On May 21, 1961, North Carolina Governor Terry Sanford delivered the commencement address to the largest graduating class, just over one thousand, in East Carolina’s history. Newly elected in November 1960, Sanford, a UNC graduate, nevertheless made East Carolina his first stop on the commencement circuit. Given the emphasis Sanford as a gubernatorial candidate assigned to public education, it was a coup for East Carolina to secure him as the main speaker. Then again, longstanding ties between Sanford and East Carolina, especially its president Leo W. Jenkins, made Sanford’s willingness to do so quite logical. A native of Laurinburg who, prior to becoming governor, practiced law in Fayetteville, Sanford well understood the challenges faced by eastern North Carolina and the profound contributions East Carolina had made toward regional progress. Other than Thomas J. Jarvis, few North Carolina governors were more supportive of East Carolina than Sanford. Just weeks before the May 21 commencement, Sanford spoke on campus as part of a Pitt County “Salute to E.C.” banquet, praising the school for its “… unchallenged role of leadership in the field of higher education in eastern North Carolina.” Most especially, Sanford extolled East Carolina’s leadership in teacher training: first in the state, and fifth in the nation.
Sanford’s bond with East Carolina partly resulted from his close political and personal ties with its president, Leo Jenkins. The two first worked together in 1950 when Sanford was state president of the Young Democrats Club and Jenkins was dean of the college. A graduate of UNC law school, Sanford was also a strong supporter of Senator Frank Graham, former president of the Consolidated University, in Graham’s bid for election to the U. S. Senate. Governor Kerr Scott had earlier appointed Graham to fill the vacancy left by the passing of Senator J. Melville Broughton. To rally support for Graham even while serving the YDC, Sanford helped coordinate a visit by U.S. vice president Alben W. Barkley to East Carolina. In his address to a packed Wright Auditorium, Barkley expressed support for Graham. Dr. Jenkins, a committed Democrat and politically active dean, assisted in coordinating the event, for which Sanford later thanked ECC president John Messick, noting Dean Jenkins’ valuable help.
A decade later, as Sanford was running for governor, Jenkins again worked with him, this time to organize a campaign rally at ECC for Sen. John F. Kennedy, Democratic candidate for the presidency. Sanford had emerged as Kennedy’s champion in the South, and especially in North Carolina. Jenkins, an admirer of both, offered Campus Stadium as a venue for the Kennedy rally and encouraged his faculty to have their students attend the rally. Kennedy’s ECC campaign was a huge success, which contributed to his election in November as well as Sanford’s as governor. By helping the two, Jenkins earned considerable political capital. At the ECC rally, virtually every major North Carolina Democratic office holder attended, from Governor Luther Hodges, to Senator Sam Ervin, to Senator B. Everett Jordan, and on down. Jenkins, newly installed as president of East Carolina, suddenly had many friends in high places. Sanford returned the favor by delivering the commencement address the following spring.
In 1963, Sanford returned for another big occasion, the first football game in the new Ficklen Stadium (later, Dowdy-Ficklen). As governor, Sanford had the honor of turning the deed to the stadium over to Robert B. Morgan, chair of the ECC Board of Trustees. Although a strong supporter of East Carolina, Sanford was not initially a backer of its aspirations to become a university. Like many other UNC alumni, Sanford thought that one outstanding university was both affordable and sufficient for the state. The Carlyle Commission he appointed in the fall of 1961 came to the same conclusion: that higher education in North Carolina should have a pyramid structure, with the Consolidated University at the top, supported by colleges below.
When ECC’s drive for university status emerged as a hot political issue, Sanford masterminded compromise legislation, the Henley Bill, providing for a system of regional universities. Following East Carolina’s elevation as a university, Sanford delivered a campus speech legitimizing the achievement. In it, he called ECU “the starting point for progress in the region,” adding that the “change of name was not a hollow quest for prestige” but rather a “recognition of duty.” Sanford further affirmed, “East Carolina is in a position of expanding opportunity and service to the people as no other institution in this state.” In conclusion, he added, “This region has so many possibilities and unfulfilled potentials, it needs the uplifting of a university.” Further acknowledging his special relationship with Jenkins and East Carolina, Sanford, a decade later, in the spring of 1978, was one of three N.C. governors (along with James B. “Jim” Hunt, and Robert W. “Bob” Scott) who honored Jenkins by joining him at his last commencement before retirement.
Sources
- Bratton, Mary Jo. East Carolina University: The Formative Years, 1907-1982. Greenville, N.C.: East Carolina University, 1986.
- Ferrell, Henry C., Jr. No Time For Ivy: East Carolina University, 1907-2007. Greenville, N.C.: East Carolina University, 2006.
- “Gov. Sanford To Speak At ECC Commencement.” Rocky Mount Telegram. May 18, 1960. P. 5A.
- “Governor Praises ECC At County Salute Banquet.” East Carolinian. May 4, 1961. Vol. 36, no. 26. P. 1. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/38698.
- “Sanford Offers Far-Reaching State-Backed Higher Education Plan.” Asheville Citizen-Times. November 16, 1962. P. 12.
Citation Information
Title: Terry Sanford, 1961
Author: John A. Tucker, PhD
Date of Publication: 7/18/2019