive director of the San Diego Maritime Museum and professor of public history at the University of California-San Diego. WENDY MARLENE COBLE is an aviation archaeology specialist at the Naval Historical Center in Washington, D.C. CAROLYN ANN WILBURN ’98, ’02 of Greenville, director of the eastern region Small Business and Technology Development Center at ECU, spent two weeks in Gulfport, Miss., assisting business owners filing for federal assistance after Hurricane Katrina. SBTDC volunteers worked through the Small Business Development Center at the University of Southern Mississippi in Gulfport. PENNY ALICIA THOMAS PHILLIPS of Greenville, a teacher at Sugg Elementary School, and CHRISTIE RENEE DOWDY McKINNEY of Winterville, a teacher at Sadie Saulter School, were recognized by the Greenville Daily Reflector as “top teachers” in Pitt County. DR. ROGER STEWART COLLINS is ­completing a plastic surgery fellowship at Kansas University Medical Center. DR. PAMELA MEGTHLIN SCHEURICH of Lexington, Ky., is a fulltime emergency physician for Marshall Emergency Services Associates.

1997

DR. JAMES McGHIE ALLAN is a lecturer in underwater archaeology at the College of California in Moraga, Calif. DR. PEGGY SUE DUNCAN BARNHILL has her own practice in Whiteville. ­COURTNEY ANN SHELTON ALFORD and husband Tarhy welcomed their first child, son Chase Franklin, on Nov. 17, 2005. The family resides in Westminster, Md. Courtney is an event planner for the Marriott hotel. DR. DAVID


Arrrrrgh! The Voice of the Pirate Nation! P Pregam e—Play-by-Play—Postgame Play-by-Play Postgame Call-in Coaches Show—Weeknight Weeknight Programs Listen online: www.pirateradio1250.com Phone: P 252.317.1250


Class Notes LOVELL FAIRBROTHER of Greenville has joined the Department of Pediatrics at ECU’s Brody School of Medicine. A pediatric cardiologist, he holds the rank of assistant professor. Air Force Reserve Senior Airman LATESHA D. TAYLOR has arrived for duty at the 910th Airlift Wing in Vienna, Ohio. She is a financial management helper with four years of military service. LISA DIANE SESSOMS, a first grade teacher at Wahl-Coates Elementary School, was recognized by the Greenville Daily Reflector as a “top teacher” in Pitt County. DR. MARY HELEN ALLEN ­HUTCHINSON and DR. DAVID HUTCHINSON live in Greenville. David is in practice with Physicians East, and Mary Helen is a partner with Eastern Dermatology and Pathology where she practices with fellow medical school graduates DR. RICHARD STEWART LEWIS ’97 and DR. RICHARD JAMES MURPHY ’95. DR. BRENDA PEARL SMITH of Astoria, Ore., is chief of emergency medicine at Columbia Memorial Hospital. DR. LAURA HINES LOWDER of Charlotte is practicing at Pineville OB/GYN. DR. SHERMAN AUSTIN YEARGAN III of Honolulu is completing his orthopedic surgery residency at Queens Medical Center and plans to move to Vail, Colo., for a sports medicine fellowship at the Steadman-Hawkins Clinic. MICHAEL PATRICK COOGAN of Fairfax, Va., is strategic planning manager at Northrop Grumman IT in Herndon, Va.

1996

TARRICK CYNILL COX and NICOLE ANTRINETTE HARRIS ’99, ’01 were ­married in Goldsboro April 16, 2005. Tarrick is director of the ECU Legislators’ School for Youth Leadership Development, and Nicole is employed by Wilson County Technology Services. BRADFORD McCORMICK

CARTER of Greenville has joined the real estate firm Aldridge and Southerland as a sales associate. He has a ­contractor’s license and worked with water utilities for 10 years. DR. MARSHALL CARNEY TAYLOR JR. of Greenville practices at Eastern Nephrology Associates. DR. LEANNA FOGELMAN THORN and husband Branin of Florence, S.C., announce the birth of Olivia Branin, born Oct. 28, 2004. DR. EDWIN LAWRENCE COMBS is a visiting assistant professor at Mississippi State University. SABRINA SHARON KIM FABER is coordinator of Fulbright programs for AMIDEAST in Yemen.

