fall 2008 fall EastThe Magazine of easT Carolina UniversiTy Back to Campus Issue Biggest freshman class ever! class freshman Biggest vIewfInDer fall 2008 fall Eastthe MagazIne of east carolIna unIversIty fEaTuREs BIGGEST freshMan CLASS ever! 14 Officials were working overtime to prepare for a record 4,600 or more freshmen for fall semester, pushing total enrollment to around 27,000. ECU is leasing private apartments to house 300 still on a waiting list for dorm rooms. FACULTY SALARIes rIse 20 Percent 22 Faculty salaries have risen 20 percent or 14 moreBy Bethany over the Bradsher past five years, raising the paycheck of a typical full professor to $94,900 in 2007. While the pay hikes are impressive, OffiCE ON ThE GO leading three initiatives faculty salaries remains below the national average and are produces a packed calendar 24 30 strikingly less than the pay at N.C. State and UNC Chapel Hill. for Director of student Outreach Tarrick Cox ’96 a fIrM FOUNDATIon ’07. he runs the legislators’ 2 4 Roddy Jones ’58, who built Crabtree Valley Mall and school for Youth leadership manyBy Steve other Tuttle Raleigh landmarks, believes in building things up, not Development and he advises the Gospel Choir tearing things down. and the student N.C.a.E. Club. always on the run, his CREATIng CREATIvIty, MusICALLY office is anywhere he can 30 Professor Eddie Jacobs has ways of bringing the get the internet. musicBy Steve out Row of students, even those who admit coming to class unprepared. In those cases, he often asks the student do one simple thing: Play one note on the keyboard. LUXURY suItes In STADIuM eXPansIon 34 Plans are in the works to add 4,500 seats plusBy Bethany 24 private Bradsher suites to Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium by enclosing the east end zone. Also in the works are a new women’s softball stadium, a new track and field facility and a new auxiliary gym at Minges Coliseum. DEPARTmENTs froM our reaDers . 3. the ecu rePORT . 4. FALL ARTS calenDar . 13. PIRATE NATIon . .40 CLASS NOTES . 43 34 uPon the PAST . 56 froM the eDItor froM our reaDers fall 2008 fall Eastthe MagazIne of east carolIna unIversIty Read East on your computer Volume 7, Number 1 mY DaD was iN ThE COED CluB at www.ecu.edu/east is published four times a year by I enjoyed the “Upon the Past” in the last East East Carolina University OrientationThere’s nothing quite as still and expectant as an empty college campus Division of University Advancement issue [about how men students went from 2200 South Charles Blvd. a decided minority to a majority of the in summer, or so I thought until I turned the corner at the School of Greenville, NC 27858 Communication building and ran headlong into a throng of parents and student body right after World War II]. My father, Alfred McLawhorn, is in the group teenagers touring the grounds during a new student orientation session. h photo [of the Coed Club]. I have never seen East Carolina will welcome roughly 4,600 new freshmen this fall, EDITOR that particular photo, so you can imagine a record number. Hundreds of them and their parents have spilled steve Tuttle how excited I was to see it. He used to talk 252-328-2068 / tuttles@ecu edu. across the mall this summer during eight two-day briefings. A campus about those early days at ECTC and being already swollen with five years of record enrollment growth is bracing ART DIRECTOR/DESIGNER outnumbered by the girls. A lot of the guys Brent Burch mentioned in that article went on to be for another wave. Including transfers, officials say the new student TOuChDOwN, mCGEE successful and prominent men. population will approach 6,000. PHOTOGRAPHER I enjoy the magazine and especially the Winterville forrest Croce recent articleEast on my friend, fellow ECU grad —Ryan McLawhorn ’76, All the new buildings funded by the state’s $3.2 billion higher education how do i subscribe? COPY EDITOR and fellow ACC football official Dr. Jerry bond issue of a few years ago already are full to bursting. The university Readers can order reprints of pictures seen on jimmy Rostar ’94 McGee ’65. It’s always nice to read about send a check to the ECu foundation, had to hire about 50 new faculty to accommodate this year’s growth and the “Upon the Past” page from University Archives. using the postage-paid reply envelope successful alums and us officials are definitely stuffed in every issue of the magazine . was forced to convert the ground floor of Umstead Residence Hall on CONTRIBUTING ARTIST For information, call 252-328-0272. michael Dorsey glad for positive publicity like this. Even how much is up to you, but we suggest the Main Campus to faculty