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Upon the Past
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Above, Donald “Trey” Martin III with his creation, which was chosen in a campus-wide vote.
A Memorial to Lost Students
As ECU dedicates a garden in memory of students who died,
we remember the first time, in 1921, when the campus mourned
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A peaceful spot on the East Carolina University campus was dedicated in February as a permanent remembrance to students who have died while enrolled at ECU.
The Student Memorial Garden is in the center of main campus between the Erwin Building and the Ledonia Wright Cultural Center and is visible from Mendenhall Student Center. The natural area surrounded by azaleas, oaks and dogwoods is a place for meditation and reflection, officials said.
After an indoor dedication ceremony, officials and guests unveiled the centerpiece of the garden, a sculpture by Donald “Trey” Martin III.
Martin, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran from Princeton, is an undergraduate student in the School of Art and Design in the College of Fine Arts & Communication. His design for the memorial was chosen in a campus-wide vote among three student finalists last spring.
The bronze sculpture, featuring a broken circle and three flying doves, is mounted on a granite base and stands about 12 feet tall.
“Everything is there for a purpose,” Martin said of the design. “The disc represents the circle of life. It’s never ending, it keeps going, but sometimes, in this instance, the circle is broken.” The doves represent the past, present and future.
Over the past 10 years, about 100 students have died, mainly due to accidents or illness, said Dr. Virginia Hardy, vice chancellor of student affairs. The students’ names were read during the ceremony.
Chancellor Steve Ballard (left) unveils the statue
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'Their loss is ours also'
From the spring 1922 issue of
the Teachers College quarterly
"On the morning of Dec. 6 (1921), Virgie Mitchell of Bertie County, a member of the second-year academic class, died of diabetes.
"This is the first student that the school has lost by death in the twelve and a half years of its history.
"She was desperately ill from the first, and was in a state of coma for nearly three days before her death.
"Her father and mother and other relatives were with her during her illness and her father was with her at the end.
"Her home is near Ahoskie. She and her cousin, Dora Mitchell, had been rooming together ever since they entered school in the fall of 1920.
"Before her remains were removed by her friends, a beautiful service, simple and impressive, was held at the Training School in the early morning at 6:45.
"Immediately after the service the remains were taken to the Atlantic Coast Line train, and an escort composed of a faculty representative and a group of students left for the home in Bertie County, near Colerain, where the burial took place.
"Those who were present will never forget the service, in which the dawn of day and the sunrise were symbolic of the resurrection.
"Our hearts go out in profound sympathy to the parents and sisters of Virgie Mitchell. Their loss is ours also, we regret to give her up."
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Hurricane ravages campus
A hurricane packing 85 m.p.h winds roared ashore near Cape Lookout on Aug. 30, 1913, and raked the East Carolina Teachers Training School campus. President Robert Wright estimated that the storm uprooted “at least 100 of the trees in the school park,” including some of “the finest oak and pine.” Wright “had the best of these cut (at) the mill (to be used for) walks on the school grounds.” The hurricane did extensive damage in New Bern, where it washed away the Neuse River bridge (left). Image courtesy of New Bern-Craven County Library.
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Men's tennis begins
In 1938, the men’s tennis team begins its first full season as an intercollegiate sport, and things don’t go well. “Without a coach, without money for finances, this team, supported by funds from the players themselves, won two matches, lost three and tied two,” the Tecoan yearbook observed. The team’s only victories came in the last two matches when “we used some men who had not played before.”
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50 years ago
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First computer on campus
It actually was installed in the fall of 1962 but it took six months for administrators to learn how to operate the first computer used on campus. The IBM punch card machine was primarily used to process registration and drop-add information. The machine was successfully used for the first time for spring quarter, 1963.
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25 years ago
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Dr. George Hatem dies
Dr. George Hatem, 78, who under the name Ma Haide became an almost legendary figure in China, died in a Beijing hospital in October 1988. He grew up in Greenville and returned here often while practicing medicine in China for more than 50 years. He was a close friend of Mao Zedong. When the Communists took control in 1949, Hatem helped organize the country's public health effort. Several members of his family attended ECU, including a sister, Shifia Hatem '32, a brother, Joseph Hatem '39, and his wife, Marlene Hatem '54. In the 1944 photo at left, Hatem is at left with his wife, the actress Zhou Sufei, and Mao.
Photos courtesy University Archives
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