1995

PAUL HARRISON AVERY ’95, ’98 is enrolled in law studies at the University of Maine. TIMOTHY CLEWIS MELTON has joined the sales team of United Country O’Neal and Associates in Washington, N.C. Formerly a probation/parole officer in Beaufort County, Tim is a member of the Beaufort County Committee of 100 and serves on the Beaufort County Jury Commission. DR. ANITHA MADHURE LEONARD of Atlanta left Emory Pediatric Emergency Medicine Division after six years and has joined Sandy Springs Pediatrics. Her husband, DR. MICHAEL KENT LEONARD JR., is assistant professor of medicine in the Emory University Division of Infectious Diseases and attending physician at Grady Memorial Hospital. Michael is also medical director for the Georgia Tuberculosis Program. DR. ROBIN YOLANDA PEACE is chief medical officer of Robeson Health Care Corp. in Lumberton. DR. TIMOTHY ARNOLD PLAUT of Asheville left Hazelwood Family Practice to join Community Family Practice. For the second consecutive year, he received the Community Physician of the Year for

Make a Note

Haywood County. DR. MICHAEL KENNETH ­WATTERSON of Nashville, Tenn., practices rheumatology with Arthritis Specialists of Nashville. He completed a rheumatology fellowship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. DR. DANA LeANN CHAMBERS of Hickory is medical director of the Catawba Valley Medical Group. She also works with North Hickory Family Practice and served as president of the Catawba County Medical Society. DR. MARY RUTH HUNT of Greensboro is medical director for the Moses Cone Occupational Health Clinic. DR. STUART MORRIS SQUIRES of Fayetteville is staff anesthesiologist with Cumberland Anesthesiology PA.

1994

DR. PAUL GARCIA ’94, ’00 has joined the Department of Psychiatric Medicine at ECU’s Brody School of Medicine. He also serves as medical director of psychiatric medicine in the behavioral health services unit at Pitt County Memorial Hospital. NATALIE ANN ROCKE EDWARDS ’94, ’95 of Dunn announces the birth of son Carson Gene on Aug. 18, 2005. Natalie is assistant education manager at Betsy Johnson Regional Hospital. KATINA MARIA LYNCH of Hollister has received National Board Certification in social studies and history and was nominated for Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers for the third year. CHRISTOPHER LINWOOD COUDRIET, Franklin County manager, has received his third salary raise within a year, along with high praise for his performance from the county Board of Commissioners. MATTHEW COOK of Greenville, an artist and graphic designer, has developed a ­specialty in whimsical portraits of dogs in costume and was commissioned to paint a female boxer in Elizabethan period attire. TAMARA LYNNE TETTERTON FLYNN of Bethel

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Complete this form (please print or type) and mail to: Class Notes Editor, East Carolina University, Howard House, 1001 E. Fifth Street, Greenville, NC 27858-4353; or FAX to ­252-328-6300. While East happily prints wedding announcements, it is our policy not to print ­engagement announcements. Also, when listing fellow alumni in your news, please include their class year. Please use additional paper as necessary when sending your news. Please send address changes or corrections to: Kay Murphy, Office of University Development, MAIL: East Carolina University, 2200 S. Charles Blvd., Greenville, NC 27858-4353, FAX: 252-328-4904, or E-MAIL: murphyk@ecu.edu.

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Class Notes was elected president of the 1,400-member N.C. Health Information Management Association. She is vice president of Meditext Inc. TISHA GEORGETTE NEWTON LOVE of Greenville, a seventh grade teacher at Cox School, was recognized by the Greenville Daily Reflector as a “top teacher” in Pitt County.

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1993

JENNIFER HIGGINS GRIBBLE of Greenville has been named Teacher of the Year at Ayden Elementary School. Jenny is a reading recovery teacher. KRISTY DAWN GURKINS DAIL of Greenville, an English teacher at Farmville Central High School, was recognized by the Greenville Daily Reflector as a “top teacher” in Pitt County. JOSEPH CARL “JOE” HORST is a lecturer in the ECU English department.

1986

DR. PATRICE ELAINE ALEXANDER and her four-year-old son Alex have moved back to Greenville from Wooster, Ohio. Patrice is human resources manager for the Sara Lee Bakery. CHRISTINE LYNNETTE ARNOLD of Washington, an eighth grade math teacher at Ayden Middle School, was recognized by the Greenville Daily Reflector as a “top teacher” in Pitt County.

