From the Chancellor

A great college town

When I was asked three years ago to consider becoming ECU’s chancellor, I confess I had never been to Greenville or the ECU campus. I had grown up in another Greenville, the one in South Carolina, but I didn’t know what to expect from the one in North Carolina.

Catherine and I were very happy to find a thriving, dynamic city with a vision to become even stronger. There has to be something going on here to attract 29,000 students, not to mention 5,700 faculty and staff, right? Greenville has all the ingredients for success. It’s not too large, yet not too small. There is a vibrant uptown scene with different venues for students and the rest of us, from restaurants and clubs to microbreweries. There are great traditions like Freeboot Fridays, the concerts on the Town Common, or at Five Points Plaza. And community support for ECU is everywhere you turn. In other words, there is plenty to do here and lots of ways to get involved.

I do believe we have to do a better job promoting Greenville as a great college town destination. The demographics data for eastern N.C. tell us there will be fewer college-bound students coming from this area for at least the foreseeable future. That means more of ECU’s students will come from other areas of the state. And they need to know that Greenville is an attractive destination — one of America’s best college towns.

Fortunately, there are great people, great resources and a great university at the heart of our city. We know if we can attract prospective students for a visit to Greenville and to ECU’s beautiful campus, there’s a great likelihood another future Pirate will soon be enrolling at ECU. We are delighted to partner with this great city to tell that story far and wide!

Go Pirates!

Cecil P. Staton, D. Phil.
Chancellor