Theatre lobby named for Archie Burnette

The lobby of the McGinnis Theatre on the East Carolina University campus has been named for Archie R. Burnette Jr. of Tarboro. A portrait of Burnette, a successful farmer, was unveiled during a recent ceremony in the lobby. The threatre is home to the East Carolina Playhouse and Summer Threatre, produced by the ECU Department of Theatre and Dance. Burnette, a lifelong resident of Edgecombe County, has been a strong support of the ECU theatre program. His gifts have created scholarships fo students in theatre as well as business and education. James Lanier, vice chancellor for institutional advancement, said, “Archie Burnette has been a stalwart advocate for East Carolina for many years. He is a Chapel Hill graduate, but as a lifelong resident of Edgecombe County with family roots dating back to the Revolution, his heart is in the east.”