East Carolina University

Father of East Carolina University, Thomas Jordan Jarvis Main article: History of East Carolina University On March 8, 1907, East Carolina Teachers Training School (ECTTS) was officially chartered by the North Carolina General Assembly through the passing of legislation Public Laws of North Carolina, 1907, Chapter 820 titled An Act to Stimulate High School Instruction in the Public Schools of the State and Teacher Training . [ 14 ] The chairman of its original Board of Trustees, Thomas Jordan Jarvis , a former Governor of North Carolina now known as the "Father of ECU", participated in groundbreaking ceremonies for the first buildings on July 2, 1908, in Greenville, North Carolina, and ECTTS opened its doors on October 5, 1909. [ 15 ] [ 16 ] Although its purpose was to train "young white men and women", there were no male graduates until 1932. [ 17 ] In 1920, ECTTS became a four–year institution and renamed East Carolina Teachers College ; its first bachelor's degrees were awarded the following year in education. [ 15 ] A master's degree program was authorized in 1929; the first such degree granted by the college was in 1933. [ 15 ] Progress toward full college status was made in 1948 with the designation of the Bachelor of Arts as a liberal arts degree, and the Bachelor of Science as a teaching degree. [ 18 ] A change of name to East Carolina College in 1951 reflected this expanded mission. [ 15 ] Over the objections of Governor Dan K. Moore , who opposed the creation of a university system separate from the Consolidated University of North Carolina, ECC was made a regional university effective July 1, 1967, and assumed its present name, East Carolina University . The university did not remain independent for long; on July 1, 1972, it was incorporated into the University of North Carolina System , the successor to the Consolidated University.

[ 15 ] Today, ECU is the fourth–largest university in North Carolina with 22,463 [ 3 ] undergraduate and 5,558 [ 3 ] graduate students, including the 344 medicine and 206 dental students. [ 3 ]

Jarvis Residence Hall on central campus at ECU East Carolina is separated into three distinct campuses: Main Campus, Health Sciences Campus, and West Research Campus. It owns two sports complexes: Blount Recreational Sports Complex and North Recreational Complex. It owns a field station in New Holland , North Carolina. Main The main campus, also known as the east campus, is about 530 acres (2 km 2 ) in an urban residential area of downtown Greenville. The 158 buildings on main campus comprise more than 4.6 million square feet (430,000 m 2 ) of academic, research, and residential space. [ 8 ] Many of the Main Campus buildings feature the Spanish–Mission style architecture; inspiration drawn from Thomas Jarvis' time as an ambassador to Brazil . [ 19 ] [ 20 ] He wanted to bring the unique architecture to eastern North Carolina. On the main campus, there are five districts: Campus Core, Downtown District, Warehouse District, Athletic fields and the South Academic District. On the Campus Core, there are 15 residence halls which are divided into three separate neighborhoods. [ 21 ] In the middle of the mall is the replica of the cupola on the original Austin building. Athletic fields The varsity athletics fields are located south of the College Hill residential neighborhood. Fourteenth Street divides College Hill to the north, with the athletic fields to the south. Charles Boulevard borders the fields to the west and Greenville Boulevard borders it to the south. A residential neighborhood and Elmhurst Elementary School are the eastern borders. The northern portion of the area sits Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium , Minges Coliseum , and Minges Natatorium, along with parking. The Murphy Center, which is the primary strength and conditioning, and banquet building, is located between Dowdy-Ficklen and Minges Coliseum. [ 22 ] The Ward Sports Medicine Building, Scales Field House, and the Pirate Club Building also surround Dowdy-Ficklen.

The Ward Sports Medicine Building houses offices for football, Pirate Club, and athletic administration. [ 23 ] The Scales Field House provides locker rooms, additional athletic department offices for marketing and event operations, and classroom space for ECU's athletic training program. [ 24 ] South of those facilities is the Cliff Moore Practice Facility which has a pair of natural grass fields and one FieldTurf field designed exclusively for the football team. [ 25 ] On the southern border of the practice facility is Clark-LeClair Stadium , which is the men's baseball stadium. It opened in 2005 and seats 3,000 in permanent seating with another 2,000 located in the outfield. [ 26 ] At the southern end of the fields is the Olympic Sports Complex, which include women's soccer stadium, softball stadium, track and field facility, and Olympic Sports Team building. The Olympic Sports Complex was completed in 2011 with a price of $23.4 million. The Smith-Williams Center is a $17 million basketball development and practice facility, opened in 2013. The football stadium is planning for a $40 million upgrade. The upgrades will include a new press, club, and suite areas, and upper deck, all located on the south side. This addition will increase the capacity from 50,000 to 60,000. [ 27 ] East Carolina has spent $92 million on athletic projects from 1998 to 2011. Including the proposed projects, this is increased to $145 million. [ 27 ]