Living up to the promise.

In his inaugural address as ECU’s first president, Robert Wright established a mission that guided its leaders for more than 100 years and still guides it today. “It was built by the people, for the people, and may it ever remain with the people, as a servant of the people.” His vision was that the university would offer an education equal to the very best institutions of higher learning, while also lifting the quality of life for the entire region. How pleased he would be to see how successfully ECU lived up to that long-ago promise!

This website is filled with opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students who have interests in myriad majors and minors. You’ll find examples of extraordinary work by these students and by the many scientists, researchers, economists, artists, educators and counselors who have made this their home. You’ll also find hundreds of examples of this university’s many decades of service to eastern North Carolina — and its outreach across the entire state and around the globe. If your mission is our mission, “To Serve,” you’ve found a home at ECU.

Wright said he wanted “every student . . . to go out from here literally afire with enthusiasm for East Carolina.” They have. And it’s very likely you will, too.