1992

TAMMY MARIE SKINNER BRICE ’92, ’93 of Pinetops has earned National Board Certification as an early childhood generalist. She is a first grade teacher at Carver Elementary School. NICOLE LANE BYRD-PHELPS of Creswell has been nominated for Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers for 2006. She teaches general music at Walker Elementary School in Edenton. MICHAEL DAVID “MIKE” GILLIKIN of Greenville, eastern N.C. sales consultant for BETCO, received the company’s annual Donnie Ray Tart Sales Award of Excellence. The award memorializes a 1969 ECU business graduate who was BETCO’s all-time sales leader. The company has established a $10,000 scholarship endowment at ECU in Tart’s memory. PAMELA ANNE OESTREICH ANDERSON ’92, ’95 of Washington, a ­second grade teacher at Whitfield School, and PAMELA ­LORRAINE MOORE of Ayden, a teacher at Grifton Elementary, were recognized by the Greenville Daily Reflector as “top teachers” in Pitt County.

1991

GRADY COLEMAN BAILEY JR. ’91, ’93 is the 2005-06 Northeast Region Teacher of the Year in a program co-sponsored by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction and Wachovia Bank. He teaches chemistry and advanced placement physics at Conley High School. Coleman is the son of two educators; his mother, MIRIAM VIRGINIA TAYLOR BAILEY ’67, ’84, now retired as a teacher and principal with the Pitt County schools, was ­nominated for Teacher of the Year during the 1970s. His father, GRADY COLEMAN BAILEY SR. ’54, ’58 ’64, is a veteran teacher at Tarboro High School and also works as a science/math consultant. Coleman is married to LYNN WORLEY BAILEY ’91, an occupational therapist. All the Baileys are residents of Farmville. DAVID ROBERT BAUMER is on the staff of the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News, Va.

1990

ANGELA DENISE WICKER OWEN and husband John have moved from New Jersey to Guyton, Ga. Denise reports that they are happy to be back in the South and getting back to the family business, Owen Enterprises. NANCY JOHNSTON LILLEY was promoted to vice president of deposit operations and services at First South Bank in Washington, N.C. Nancy, who has been with the bank for 15 years, serves as a liaison between the branches and the corporate office. FREDDIE LEE HEATH of Durham was recognized as N.C. Middle School Dance Teacher of the Year and K-12 Dance Teacher of the Year. DAVID SANDERSON of Greensboro was promoted to partner of Pro South Marketing, a manufacturers’ represen­ tative agency serving the Carolinas, Virginia and Eastern Tennessee in the building materials/contractor supply ­industry. JON DECKER of Oakland, Fla., was named by Golf Digest as one of the top 50 golf teachers in Florida, the second time he has been so recognized. Jon is head instructor at the Grand Cypress Academy of Golf in Orlando.

Community Schools and Recreation, was given the 2005 Outstanding Alumnus Award by the ECU Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies. She was cited for countless hours of volunteering for youth sports programs. DAVID JAMES COOPER of Grand Marais, Minn., is resource ­manager for the Grand Portage National Monument in Minnesota.

1985

Gary L. North ’76 was promoted to ­lieutenant general and named the new ­commander of Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina. Shaw is the home of the 20th Fighter Wing, the nation’s largest wing of F-16 fighters. North ­previously was director of ­operations for the U.S. Pacific Command at Camp H.M. Smith in Hawaii. After graduating from the ROTC program at East Carolina, Smith received two master’s degrees from Golden State University and completed six overseas tours of duty.

1989

CHRISTINE LOUISE HARROD ELMORE of Greenville, a third grade teacher at Elmhurst Elementary School, was recognized by the Greenville Daily Reflector as a “top teacher” in Pitt County. DAVID VERNON BEARD is curator of the Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia.

1988

DR. JOHN CARSON ROUNDS of Wake Forest was installed as 2005-06 president of the N.C. Academy of Family Physicians at the academy’s winter meeting at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville. His inaugural address on current challenges in family medicine appears in the current issue of NCFP—The North Carolina Family Physician. Carson is in private practice at Village Family Care in Wake Forest. The NCAFP is the largest specialty medical association in the state, representing more than 2,600 physicians, educators and residents. SUSAN HUDSON JARVIS ’88, ’95 of Greenville, a fourth grade teacher at Chicod School, was recognized by the Greenville Daily Reflector as a “top teacher” in Pitt County. CHRISTOPHER PATRICK McPHATTER ’88, ’00 and LISA MARIE PROCTOR are lecturers in the ECU English department. JOE FRIDAY JR. of Simpson is a sergeant with the Greenville Police Department.