offices. Total enrollment this fall should be though I live in Greenville, it’s nice to keep COuNTiNG aDjECTivEs a minimum of $25 . your generosity is CONTRIBUTING WRITERS appreciated . up about 1,000 to stand at roughly 27,000. up with all the Pirate happenings through n 252-328-9550 marion Blackburn, Bethany Bradsher, Editor’s note: A few issues back we reported that Are n www ecu. edu/dev. t Erica plouffe lazure, steve Row your magazine. Keep up the good work. Robert Rutter IV ’03 won $500,000 on Actually, admitting 4,600 new freshmen is the last step in a process You Smarter than a Fifth Grader? n give2ecu@ecu edu. — Greenville by correctly that began last winter with evaluating nearly 16,000 applications. CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Darrell Harrison ’74 ’79, join the alumni association and receive a The Admissions Office says that’s roughly 1,000 more applicants jay Clark, lois Greenfield, answering 10 questions, including this one: How subscription as well as other benefits and It turns out we have three ECU alumni working services . Minimum dues are $35 . than last year, with much of that reflecting greater interest from marc kawanishi, fred prouser many adjectives are in the following sentence: ACC games. McGee is the dean of the crew with “Spencer takes good care of his hairy dog.” Rutter n 1-800-ecu-graD out-of-state residents. CLASS NOTES EDITOR 35 years experience as a side judge at ACC n www .piratealumni co. m said there are two. A retired faculty member wrote n alumni@Piratealumni com. leanne Elizabeth smith ’04 ’06 football games. His day job is being president of We take a look at this new crop of students in the cover story in ecuclassnotes@ecu edu. in to say that’s wrong. join the pirate Club and get the magazine this issue. We also offer a few stories on how growth has changed Wingate University near Charlotte. Harrison In my view there are three [adjectives in the as well as other benefits appreciated by ADMINISTRATION has officiated at football games for 15 years. He, sentence]: “good,” “his” and “hairy.” I see sports fans . Minimum dues are $75 . East Carolina, how the whole college experience has changed since n 252-328-4540 michelle sloan like McGee, is a side judge. Harrison’s day job no way to eliminate any of those. “Good” your day, and what kind of college town Greenville has become. n www ecupirateclub. co. m is running Document Solutions East, a licensed sometimes appears as a noun, as in “He n contact@ecupirateclub co. m Call it your personal orientation session. h Xerox agency. Raymie Styons ’84 of Greenville went about doing good,” or “I am concerned And so another year begins at East Carolina. Thousands of young DIRECTOR OF UNIVERSITY MARKETING has officiated at ACC basketball games since for the good of the nation.” “Hairy” is an Contact us n 252-328-2068 Clint Bailey 1989. He owns an insurance agency. people will turn a corner and run smack into an exciting but uncertain adjective modifying the noun “dog.” And n easteditor@ecu ed. u future. Parents will worry about money and ask questions that mortify BuBBa saYs ThaNks “his” is a possessive adjective, also modifying n www ecu. edu/eas. t the noun dog. is a superior publication. Customer service their kids. Move-In Day, as usual, will fall on the hottest Saturday of East Carolina University is a constituent institution of I want to thank you and Steve Row for the The University of North Carolina. It is a public doctoral/ My wife, PatriciaEast Morrison ’67, and I, a to start or stop a subscription, the year. Classes will begin and the university quickly will settle into article on Beth Grant in the summer edition or to let us know about a change of research intensive university offering baccalaureate, master’s, member of the foreign languages faculty from comfortable, age-old routines. Somewhere on campus, a student will specialist and doctoral degrees in the liberal arts, sciences of magazine. It was a fine tribute to a address, please contact ann windham, and professional fields, including medicine. Dedicated to the East 1958–67, enjoy reading most of every issue. windhama@ecu edu. or 252-737-1506 look up and think: I’m a little scared but I believe I can do this. great actress and more importantly, a great achievement of excellence, responsible stewardship of the — Hawthorne, Fla. send letters to the editor to I can become somebody. public trust and academic freedom, ECU values the Pirate. I literally had dozens of ECU people Robert Morrison, easteditor@ecu ed. u or contributions of a diverse community, supports shared come up to me at the baseball regionals in 1206 charles Blvd .