Student success initiatives grow with strategic support in FY 2025
Donors have embraced East Carolina University’s priority fundraising focus to further initiatives like scholarships and research, contributing nearly $74.4 million in philanthropic support, according to a fiscal year-end wrap-up of 2024-25.
Sally, Helen and Thad Aman share in the renaming of the university’s signature pitch competition in memory of Gene T. Aman ’65. (Photo by Steven Mantilla)
The fundraising total includes $29.1 million for main campus priorities, $22 million for ECU Athletics and $23.2 million – through the ECU Health Foundation – for health sciences and health care priorities. Fiscal year donations supporting academics demonstrated the goodwill of more than 6,200 benefactors, who made nearly 16,000 contributions.
“We are fortunate to have ECU alumni and friends who value and support our priorities,” Chancellor Philip Rogers said. “Because they have funded scholarship initiatives, research endeavors and student-focused programs, we are better able to achieve our mission and provide students the best opportunities to succeed.”
Increasing scholarship support has been the number one philanthropic focus of the fiscal year. Donors responded to the effort and have given $14.6 million to fund endowments or new and existing scholarships.
In its inaugural year, donors funded new Chancellor’s Scholars Initiative scholarships, providing four-year renewable scholarships of $2,500 for 76 incoming freshmen in the first class of the Chancellor’s Scholar Program.
More than $2.5 million of the year’s scholarship funding supports the Access Scholars Program, including an anonymous $1.7 million bequest, which will create eight Access Scholarships for students from Lee County.
“Scholarship fundraising is fueling our effort to recruit and retain students,” Rogers said. “We are advancing our student success goals because of incredible Pirates who have committed their resources to make this happen.”
Notable fiscal year giving included:
- A portion of the $3.2 million commitment from Helen Aman and family supporting the Miller School of Entrepreneurship, the College of Business renaming the university’s signature pitch competition in memory of Gene T. Aman ’65. The Aman Pirate Challenge will provide more opportunities for participation, larger cash gifts and the ability to expand its reach and influence across the campus and in eastern North Carolina.
- A $2 million bequest from Dr. Michael Ray Taylor and Alice Taylor ’73 ’76, to fund the Michael and Alice Taylor Endowment at Joyner Library. The fund will be used to purchase family history materials and enhance other portions of the NC Collection.
- $2 million from the Bedford Falls Foundation-DAF to create a scholarship program in the College of Nursing. The five-year partnership launches a first-of-its-kind initiative at ECU to establish a medic-to-nurse pathway that will bring military medics through the accelerated Bachelor of Science program in the College of Nursing.
- An endowment from the Eastern Carolina Vocational Center (ECVC), which created new ECVC scholarship. The full scholarship aligns with ECVC’s mission of helping persons with disabilities achieve their vocational goals.
- A three-year,$593,000 grant from Dogwood Health Trust invests more than $85,000 in Patient Care Funds for the School of Dental Medicine and more than $425,000 in salary support for existing and additional positions at the Sylva and Spruce Pine Community Service Learning Centers (CSLC). The grant will ensure that more uninsured individuals receive services and allow the CSLCs to provide competitive salaries in hiring clinical staff and practice management positions.
- $280,000 from the Caswell Center Foundation, which created endowments that will fund scholarships and internships for students in ECU’s social work, recreational therapy and music therapy programs.
Van Isley speaks at the groundbreaking for the Isley Indoor Performance Center on ECU’s Athletics campus. (Photo by Rhett Butler)
Support grew for ECU’s community-engaged research—coinciding with the university’s R1 designation. More than $3.5 million in gifts strengthened ECU’s place among the nation’s top research institutions, expanding opportunities for funding, faculty recruitment, and student success.
“These gifts demonstrate the willingness of others to invest in our institution and in the incredible work happening across our university to transform our region and the state,” Rogers said.
From coastal ecosystem resilience research projects at the Coastal Studies Institute in Manteo to brain research at the Brody School of Medicine, and everywhere in between, ECU faculty and students are participating in donor-funded research. One highlight of the year is a first-time gift from the Belk Foundation provides funding for a four-year research project in the College of Education to investigate the ways that educator preparation programs (EPPs) can prevent burnout in new teachers.
Athletic priorities
ECU Athletics and the Pirate Club officially launched construction of the donor-funded Isley Indoor Performance Center with a groundbreaking ceremony held in April, as part of the ongoing Pirates Unite campaign, which has raised $45 million for ECU Athletics. Donors have invested at least $22 million in three consecutive calendar years for the first time in the 64-year history of the Pirate Club. In addition, the Dick and Sarah Bennett Baseball Building expansion project at Clark-LeClair Stadium will break ground in September.
Building support
More than 2,300 Pirates contributed during the ninth Pirate Nation Gives on March 5, raising more than $10 million in support of student success. More than 600 donors answered the call to support ECU for the first time.
Connecting Pirates
The ECU Alumni Association (ECUAA) connected with an ever-growing network of Pirates this year as the number of ECU alumni crossed 200,000. ECUAA gifted 425 new alumni their first official alumni T-shirt on Reading Day. This emerging tradition, along with the popular Senior Toast, is part of the ECUAA’s broader initiative to strengthen student engagement and foster lifelong connections with the university.
In March, ECUAA welcomed nearly 800 runners to the streets of Greenville for the inaugural Pirate 10 Miler road race. More than 140 race participants were ECU alumni and 83 were current students, staff and faculty. A portion of each registration supported ECUAA programs and scholarships.
ECUAA also hosted its second Days of Service initiative in April. The three-weekend effort encourages service and community involvement. More than 400 people participated in 812 volunteer hours. The collective effort resulted in 25 projects and an estimated economic impact of more than $27,000.