1987

ROBERTA LYNN EBRON SWARTZ of New Bern has achieved National Board Certification in the middle childhood area. She teaches third grade at Brinson Memorial Elementary School. RITA ANN ROY of Greenville, assistant director for Pitt County

MARK JOSEF SHANK is president of Encore Communication Inc. and an international speaker, coach and trainer focusing on communication, motivation and work-balance skills. His clients have included GlaxoSmithKline, Cisco Systems, Nortel Network and Misys Healthcare. TINA ANN HERMAN PAGE of Ayden, a prekindergarten teacher at Third Street School, was recognized by the Greenville Daily Reflector as a “top teacher” in Pitt County.

1984

WILLIAM CALVIN “WILL” ­SANDERSON JR. ’84, ’88 of Greenville, who will become principal of Pitt County’s Wahl-Coates Elementary School this fall, is the son of educators who are ECU alumni and education faculty members, DR. WILLIAM CALVIN “SANDY” ­SANDERSON ’54, ’61 and MYRA GALE DORSEY SANDERSON ’54, ’70. WYLENE BOOTH McDONALD of Wrightsville Beach was promoted to national account executive with the Merck Vaccine Division. She received the company’s prestigious Masters Club Award for the second consecutive year, an honor given to the top 10 percent managers across the nation. DALE ELIZABETH STARLING ­NAYLOR ’84, ’87 of Greenville, a sixth grade teacher at Wellcome Middle School, was recognized by the Greenville Daily Reflector as a “top teacher” in Pitt County. ALBERT B. “AL” MAGINNES of Raleigh has published his third collection of poems, Film History. He teaches at Wake Technical Community College.

1983

ROBERT EDWARD JONES JR. of Jacksonville has retired from Lowe’s as a ­district manager. He has been appointed deputy director of MCCS-Retail at Camp Lejeune.

1982

MARGARET “PEGGY” DAVISON STEPHENS and husband David have moved from Iowa to Long Island, N.Y., where David accepted an appointment as headmaster of The Knox School. Peggy plans to return to the classroom in pursuit of a second master’s or doctoral degree. DANNY SAFRIT was named director of the Eastern Region office of the Division of Prisons in the N.C. Department of Corrections. He will supervise 14 state prisons in a 27-county region. Previously, Danny was operations ­manager in the Piedmont Region office in Kernersville.

1981

EMILY STEVENSON LEWIS of Elizabeth City is media coordinator with the Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Board of Education. She married TOLA E. LEWIS JR. ’72 on July 17, 2004. He is a retired official with the N.C. Division of Veterans Affairs.

1980

HELEN JO FOSS GILLETTE ’80, ’88 and MICHAEL WARD GILLETTE ’82 of Winterville have “graduated” their homeschooled firstborn, Davidson Burton, who is attending ECU in the Honors Program as a four-year East Carolina Scholar Award recipient. Helen is a nurse at Pitt County Memorial Hospital, and Michael is senior sales engineer with Siemens Corp. LINDA 43


Class Notes LYNN TRIPP ’80, ’81 was recognized by the Greenville-Pitt County Chamber of Commerce as 2005 Citizen of the Year. Linda is president of Carolina Court Reporters Inc. and Carolina Specialized Imaging Inc. HENRY HOSTETLER II, owner of the Baywood Racquet Club in Greenville, is the new president of the N.C. Tennis Association, succeeding PAULA MARIE HALE ’70 of Winterville, who has moved into the presidency of the N.C. Tennis Foundation. Paula received the Southern Tennis Association’s Jacobs Bowl in recognition of her fund-raising on behalf of the NCTA and NCTF.

1979

ROSALYNN “ROSIE” THOMPSON ’79, ’85 of Greenville, an official in the ECU Department of Athletics, was one of a series of AfricanAmerican leaders profiled in the Greenville Daily Reflector during February for Black History Month. Rosie was ECU women’s basketball’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder, then played professionally in St. Louis before returning to teaching and coaching. PATRICIA BURKE BRILEY of Greenville, a teacher at South Greenville Elementary, was recognized by the Greenville Daily Reflector as a “top teacher” in Pitt County.

1978

FRANK J. RACKLEY of New Bern was ­elected to the N.C. Forestry Association Board of Directors. Now the North Carolina timberland manager for Weyerhaeuser, Frank has been with Weyerhaeuser for the past 32 years.

