Jessica VanderKolk Archives

Center right, the focus is on a woman wearing a black T-shirt and touching her fingertips together in front of her. Around her, blurred, are college dance students. Most are reflected in mirrors behind the woman.
Feb 06, 2026
  • Jessica VanderKolk

ECU alumna shares new documentary, accessible dance with students, veterans, community

East Carolina University advanced dance students learned an accessible Black Box Dance Theatre (BBDT) warmup on Jan. 27 with founding member Natalie Morton. The group repeated their peers’ names while...

Feb 03, 2026
  • Jessica VanderKolk

ECU communication alumni find success in law careers

As three East Carolina University alumni neared graduation with their communication degrees, standout classes, faculty mentors and a drive toward advocacy led them to law school and, today, successful legal...

Dec 04, 2025
  • Jessica VanderKolk

ECU ceramics collection gives students unique, hands-on opportunities

Before creating their own teapots this semester, students in an East Carolina University wheel throwing ceramics class spent time browsing the School of Art and Design’s own unique special collection,...

College students acting on stage stand in a group pose, many with hands up. They are wearing mostly blue outfits and many are holding gold pom poms. A student in the middle wears pink and gold, with a pink tuxedo-style jacket and top hat.
Nov 18, 2025
  • Jessica VanderKolk

‘Legally Blonde: The Musical’ offers exciting, women-led performances this week

“Omigod you guys!” It’s a pink-lovers dream at East Carolina University this week as “Legally Blonde: The Musical” opens on the McGinnis Auditorium stage. The School of Theatre and Dance...

A college man and college woman stand together in front of a brick building labeled the Fletcher Music Center. He holds a conducting baton and she holds a violin.
Oct 17, 2025
  • Jessica VanderKolk

ECU music students see big benefits from long-time faculty member’s gift

A gift that doubled the East Carolina University School of Music’s ability to give student scholarships has begun benefiting those music students — especially at the graduate level. The School...

Oct 10, 2025
  • Jessica VanderKolk

Film students advance in first college-level business pitch competition

A team of entrepreneurial East Carolina University film and video production students are on their way to Round 2 in the Gene T. Aman Pirate Challenge (APC), the university’s signature...

A woman stands in an art gallery next to a grouping of plinths holding what appear to be small metal, and larger ceramic, art pieces. A fabric piece hands on the wall in the background
Oct 02, 2025
  • Jessica VanderKolk

Staff: Shannon McGinnis

Shannon McGinnis loves learning, talking to people about learning, and nurturing those connections as she works and learns at East Carolina University. McGinnis is in her third year as an...

A college man wearing a plaid shirt looks through a large wooden cylinder that will become a drum.
Oct 02, 2025
  • Jessica VanderKolk

Student: Nathan Rittler

Before arriving at East Carolina University, junior Nathan Rittler had not played a snare drum and, once he started his percussion education here, wondered whether understanding the physical object would...

Six college dance students perform in a rough line, leaning back and holding their hands forward. They are wearing pants with suspenders, buttoned shirts withy the sleeves rolled, and red bandanas on their heads.
Sep 30, 2025
  • Jessica VanderKolk

Fall dance production hopes to engage audiences in celebrating Motown music

From a Detroit factory assembly line to a neighborhood stoop and the street it stands on, East Carolina University dance students take audiences on a journey across the decades to...

Sep 29, 2025
  • Jessica VanderKolk

Communication research will study impact of AI in entertainment

Spend any time online lately and artificial intelligence (AI) will offer to answer your internet search query, summarize lengthy documents, improve the tone of your email, and seemingly endless other...