The 1980s at ECU brought a succession of chancellors seeking to ensure that the progress initiated during Dr. Leo W. Jenkins’ (1913-1989) 18-year tenure, from 1960-1978, achieved mature growth and academic excellence. Dr. Richard R. Eakin’s (1938- ) administration, launched in March 1987 following his selection earlier that year as Dr. John M. Howell’s (1922-2016) successor, brought expansion, diversification, and much needed stability as ECU advanced toward the new century ahead and well into the Digital Age. Eakin’s 14-year tenure as chief executive officer, 1987-2001, stands as East Carolina’s third longest: only founding President Robert H. Wright’s 25 years in office, 1909-1934, and Jenkins’ 18-year run surpassed Eakin’s impressive span as chief executive.
A Celebration of ECU’s Life, History, and Mission
On Friday, April 15, 1988, in a “colorful ceremony” held in Wright Auditorium and attended by over a thousand, Eakin, 49, was formally installed as East Carolina’s fourth chancellor (and the school’s ninth chief executive officer, including interim ECTC President Howard J. McGinnis). UNC System President C. D. Spangler, Jr. (1932-2018) presided at the installation. Governor James G. Martin (1935-) and Lieutenant Governor Robert B. Jordan (1932-2020), along with members of the UNC System Board of Governors, members of the ECU Board of Trustees, and a host of academic representatives, faculty, staff, students, and members of the community attended.
In his welcoming remarks, President Spangler described Eakin’s installation a “celebration of the life and history of ECU.” On behalf of the 16 campuses of the UNC System, Spangler also committed himself to eliminating illiteracy, strengthening teacher training, improving public health, and stimulating economic development — a set of goals Eakin equally embraced.
Ceremonial and Historic Firsts
Eakin was the first East Carolina chief executive to be sworn into office by an alum, State Court of Appeals Judge Gerald Arnold, ECC Class of 1963. After taking the oath of office, Chancellor Eakin got another first: a newly crafted gold medallion featuring the ECU seal, the so-called “Chancellor’s Medallion,” a gift from the ECU Chancellor’s Society. President Spangler conferred the medallion on Eakin.
Spangler, a highly successful Charlotte businessman and UNC-Chapel Hill alum, was new to his position as president of the UNC System, having followed, in 1986, William C. Friday (1920-2012) in that office. Eakin’s tenure as ECU chancellor, 1987-2001, and Spangler’s as UNC president, 1986-1997, largely overlapped, making their early ties through Eakin’s hire and then his installation special occasions for both men. And Eakin was the first chancellor to have been elected by the UNC Board of Governors on President Spangler’s recommendation.
Pre-Installation Events
As with Howell’s inauguration ceremonies, Eakin’s were relatively modest. The evening before the installation, the ECU School of Music staged “The Chancellor’s Inaugural Concert,” a performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s The Passion According to St. John. The concert included the ECU Concert Choir and the University Chorale, with orchestra, conducted by Prof. Brett Watson. A six-year renovation of Wright Building had been completed in 1986, outfitting the auditorium space as a “first-rate concert hall” with new lighting, acoustical design, a permanent orchestra shell, a sloped floor, and rows of stationary upholstered seating for 1,500. Eakin’s main inaugural events were the first held in the newly updated, historic venue.
The day of the concert, Mr. and Mrs. David J. Whichard hosted a pre-inaugural reception at Brook Valley Country Club for the Eakins and visiting dignitaries. And the day before that, the Pitt-Greenville Arts Council sponsored a reception in conjunction with the Arts Council festival week.
Installation Greetings
Following the academic procession into Wright and President Spangler’s opening remarks, greetings were offered by attending dignitaries including Charles N. O’Data (1936-2021), vice president of development at Geneva College, Eakin’s alma mater. Paul J. Olscamp (1937-2014), president of Bowling Green University where Eakin had served as vice president of budget and planning, also spoke, praising ECU for its selection of Eakin. SGA President Scott F. Thomas thanked Eakin for his commitment to student concerns.
On behalf of the state, Governor Jim Martin offered greetings emphasizing the importance of leadership and service at the university, calling service the hallmark of a great university. Two former chancellors, Dr. Jenkins and Dr. Howell, attended as honorary marshals.
UNC Board of Governors Chair Philip G. Carson’s Inaugural Address
Preceding Eakin’s installation, Philip G. Carson (1938-2021), chair of the UNC System Board of Governors, delivered the first inaugural address. Carson was introduced by David J. Whichard, II, editor of the Greenville Daily Reflector and vice chair of the Board of Governors. Carson opened his remarks by recounting East Carolina’s growth from a small school for training teachers to an expansive and diverse university that had “become not only the pride of the East, but the third largest institution of higher education in North Carolina.” Rather than cast ECU as a regional university, Carson stated that “no institution with the impact of East Carolina is contained in a geographical region,” adding that ECU’s students come from nearly every county in the state, many states in the union, and internationally as well.