1977

G. GLENN MILLS of Beaufort was ­appointed senior administrator, the second highest position in the N.C. Department of Correction’s Division of Community Corrections. He has been assistant branch manager for the eastern region and Judicial Division Chief for Division One. SUSAN MAE TEVEPAUGH ­WARREN of Robersonville, a teacher at Stokes School, was recognized by the Greenville Daily Reflector as a “top teacher” in Pitt County.

1976

DR. CATHY CALLIHAN BENTONGANTZ has been appointed assistant to the area assistant superintendent by the Baltimore County Public School Board. She is in her eighth year as an administrator with the third largest school system in Maryland and the 25th largest school system in the nation. HENRY W. HINTON JR. of Greenville, owner-president of the Hinton Media Group, received a Special Chairman’s Award from the Greenville-Pitt County Chamber of Commerce.

1975

ROBERT V. “BOB” LUCAS of Selma, an attorney with the law firm Lucas, Bryant, Dunning & Ellerbe, PA, has joined the ECU Board of Trustees. SCOTT SNOWDEN WELLS ’75, ’86, development director for ECU’s Harriot College of Arts and Sciences, was elected chairwoman of the nine-state District III of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). Scott joined ECU as the assistant director of alumni relations in 1987 and has served the Harriot College since 1998. WADE GLENDON DUDLEY ’75, ’97 of Winterville is a visiting assistant professor in the ECU history department.

1974

ROBERT W. “BOB” VICKERY of North Wilkesboro was selected N.C. Tree Farmer of the Year for 2005 and profiled in the January, 2006, issue of Treeline, newsletter of the N.C. Forestry Association. In ­addition to managing the 95-acre tree farm his father acquired in 1948, Bob operates Knollwood Design, a landscape ­installation and maintenance company.

1973

CHARLES B. SMITH has retired after 31 years of service with Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis, Mo. His work involved national sales and marketing of the company’s products. GLORIA JUNKINS TALLEY of Atlanta has been appointed deputy superintendent for curricu-

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Rev. Whitty Bass ’64, a two-sports star at ECU, was selected by the Washington Post and Baltimore Sun as their All-Metro Coach of the Year in cross country for Virginia, the District of Columbia and Maryland. The Wilde Lake High School track team he coached was undefeated in 2005 and won the Howard County Champion­ ships, the Maryland 3A Regional Championships and the Maryland 3A State Championships. Bass, who played on two Pirate football bowl teams under Coach Clarence Stasovich, is ­pastor of the Wilde Lake Interfaith Center in Columbia, Md. Bass also was captain of the ECU track team. He ­formerly was on the national coaching staff for Reebok, writing a monthly ­column for coaches and doing clinics.

lum and instruction for the DeKalb County school system, headquartered in Decatur. ROBERT JAMES GRECZYN JR. of Cary, president and CEO of North Carolina Blue Cross Blue Shield, is serving as chairman of the Washington, D.C.based Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare. He has been a council board member since 2002.

1972

WILLIAM J. “BILLY” STINSON of Greenville and his historic Nags Head cottage were the subjects of a recent feature article in the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot. The nearly 90-year-old wooden structure, one of the few remaining original vacation cottages on the Nags Head soundside, was recently listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Billy says he hopes that upon retirement from teaching art at Rose High School, he’ll have more time to spend at the cottage.

1971

J. CRAIG SOUZA, president of the N.C. Care Facilities Association, was re-elected to the UNC Board of Governors by the State House of Representatives. Elected to a new term on the board by the House was CHARLES AUSTIN HAYES ’71, ’74 of Sanford, president and CEO of Research Triangle Partnership. PHILLIP RAY “PHIL” DIXON of Greenville was appointed to the UNC Board of Governors by vote of the N.C. Senate. Phil, a partner in the firm of Dixon, Doub, Conner & Foster, served from 1993 to 2001 on the ECU Board of Trustees, the last two years as chairman. RICHARD R. “RIC” COX of Greenville was the focus of a feature article in the Jan. 16 issue of the Daily Reflector. Ric is owner of Richard R. Cox CPA, a firm specializing in business ­valuations, and he is one of about 1,400 certified valuation analysts in the U.S.

1969

DR. DUDLEY E. FLOOD, former associate superintendent of the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, was re-elected to the UNC Board of Governors by the State House of Representatives.

1967

THOMAS LAWRENCE GULLEY ’67, ’75 of Pinetops is retiring from Edgecombe

Community College as director of counseling after 35 years of service.

