ECU Report
Timeline
25 Years Ago
ECU hosts first super regional
Keith LeClair guided the 2001 Pirate baseball team to a 47-13 record and a Colonial Athletic Association championship. That earned ECU a No. 7 national seed and a chance to host an NCAA regional, but Harrington Field didn’t meet NCAA standards. So the regional moved to Fleming Stadium in Wilson, and the Pirates swept it. The next weekend, the Pirates hosted Tennessee in the Kinston Super Regional at Grainger Stadium, which the Volunteers won. Though the Pirates didn’t make it to Omaha, the season still goes down as one of the best in school history, with a final No. 11 national ranking.
50 Years Ago
Buccaneer staff resigns
On Nov. 1, 1976, the entire staff of the Buccaneer, ECU’s yearbook, quit in protest of the Student Government Association appropriating $61,190, or $5,000 less than the staff requested, to produce the volume. Print bids alone ranged from $54,133 to $67,725, according to the Nov. 2, 1976, edition of The Fountainhead. The budget SGA presented cut salaries and staff positions. “We cannot put out a book for that amount,” said editor Monika Sutherland (pictured). The Buccaneer wouldn’t resume printing until 1979, skipped 1991-2005 and ceased altogether in 2018.
75 Years Ago
From ECTC to ECC
A record 2,312 enrolled for the 1951 fall quarter at ECC, up from 2,034 the previous year, according to the Oct. 5, 1951, Teco Echo. The number could have been larger, but with dormitory space for only 1,053 students, 328 withdrew their applications. Others found rooms in Greenville. On campus, women outnumbered men, 1,093 to 809, and another 400 students took courses off campus. New students totaled 607. All but 93 students came from North Carolina, representing 91 of the state’s 100 counties, and most enrollees were majoring in education.
100 Years Ago
Wilson pergola dedicated
Before his sudden death Feb. 1, 1922, Claude W. Wilson was a teacher, principal and superintendent in eastern North Carolina. At East Carolina, he was secretary and bursar for the board of trustees and director of the summer term from 1909-1922. President Robert Wright called Wilson’s death “the most serious blow the college has ever had when viewed from the internal workings of the institution.” In his memory, the school dedicated a pergola Jan. 16, 1926, just west of Wilson residence hall, also named for him. The pergola stood until 1968, when crews razed it, Old Austin and Wilson dorm to make way for the Jenkins Fine Arts Center.
Medical school milestones
Graduating medical students Al-Amin Aminu and Martin Green hug during the National Residency Match Day event March 21 at the Main Campus Student Center. Aminu is headed to Eastern Virginia Medical School for a residency in family medicine, while Green is headed to the University of Rochester in New York for a residency in neurological surgery. Of the 75 students in the Class of 2026, 29 are staying in North Carolina for residency – nine of them at ECU Health Medical Center. More than half are entering a primary care residency: family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics and OB/GYN. A week later, on March 28, Hunter Martin of Boone was among the 99 second-year students who received their coats before beginning clinical rotations. (Photos by Steven Mantilla and Rhett Butler)
The last frigid splash
A legendary campus event came to a frosty end Jan. 30 as the 30th and final Polar Bear Plunge took place at the Eakin Student Recreation Center outdoor swimming pool. Temperatures were not much above freezing. The plunge began in 1997 to celebrate the opening of the then-new recreation center. “After 30 wonderful years, we are closing this chapter on the Polar Bear Plunge,” said Jenny Gregory, senior assistant director of communications and promotions for Campus Recreation and Wellness. “While we look back with gratitude and cherish all of the memories, we’re excited to create new traditions.”
(Photos by ECU News Services)
Photos courtesy of Joyner Library Digital Collections
Graduate programs perform at ECU
From U.S. News & World Report’s online graduate program rankings released Jan. 27, 2026:
No. 1
master’s in nursing among public
universities in N.C. and a top-10 school nationwide
Top Performer
master’s in criminal justice nationwide and the only such program at an N.C. university to be ranked
Top 15%
online master’s in education, nationwide
Best for veterans
online MBA
Read more at ECU graduate programs among best nationally in new ranking
From U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 Best Graduate Schools rankings released April 7, 2026:
Tier 1
Brody School of Medicine among medical schools nationwide
No. 1
in N.C. for the most medical graduates practicing primary care, practicing in rural areas and practicing in underserved areas
No. 1 among
UNC System schools for nurse midwifery and nursing anesthesia
Top performers
among doctor of nursing practice, occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech-language pathology programs
Gold-level
for military-friendly and military spouse-friendly school by VIQTORY
Read more at Online graduate programs in nursing, criminal justice, education and business rank nationally