Carson praised Eakin’s career path as one of “preparation for the role of leadership that is now his as chancellor of East Carolina University,” adding “he has a good grasp of all major areas of university life, and — more important — he understands their relationships one with another and the larger purpose they are to serve.” Simply put, Carson said it was “already very clear that the man and the institution are well met.”
Carson next listed “three principal tasks” facing Eakin and ECU. First, he emphasized that ECU must continue with growth in enrollment so that eastern North Carolina and the state as a whole match the national rate of college entry among high school graduates, noting that educational growth and economic growth go hand in hand.
Secondly, he called on ECU to increase the number of minority students in its programs, stating,
“The future for all North Carolinians depends in part upon how successful we are now — in our time — in closing the education gap between blacks and whites…. If we are to build the kind of North Carolina that we want for all of our children, a state where justice and compassion go hand in hand with economic progress, we must renew our commitment and redouble our efforts to provide access for all of our citizens. This region must have the leadership and vision of East Carolina University if we are to succeed.”
Thirdly, he emphasized preparing teachers for public schools, recalling how that had been a core mission of the school from its start. He emphasized that in highlighting ECU’s role in teacher education he did not mean to suggest a “reduction in commitments to liberal arts or other programs,” but stressed that “our schools and our children need excellent teachers as they have never needed them before, and … responding to that need is one of the most important contributions you can make.” Carson pledged his and the Board of Governors’ support for Eakin in the years ahead and predicted that with Eakin’s unselfish leadership and service, the “great university” would become “an even greater university.”
The Chancellor’s Response: Eakin’s Inaugural Address
Eakin opened his response by stating, “I pledge to those assembled and to the countless thousands of East Carolina loyalists who stretch across our state, nation and indeed around the world, my steadfast devotion to the mission of service given to us by the founders and I offer my tireless efforts on behalf of East Carolina University.”
Aware of a recent audit suggesting the University of North Carolina was in danger of coasting on past glory, resting on its laurels, Eakin responded that ECU “never has and it never will.” He continued,
“If there is anything that can be said about East Carolina it is that the meeting of challenges is the fabric of which our university is made. More than once in our 81 years, we have seen the need for service, and we have stepped boldly forward to serve. It is … our mission to serve. Service to the citizens of North Carolina and particularly to those who reside in eastern North Carolina has been not only the motto of East Carolina University but also the hallmark of our performance.”
He observed, “I have seen and heard enough in these first months to know that there is a fierce and justifiable pride in this ‘Down East’ university. I have learned that ECU belongs to many people.” Eakin then noted how ECU was “the university of many who have never attended a university and have no prospect of attending one,” but appreciate the influence of the university — its medical care, its cultural and recreational opportunities. And “they see in ECU, real hope for their children’s future.”
Alluding to ECU’s budding use of new technologies in education, Eakin added that ECU is the university of “schools and government and social service agencies” as well as the university of “students in rural high schools who would not be able to receive instruction in high school physics and technology were it not for the Down East Instructional Telecommunications Network.” Eakin also noted that ECU is the university of those involved in small business that have benefited from the Small Business and Technology Development Center.
Eakin added that ECU is “the university of opportunity for minority students, especially in eastern North Carolina,” as well as the university of alumni across the state who serve as teachers, lawyers, medical doctors, legislators, social workers, nurses, musicians, artists and a variety of other professions too numerous to mention.”
He further emphasized East Carolina’s profound obligation to its alumni, recognizing that “being the best we can be in educating our present students, is being the best that we can be for our alumni as well.” More comprehensively, Eakin declared that ECU “is the medium in which self-discovery, creativity, learning, and the search for truth takes form. It is the place where lessons of countless generations before are passed to a new generation seeking to make its mark.”
After noting how ECU has “a proud past, a vital, exciting present, and a challenging future,” Eakin asserted,
“East Carolina can and must make a difference…. In a region that is beset by the plague of illiteracy; a region that is in serious need of economic development; a region whose people need only the opportunity to achieve; a region largely untapped in its potential, we can and must be a catalyst for change. If we fail to improve the social and economic fiber of eastern North Carolina, we will have failed our responsibilities to this region and we will have failed all of the people of North Carolina.”