1965

JAMES THOMPSON HAMMOND ’65, ’66 of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., was honored as the recipient of the 2005 Marist College President’s Community Service Award. James is a Dutchess County legislator. JERRY TOLLEY was elected mayor of Elon last November. He ­previously served two other terms. Jerry is director of annual giving at Elon University and director of the Elon Society. A ­former football coach at Elon, he recently published his fourth book of football practice drills. WILLIAM M. “BILL” BROGDEN, Tulsa men’s golf coach, was featured in the May 23, 2005, issue, of Sports Illustrated. Writer Rick Reilly praised Bill for forfeiting a Western Athletic Conference championship game with Southern Methodist in order to get the players on a plane from Louisiana in time to be back for exams.

1964

SANDRA KAY YOW, women’s basketball coach at N.C. State University, was ­honored at the team’s recent game with Maryland by fans wearing pink as well as Wolfpack red. Kay is a breast cancer survivor who is active in raising funds for cancer research. A gathering of former players and staff members surprised her at a dinner before the “Hoops for Hope” game.

1962

DR. FREDERICK LOUIS JOHNS of Stamford, Vt., is professor emeritus and ­former biology chairman at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. Fred wrote a memoir for the fall 2005, issue of Biologues, newsletter of the ECU Department of Biology, in which he shared his recollections of Professors John Reynolds, J. O. Derrick, Joseph LeConte, Joseph Boyette, James Horton, Christine Wilton and Mary Caughey Helms, along with ­fellow students Grover Alan Smithwick ’61 and Barbara Manning Tripp ’62.

1961

JOSEPH CARTER “JOE” PURCELL ’61, ’64, ’85 is host for the Saturday Evening Request Program on all-classical WCPE-FM, Wake Forest. The non-commercial station broadcasts with 100,000 watts at 89.7 MHz as well as from re-broadcast sites, and can be received on home satellites and online.

1959

CHARLES “CHARLIE” H. ADAMS ’59, ’62 of Chapel Hill, longtime executive director of the N.C. High School Athletic Association, has been ­selected for induction into the N.C. Sports Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the ECU Hall of Fame in 1991 and is also a member of the N.C. Athletic Directors Hall of Fame and the National High School Sports Hall of Fame.

1946

Identical twins ILLMAR KEARNEY NOBLES ’46, ’62 of Stokes and WILLMAR KEARNEY PLEASANT ’46 of Angier—both retired teachers born on Feb. 14, 1925—were highlighted in a “Readers Write” St. Valentine’s Day feature in the Greenville Daily Reflector. The Kearney twins’ mother, ANNIE DORA GINN KEARNEY, was a 1911 East Carolina Teachers Training School graduate who taught in a one-room school in Seven Springs. (Illmar now owns the handbell her mother used to begin school days.) Illmar’s late daughter, ANNETTE DOUGHTIE was also an ECU graduate. Two grandsons are now enrolled here and another plans to enroll, resulting in four generations of Pirates.


2006 PIRATE FOOTBALL

SEASON TICKETS P RI C I N G Pirate Club Priority. . . . . . . . . . . . . . $200 Faculty/Staff. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $160 May purchase up to 2 tickets, plus family living at home

Graduate Plan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $100 Valid for ECU graduates of 3 years or less

Pirate Club Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . $100 Sections 1, 11, 13-15, 215, 219, and 220

General Public Economy. . . . . . . . . $100 Sections 215, 219, and 220 only

ATHLETIC TICKET OFFICE East Carolina University Greenville, NC 27858 Toll free: 800-DIAL ECU Phone: 252-328-4500 Fax: 252-328-2255

Home Football Schedule September 16

Memphis

September 23

West Virginia

October 7

Virginia

October 14

Tulsa

October 21

SMU

November 11

Marshall Conference USA games in bold


In Memo­­riam ’96 DENISE MARIE MACHALA WOOD of Cary died Jan. 24. She directed N.C. State University’s Office of Undergraduate Fellowship Advising and later directed grants and special projects at Piedmont Community College. ’86 CORINNE SATTERTHWAITE TIMBERLAKE of Stovall died Nov. 21, 2005. She was a retired teacher with the Granville County school system. ’78, ’81 MARY FRANCES COLSTON MATTHEWS of Nashville died Dec. 2, 2005. Her 38-year career in teaching and administration included service as assistant superintendent with the Nash County schools. ’78 THOMAS ELBRIDGE HODGIN of Mulberry, Fla., died Dec. 12, 2005. He was a geologist in Central Florida’s phosphate industry for more than 20 years. ’78 JOEL WATSON JOHNSON of Severn died Dec. 7, 2005. He was a retiree from the N.C. Department of Revenue and active in the Junior Chamber of Commerce.

