Ward family holds ECU close at heart
Jim and Katie Ward and their children, James, Bryant and Mary Kate, made four gifts to ECU to support priorities connected to the family. (Contributed photos)
When it comes to East Carolina University, Jim ’74 and Katie Ward have always followed their hearts, and that includes the gifts the Ward family members have made during the Pursue Gold campaign. The Wards and their children, James, Bryant and Mary Kate, made four gifts to the university, totaling $400,000, to support priorities connected to the family.
“These were the things that were close to our hearts at ECU,” Jim Ward said of the donations. “We wanted to do this for ECU, which has done so much for us.”
Jim and Katie gave $100,000 to the men’s golf program. Their gift provides capital support for major practice facility renovations at Ironwood Country Club. Jim played golf for ECU, and the couple feels it is important for the university to have facilities and resources across the board that allow student athletes to perform at their best.
The couple were high school sweethearts, and Jim followed his heart when he accepted the opportunity to play golf at ECU. The pair married after his junior year and have been partners in life and business ever since.
“It just seemed like a natural place for me to be,” he said. “I was fortunate enough to receive a few other offers, but I was going where she was going, and she was staying here, so ECU it was.”
The Wards have always paid close attention to ECU. Jim and Katie recall former chancellor Dr. Leo Jenkins as a larger-than-life figure on campus and in the community. In their eyes, Jenkins surrounded himself with good people and made connections and decisions that pushed ECU forward, especially moving the institution from a college to a university.
“I was tremendously impressed with the excitement that Leo Jenkins was generating around the university at the time,” Jim said. “He had a way of engaging with the students that led them to love him. It was a fun thing to watch back then.”
After graduating and spending time in the workforce, Jim returned to ECU to take accounting courses and afterward completed a program in financial management at the Wharton School in 1980. As CEO of Ward Holdings, Jim is a longtime real estate investor and developer who has significantly benefited from being part of ECU and Greenville’s growth through the years. Their connections to ECU were reinforced as Jim and Katie became Pirate parents when Bryant and Mary Kate began their own ECU experiences.
“We love being part of a college town,” Katie said. “It’s been a wonderful experience watching ECU and Greenville grow and an honor to be a small part of that growth.”
Jim remembers serving as co-chair of the Clark LeClair Stadium campaign with Walter Williams. “It was certainly enjoyable working with him, and some of his passion for ECU no doubt rubbed off on me during the two years we worked on that project together,” Jim said.
Their love for ECU has not wavered. Today, they feel energy and excitement surrounding Chancellor Philip Rogers’ administration much as they did during Jenkins’ tenure.
“We’re excited about where we are and where we’re headed,” Jim said. “I sure hope that people will continue to recognize how vital supporting East Carolina on multiple fronts is to its continued growth.”
Hometown ties
Support and devotion for ECU extends to the entire Ward family.
James and Lorraine Ward selected the School of Theatre and Dance for a $100,000 gift. While they did not attend ECU, the theatre and dance program is important to the couple, who both work in the entertainment industry in Burbank, California. James graduated from the University of North Carolina Wilmington and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City.
“East Carolina will always be a part of the connective tissue that tethers me to Greenville, a place, which for me, will in some ways always be home,” James said. “Being in a position to give to a university that serves such a vital role and stands as a source of community pride seemed right in every conceivable way.”
James said it wasn’t until he left Greenville that he “found the theater” and saw the essential role theater and performance plays in a community.
“The living theater, live performance and shared creative expression hold the power to elevate the experience of being alive. No community can ever have too much of that,” James said. “Giving East Carolina any opportunity I can to help foster that is money, time and energy well spent.”
Baseball success
Bryant ’03 and Anna ’03 Ward, who met at ECU, have given $100,000 toward an expansion project at Clark LeClair Stadium.
“That’s just what East Carolinians do… they give back to the community and to the university in any way they can,” Bryant said. “They take care of the place that has taken care of them. The way I see it, our family is simply trying to follow the example that was set by all the Pirates that came before us.”
Bryant played baseball for ECU from 1998 to 2002 and finished his career as the winningest player in school history. During his four years at ECU, the Pirates won four straight conference championships and made four consecutive NCAA Regional appearances and one Super Regional appearance. Bryant is entering his ninth season as assistant coach/recruiting coordinator for the UCLA Bruins baseball program.
Legendary Coach Keith LeClair is a significant figure in the Ward family’s relationship with ECU. Bryant was the first player LeClair signed to play for the Pirates. He and current ECU coach Cliff Godwin were teammates and roommates while at ECU.
“Pirate baseball is a true brotherhood,” Bryant said. “The impact ECU baseball had on my life is immeasurable. I am all in on the program, and I am all in on the man that is running the program.”
Family business
Mary Kate Ward Harris ’07 ’09 and husband Brandon ’05 ’07 are double Pirates from the College of Business (COB) and have made a $100,000 gift to support the COB. Mary Kate is chief financial officer for Ward Holdings and an account executive with Package Craft, both in the Raleigh-Durham area.
“Being born and raised in Greenville, ECU has always been a big part of my life.” Mary Kate said. “ECU enhances the quality of life in Greenville so dramatically on so many different fronts that I can’t imagine not supporting them if blessed to be in a position to do so.”
At ECU, Mary Kate and Brandon honed their acumen for business. She was a proud member of Alpha Delta Pi Sorority. They are grateful for the mentors and opportunities they had in the College of Business.
Jim and Katie Ward, center, are proud of their family and their many connections to ECU.
“Dr. Douglas Schneider, an advisor to ADPi and a professor in the College of Business, was a great mentor,” Mary Kate said. “I also really enjoyed being a graduate assistant in the Department of Marketing and Supply Chain Management while pursuing my MBA. My husband is also a proud graduate and grateful for the program that allowed him to successfully pass the CPA exam before finishing with his MSA.”
ECU’s Pursue Gold campaign to raise half a billion dollars will end in December. This ambitious effort will create new paths to success for Pirates on campus, across the country and around the world. Donor gifts during the campaign will keep ECU constantly leading and ready to advance what’s possible. Learn more at pursuegold.ecu.edu.