Rather than cast ECU as a regional university, Eakin added,
“let us not forget that ours is a university for all of North Carolina and that, in fact, our faculty, staff, and students are active contributors to the marketplace of ideas, discovery, and invention. Our mission cannot be contained within the confines of either regional or state boundaries. It extends across this nation and around the globe even as our graduates take their places far and wide. We must serve eastern North Carolina, we must serve North Carolina, but we must not allow ourselves to limit our broader responsibilities to the larger national and international academic community.”
Eakin then declared, “Remembering the lessons of the past, strengthened by the accomplishments of our predecessors, and challenged by the needs before us, we reaffirm our commitment to serve and dedicate ECU anew to the educational needs of the people of North Carolina.”
Eakin concluded by quoting remarks of East Carolina’s first leader, Robert H. Wright, upon his inauguration: “We will give the rising generation the purest inheritance of the nation and better preparation than has ever been given to a preceding generation. This school is an expression of that determination. It was built by the people, for the people, and may it ever remain with the people, as a servant of the people.” Eakin ended expressing his belief that,
“… in East Carolina University there is an ever-brightening light on the eastern Carolina horizon, a rising beacon for those who believe that the search for knowledge, the quest for the betterment of the human condition, and the inquiry for an improved understanding of the human spirit are the best hope for our shared destiny. May that beacon shine ever more brightly. With your help and the grace of God, the light that is East Carolina University will continue to increase in brilliance and illuminate our common way.”
An Inclusive Installation Ceremony
While desegregation occurred at East Carolina 25 years prior, Eakin’s inauguration was the first to include African Americans in platform-level roles. First, the Honorable Edward E. Carter (1939- ), then mayor of Greenville and the city’s first African American to serve in that capacity, joined other representatives of the faculty, students, alumni, trustees, and the state in offering welcoming remarks on behalf of the city.
At the conclusion of the installation, the Reverend Dr. Howard W. Parker, Jr. (1951-2017), senior clergy at Sycamore Hill Baptist Church, Greenville’s most historic African American congregation, delivered the benediction. The participation of Carter and Parker, two of Greenville’s most respected African American leaders, revealed Eakin’s readiness to reach out and raise the profile of diversity to new levels.
The Inaugural Symposium and Concluding Events
Like Howell’s inauguration which integrated the Phi Kappa Phi honor society’s annual symposium into its program of events, so did Eakin’s feature, as a follow-up installation event, an “Inaugural Symposium.” Entitled “Leadership and Ethics,” the inaugural symposium featured one major speaker, Ronald W. Roskens (1932-2022), president of the University of Nebraska System and former president of the American Council on Education, who gave the keynote address, “Ethical Leaders and the Wide and Easy Way.”
Following Roskens’ talk, an ECU faculty panel including Dr. William A. Bloodworth, acting vice chancellor for academic affairs; Dr. James M. Joyce, professor of physics; Dr. Loretta M. Kopelman, Dept. of Medical Humanities; and, Dr. Holly F. Matthews, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, offering perspectives from their respective disciplines. Dr. James H. Bearden, director of the ECU BB&T Center for Leadership Development, served as moderator for the symposium.
Prior to the symposium, held in Mendenhall Student Center’s Hendrix Theatre, the SGA hosted an inaugural luncheon in the Leo W. Jenkins Fine Arts Center’s Gray Art Gallery catered by David Whitley of the Colonial Inn, Farmville. Artwork by ECU faculty was on display and School of Music students provided entertainment. In planning the inauguration, Eakin himself had requested a “representative exhibition” of faculty work that would highlight their school for visiting dignitaries.
The final event of the day was a formal dinner and dance held in Minges Coliseum, sponsored by the Chancellor’s Society. At the dinner, a gift — a 9-inch replica of the University Mace — was presented to Eakin by the ECU Board of Trustees. The replica was cast by Prof. John Satterfield, a faculty in the School of Art, who had designed the original mace first used during the installation of Thomas Brewer.
Inaugural Modesty
Eakin’s inauguration continued a trend at ECU toward modesty and reserve in such inauguration ceremonies. Jenkins’ inaugural week in May 1960 had been, in many respects, the largest and most impressively attended and broadcast since East Carolina’s first installation, that of Robert H. Wright, in 1909. After Jenkins, and especially following the installation and then brief tenure in office of Thomas Brewer, the tendency toward ceremonial understatement rather than increased grandeur seemed prudent. Eakin’s own inclination toward personal reserve in ceremonial preference rather than pomp and circumstance resonated with this trend, making it more appropriate than ever.
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Citation Information
Title: Richard R. Eakin’s Inauguration
Author: John A. Tucker, PhD
Date of Publication: 3/25/2024