’73 RONALD PETER CAFFREY of Weaverville died Jan. 18. A certified public accountant, he was an Army veteran of the Vietnam War. ’69 EULA AYCOCK BOYETTE of Kenly died Dec. 28, 2005. She taught in Johnston County schools for 46 years and was a member of Delta Kappa Gamma honor society. ’67 LEAFIE CARRAWAY BRYANT of Ayden died Jan. 19. She completed 26 years as a teacher for the Washington County schools. ’61 ELIZABETH DEW LEE of Wilson and Virginia Beach died Dec. 19, 2005. She was retired from teaching junior high school in Wilson and active in the Woman’s Club. ’60, ’62 LEONARD FRANKLIN SUTTON of Richmond, Va., died Dec. 27, 2005. A former Army paratrooper, he taught in Richmond area schools and at Virginia Commonwealth University.

’74 DEYONNE BREWER of Greenville died Nov. 19, 2005. She worked as a medical technologist at Pitt County Memorial Hospital for 31 years, retiring as pathology section manager.

’60 ROGER TYNDALL of Amelia Island, Fla., died Nov. 21, 2005. An Army veteran, he worked as an IRS agent and an air traffic controller. He was founder-editor of Contest NewsLetter, widely circulated throughout the U.S. before he sold it to McCalls Magazine.

’73 DONALD BRUCE GEROCK of Broad Creek died Feb. 24. He was program manager for White Sands Missile Range, N.M., and at Cherry Point Marine Corps Base.

’56 CLIFTON EARL BOYD of Greenville died Feb. 7. He was an Air Force veteran before joining American Airlines for a 27-year career as pilot, flight captain and flight instructor.

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’52 DR. JOHN NORTHAN BRIDGMAN JR. of Wilmington died Nov. 15, 2005. A longtime educator and administrator, he served as curriculum consultant to the American Schools in Athens, Greece. ’49 WILLIAM L. “BILL” HALES of Raleigh died Dec. 11, 2005. He served in the Coast Guard during World War II and the Korean Conflict and later completed a long career with the N.C. Department of Mental Health. ’49 ONNIE ROBERT COCKRELL JR. of Wilson died Feb. 19. He served for many years as an education administrator in Bertie and Wilson counties. ’46 HELEN TYNDALL HEATH of Deep Run died Jan. 13. She taught fifth and sixth grades in Wake, Wayne, Lenoir and Wilson counties and also in Rocky Mount schools. ’46 SARAH MAE JONES of Greenville died Jan. 14. She was chief office deputy with the Pitt County Sheriff ’s Office, a position she held for 42 years, ’43 CLAIRE JENKINS KARLSON of Wilmington died Feb. 19. She worked for United Airlines for 42 years in the Tidewater Virginia area and later was director of Lucas Travel School and Travel Innovators. ’42, ’53 JAMES O. “JOE” WATERS of Washington and Clayton died Jan. 10. He was a teacher and principal at schools in Robeson, Pamlico and Johnston counties.


’42 CHARLES LAWRENCE MARKS of Rocky Mount died Feb. 8. He worked as a statistician for the U.S government until his retirement. ’37, ’62 PAULINE HOOKDER SPAIN of Greenville died Jan. 16. She taught primary grades in Beaufort and Pitt counties for 35 years and was a member of Alpha Delta Kappa honor society. ’37 MARY ELIZABETH PARKER SEAGO of Greenville died Feb. 20. She taught English in Virginia and North Carolina schools and later became a supervisor in the N.C. Department of Social Security Disability. ’36, ’65 SARAH ROSS LAUGHLIN SHELTON of Tarboro died Feb. 16. A teacher for 35 years, she was active in the United Daughters of the Confederacy. ’33 MATTIE RUTH SMITH GAYNOR of Fountain died Jan. 8. She taught elementary grades in the Fountain and Falkland schools. ’32 VERNA GERTRUDE TEACHEY DENNING of Clinton died Jan. 24. A teacher for 40 years, she traveled with her husband to all U.S. states and 17 foreign countries. ’30 ADA MEREDITH TUNNELL HARRIS of Fairfield died Feb. 6. She formerly taught school in Hyde County and was a member of the Order of Eastern Star. ’28 ETHEL SPRATT BOWDEN of Faison died Feb. 8. She taught in Glen Alpine schools before moving east to teach in Duplin County.

