Pirate Profile Archives

Jessica Doyle-Mekkes grips a microphone, holds her hand in the air and smiles while wearing a black shirt and white jacket in front of the McGinnis Theatre building.
Oct 01, 2024
  • Ken Buday

Staff: Jessica Doyle-Mekkes

Those who believe silence is golden have never heard Jessica Doyle-Mekkes. The teaching assistant professor in East Carolina University’s School of Theatre and Dance strives to give her students a...

Senior Grace Scott smiles while standing in front of the Jenkins Fine Arts Center.
Oct 01, 2024
  • Crystal Baity

Student: Grace Scott

East Carolina University senior Grace Scott has been surrounded by art from her earliest memories, so choosing a creative career path came naturally. Both of Scott’s parents graduated with fine...

Dr. Jack Pender poses for a photo in a lab in the Science and Technology Building. (ECU Photo by Rhett Butler)
Sep 03, 2024
  • Lacey L. Gray

Staff: Dr. Jack Pender

In any lab, Dr. Jack Pender is professional but easily approachable with a big smile. His role at East Carolina University blurs the lines between faculty and staff. He teaches...

Aug 28, 2024
  • Crystal Baity

Student: Brynn Miller

Brynn Miller’s parents instilled in her the importance of respecting nature. They taught her botany and anatomy and routinely recycled, picked up litter and spent time outdoors at their home...

Jul 31, 2024
  • Ken Buday

Faculty: Dr. Holly Fales

Even on the hottest of days, Dr. Holly Fales tends to her family garden. “There’s just something about starting really small — a small plant or a seed — and...

Emma Dillon, a fashion merchandising and consumer studies major, has worked with the Professionally Purple Closet on campus. (Photos by Rhett Butler)
Jul 19, 2024
  • Crystal Baity

Student: Emma Dillon

East Carolina University senior Emma Dillon has wanted to work in the fashion industry since she was younger. She took apparel classes in high school after being inspired by a...

Dr. Chandra Speight’s love for eastern North Carolina drew her back to Pirate Nation. (Photo by Steven Mantilla)
Jul 03, 2024
  • Benjamin Abel

Faculty: Dr. Chandra Speight

Dr. Chandra Speight knew early that she was on a mission to make North Carolina better, but it took a few degrees and living a bit of life to find...

Doreen Sarfo, a registered nurse who works at ECU Health Medical Center in Greenville, moved from Ghana with her family to tackle the College of Nursing’s clinical nurse specialist program. (Photos by Steven Mantilla)
Jul 01, 2024
  • Benjamin Abel

Student: Doreen Boateng Sarfo

When most people look for a new place to work, living near a teaching hospital with a strong relationship with a university’s nursing program isn’t usually at the top of...

Jun 19, 2024
  • Michael Rudd

Student: Carter Cunningham

On a warm, early evening in late May, East Carolina University graduate student Carter Cunningham stepped onto an empty Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium for a photo shoot, the first...

Two-time ECU alumna Dr. Jordan Griffin returned to the Physician Assistant program as a faculty member to help educate future generations of health care providers. (Photos by Steven Mantilla)
May 31, 2024
  • Benjamin Abel

Faculty: Dr. Jordan Griffin

Dr. Jordan Griffin, a Physician Assistant clinical assistant professor at the College of Allied Health Sciences, is from Macclesfield, North Carolina, in “the tiniest little part of Edgecombe County.” The...