SUPPORTING ONE ANOTHER

ECU wins national community engagement award

Teacher Vardina Harrington seized the moment with a lesson on awards in the Lucille W. Gorham Intergenerational Community Center afterschool program.

“What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word ‘award?’ ” asked Harrington, a 2011 East Carolina University graduate.

The third- and fourth-grade students raised their hands with answers: a prize, achievement, awards day. 

“If you’ve won an award, you’ve done something great and people want to acknowledge you,” she said. And then Harrington told them. ECU had won the prestigious C. Peter Magrath University/Community Engagement Award for its establishment and support of the center in the underserved West Greenville community. The award, and a $20,000 stipend, honors the work and programs of the intergenerational community center, a partnership with West Greenville residents, ECU, the city of Greenville and Pitt Community College, that provides a comprehensive community-based system of service and care to residents.

The competitive national award is presented annually by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, and ECU was one of four finalists from a field of thousands.

The kids were excited, especially to hear the size of the stipend, and made congratulatory posters for staff returning home with the award. 

“We won based on what we do every day,” Harrington said. The community leads the work of the center. “It’s not dictating and telling them what their needs are, but allowing the community to tell us what their needs are,” said Shawan Sutton, director of the center’s health and wellness program, IGCC Fit.