FACULTY DEATHS DR. LINDA JEANNE ALLRED of Greenville died Dec. 26, 2005. She was an associate professor in the ECU Department of Psychology and a former director of the ECU Women’s Studies Program. DEANNA LEE ASTLE of Greenville died Dec. 7, 2005. She was an associate director of Academic Library Services, in charge of collections in ECU’s Joyner Library. DR. RALPH EDWIN BIRCHARD of Greenville died Dec. 22, 2005. He retired in 1979 as professor of geography at ECU, having joined the faculty in 1968. LEVIS ALLEN CHURCHILL of Greenville died Feb. 20. He had retired in 1992 as an associate professor with the Division of Continuing Education. DR. EUGENE EDWARD RYAN of Greenville died Jan. 18. He was a faculty member in the Department of Philosophy and also served as department chair. He was later dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. DR. JAMES L. WHITE of Greenville died Jan. 22. He was a longtime professor of business education at ECU and also headed the Office of Sponsored Programs. DR. GAY WILENTZ of Greenville died Feb. 9. A professor in the English department since 1988, she headed the department’s ethnic studies and multicultural literature programs.

’26 MARY FOY PETERSON “PETE” SHACKELFORD of Walstonburg died Feb. 15. For more than 30 years she was an elementary teacher, primarily at Stantonsburg Elementary School.

Dr. Henry VanSant Hall of famer Dr. Henry VanSant ’60 ’61, who retired in 2001 as senior associate athletic director, died March 19 at age 70, having represented the Pirates as a player, coach and administrator over a span of six decades. The Hampton, Va., native played center and linebacker at East Carolina from 1957 to 1960 under Coach Jack Boone. He was an assistant to coach Clarence Stasavich from 1962 to 1970, guiding East Carolina’s freshman team from 1962 to 1966, including the Pirates’ only unbeaten first-year team in 1966. He was on the coaching staff of the Pirates’ back-to-back Tangerine Bowl champions in 1964 and 1965. He returned to ECU in 1979 to join Pat Dye’s coaching staff. VanSant received his doctoral degree in education from Alabama in 1975. He coached high school level in North Carolina before moving to the college level at Guilford and Lenoir-Rhyne. Dr. VanSant began his administrative tenure at ECU in 1985 as an assistant to the athletic director before being named associate athletic director two years later, a position he held until he retired in 2001. VanSant was enshrined in ECU’s athletic hall in 2003. He is survived by sons Chuck and John. His wife, the former Flora “Ronny” McDonald, preceded VanSant in death.

Recognizing The Power Of One is having the passion, inspiration and Spirit-Of-The-East mentality. Right now you can help create The Power Of One by recognizing the critical need to continue East Carolina’s student-athlete scholarship program now and for future generations. It’s time for each of us to enthusiastically support The Power Of One so that the ECU Athletics Program continues to mold young lives who so outstandingly provide Purple Pride. By joining the Pirate Club you can help do that. Because even as a single individual, The Power Of One, when combined with the power of many, produces a much-needed economic force as important as the institution itself. Please log on to ecupirateclub.com and do your part.

ECU Educational Foundation Ward Sports Medicine Building East Carolina University Greenville, NC 27858-4353 Telephone: (252) 737-4540 ecupirateclub.com

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Upon the Past

“We are not here to destroy the old and accept only the new, but to build upon the past…”—Robert H. Wright, Nov. 12, 1909

From his inaugural address and installation as East Carolina’s first president.

East Carolina was celebrating its 50th Anniversary when the Class of 1957 gathered for commencement exercises in the Wright Building. Parents and friends crowd the ­balconies, which then ran around three sides of the building. Wright, named after the first president of the school, was the religious and social center of campus for many decades, and could even accommodate the occasional basketball game.

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The building was damaged by a string of ­suspicious fires in 1970, and it was extensively renovated in 1981. That makeover transformed Wright into an auditor­ium with a sloping floor and a large stage. The three balconies were removed in favor of a new one facing the stage. Source: ECU Archives



ECU Gallery

A Pirate flag snapping in the breeze caught the eye of Greenville resident and photography enthusiast Don Hazelwood ’98 ’04.

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