Along with Henry C. Oglesby, another Pitt County native, William Eric “Tuck” Tucker was one of ECTC’s outstanding male students during the early 1930s. Although a year behind Oglesby, Tucker was one of the first men to graduate from ECTC, and the first to graduate with a major in science and math. Active in campus clubs and organizations, Tucker distinguished himself as an athlete, completing his years at ECTC with two varsity letters, one in basketball and one in football. Tucker’s accomplishments as a student-athlete were instrumental in establishing the credibility of ECTC as a new contender in intercollegiate competition during the early 1930s as men’s athletics first emerged on campus.
Born in 1912 in Winterville the second son of Edward F. (1875-1947) and Sara E. Tucker (1881-1965), Eric Tucker and his family later moved to Greenville in 1920 where his father served as deputy clerk of court. After graduating from the Greenville High School, then located at the corner of Fifth and Reade Streets, Tucker began his undergraduate studies at Duke in 1930. Perhaps realizing the financial advantages of studying at ECTC, especially as the country plunged deeper into the Great Recession, Tucker enrolled at East Carolina the following year along with an unprecedented number of male students, not a few of them also transfer students. These men, in addition to adding to the modest numbers of males then on campus, were in no small part responsible for the growth of men’s athletics and the concomitant shift in campus culture away from virtual domination by female expressions to a fuller, more diverse realization of the multifaceted coeducational vision of the legislative founders of the school. Because the earliest men were a distinct minority, they – rather than the ECTC females – were facetiously known as “co-eds,” a term otherwise then referring to female students at male dominated campuses. In addition to athletics, Tucker, a good sport, was a prominent member of the “co-ed” population at ECTC during his three years of study, 1931-1933.
Tucker was a member of the Poe Society and the Co-ed Club. A member of the Scribbler’s Club, he also served as the Teco Echo‘s “Co-ed assistant editor,” a position created to give the minority students on campus – the men – a voice in the student newspaper. As co-ed assistant editor, Tucker contributed to a regular column, “Nothing But Co-eds,” that gave limited but influential expression to male interests and concerns at ECTC, including most notably those related to sports. Tucker was also a member of the Math Club and the Science Club.
Tucker was by far the star basketball player his junior year, 1932, the year ECTC established its first intercollegiate basketball team. In virtually every game, Tucker was the leading scorer. At season’s end, he had scored over half, 209 of 398, of the total points scored by the Teachers, helping to lead the school’s cagers to an inaugural 10-10 season. As a junior and senior, Tucker played on the ECTC baseball team, and his senior year, on the football team. Tucker was also a charter member of the ECTC Men’s Athletic Association.
Tucker graduated in 1933 and remained in Greenville working for the Civilian Conservation Corps. During WWII, he enlisted in the Army, attaining rank as a lieutenant colonel. Later, he began a career in construction as a builder, eventually founding his own business, William E. Tucker, Inc., Masonry, in Richmond, Virginia. He retired from the construction industry in 1981. Tucker passed away October 4, 2009, in Henrico, Virginia, age 97.
Sources
- “Basket Ball Returns.” Teco Echo. Vol. 8, no. 12. March 19, 1932. P. 4. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37988
- “Basket-ball News.” Teco Echo. Vol. 8, no. 4. November 14, 1931. P. 2. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37980
- “Co-Eds Elect Officers.” Teco Echo. Vol. 8, no. 3. October 31, 1931. P. 2. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37979
- “Co-Ed Meeting.” Teco Echo. Vol. 8, no. 4. November 14, 1931. P. 2. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37980
- “E.C.T.C. Beats Louisburg College.” Teco Echo. Vol. 8, no. 9. February 6, 1932. P. 2. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37985
- “E.C.T.C. Co-Eds Win From The Greenville Team.” Teco Echo. Vol. 8, no. 7. January 9, 1932. P. 3. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37983
- “Fast Game Is Played With A.C. College.” Teco Echo. Vol. 9, no. 7. January 11, 1933. P. 1. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37999
- “Lost to William and Mary.” Teco Echo. Vol. 8, no. 9. February 6, 1932. P. 2. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37985
- “Oldest East Carolina Letter Winner Passed Away Oct. 4.” ECU Alumni. http://www.piratealumni.com/s/722/hybrid/index.aspx?sid=722&gid=1&pgid=252&cid=2292&ecid=2292&ciid=5165&crid=0
- “Teachers Make Excellent Showing In The Last Games.” Teco Echo. January 25, 1933. Vol. 9, no. 8. P. 3. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/38000
- “Teachers Win A Close Game With Campbell.” Teco Echo. Vol. 9, no. 8. January 25, 1933. P. 1. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/38000
- “Teachers Win First Game Of The Season.” Teco Echo. Vol. 9, no. 6. December 21, 1932. P. 1. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/37998
- “W. Eric Tucker.” Tecoan. 1933. P. 78. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/15338
Additional Related Material
William Eric “Tuck” Tucker, The Tecoan, 1932
(Top) Tucker is in the second row, light suit with vest, second from left, (Bottom) Tucker is second from left, front row, The Tecoan, 1932
(Top) Tucker is third from the left, The Tecoan, 1933
Citation Information
Title: William Eric “Tuck” Tucker
Author: John A. Tucker, PhD
Date of Publication: 9/24/2019