ECU chancellor to visit Jacksonville, Rocky Mount

Published Apr 25, 2002 by
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GREENVILLE, NC   (Apr. 25, 2002)   —   The chancellor’s hometown tour in eastern North Carolina continued earlier this week with trips to Jacksonville (April 30) and Rocky Mount (May 2).

The Rocky Mount visit was especially noteworthy because it included an agreement-signing ceremony for a new project that extends ECU services to some of the city’s oldest neighborhoods. Chancellor William V. Muse signed the agreement on Thursday to launch the new ECU-Rocky Mount Partnership. The partnership will utilize faculty, staff and students from a variety of disciplines to help solve problems in the community.Under the agreement, ECU will offer its service in the areas of health care, housing, neighborhood revitalization and job training. The university is also applying for funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and from several foundations, to provide the additional support needed to expand the ECU/Rocky Mount initiative. The partnership agreement was encouraged by ATOM (A Total Outreach Ministry), based at Rocky Mount’s Ebenezer Baptist Church. ATOM is a non-profit corporation that helps to address the educational, social, economic and cultural needs of the low and moderate-income population of the city. The organization provides help in revitalizing homes, developing youth centers and screening for health problems, but has expressed the need for more manpower in managing and implementing projects.

In signing the agreement, Chancellor Muse said ECU would work with ATOM and with local government agencies and other Rocky Mount organization to address important issues. He called partnership an example of ECU’s commitment to provide service in the region. The chancellor’s trips to Jacksonville and Rocky Mount are his fifth and sixths hometown tours. He has also visited Manteo (Outer Banks), Morehead City, Elizabeth City and New Bern. His visits include stops at local colleges, high schools, newspaper offices and civic clubs. He also attends meetings and receptions with area alumni and friends of ECU.

“This tour is giving me the opportunity to become better acquainted with the people of eastern North Carolina,” Muse said. “ECU is a university that serves the entire region, and I need to know the aspirations of the citizens and what they need and expect from us.”