Dilworth and Kirkland Set Up English Grad Student Development Fund

Professors Jim Kirkland and Collett Dilworth are coordinating with the ECU Foundation to create the Professional Development Fund for English Department Graduate Assistants. 

<   Dilworth, Kirkland

Set up in 1998, the fund was designed to aid students in their professional development and is "a departmental show of support for our English graduate students," according to Kirkland.  Awards from the fund are intended to cover travel expenses and registration fees to scholarly and professional conferences and workshops, although other developmental uses are possible. 

Attending conferences provides a platform for the talent and intelligence of the department's graduate students, says Lynne Frye, current president of the English Graduate Student Organization (EGSO). "Many of our graduate students would like to present papers at or attend professional conferences, but unfortunately, the registration fees and transportation costs can be quite beyond our budgets. So the professional Development fund is a great idea--this financial support from Drs. Dilworth and Kirkland, the department, and the other contributors can really make a difference." 

For more information on how you can make a tax-deductible contribution to the fund, contact Scott Wells at the ECU Foundation, Taylor-Slaughter Alumni Center, Greenville, NC 27858-4353 (e-mail wellss@mail.ecu.edu), or simply send your check to ECU Foundation, fund 9-95324.

Darrell Hurst Nominated for ECU's Distinguished Alumni Award

An ECU English alumnus has been nominated for a Distinguished Alumni Award and honorary membership in the East Carolina University chapter of Phi Kappa Phi.

Dr. Darrell Hurst earned both his B.A. and M.A. at ECU (1965; 1967).  He has taught at Blue Ridge Community College, in Weyers Cave, VA, for the past 33 years, and in fact, was a founding faculty member of the college.  He is currently chair of the Department of English. 

Among his many previous honors, Hurst was recently nominated for the 1999 Outstanding Faculty Award of the State Council for Higher Education of Virginia, and he is also a recipient of an excellence award from the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD), given in recognition of his "exceptional contributions to learning and teaching at BRCC."

About his two ECU nominations, Hurst said, "I am deeply honored to receive this invitation to membership. As a double alumnus of the ECU College of Arts and Sciences, this recognition by the university's most prestigious honor society is especially meaningful to me." 

Dr. Hurst's honorary membership in Phi Kappa Phi was given in recognition of his academic excellence. He joins an elite group of East Carolina University students, faculty, and alumni.