EAST Carolina University ECU is a public university in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina and the only one in the state with schools of medicine, dentistry and engineering.
Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its original 43 acres to almost 1,600 acres today. The university's academic facilities are located on six properties: Main Campus, Health Sciences Campus, West Research Campus, the Field Station for Coastal Studies in New Holland, North Carolina, the Millennial Research Innovation Campus in Greenville's warehouse district and an overseas campus in Certaldo Alto, Italy. ECU also operates the Coastal Studies Institute.
March 8, 1907, East Carolina Teachers Training School ECTTS was officially chartered by the North Carolina General Assembly through the passing of legislation Public Laws of North Carolina, 1907, Chapter 820 titled An Act to Stimulate High School Instruction in the Public Schools of the State and
Teacher Training. The chairman of its original Board of Trustees, Thomas Jordan Jarvis, a former Governor of North Carolina now known as the "Father of ECU", participated in groundbreaking ceremonies for the first buildings on July 2, 1908, in Greenville, North Carolina, and ECTTS opened its doors on October 5, 1909. Although its purpose was to train "young white men and women", there were no male graduates until 1932. In 1920, ECTTS became a four–year institution and renamed East Carolina Teachers College; its first bachelor's degrees were awarded the following year in education. A master's degree program was authorized in 1929; the first such degree granted by the college was in 1933. Progress toward full college status was made in 1948 with the designation of the Bachelor of Arts as a liberal arts degree, and the Bachelor of Science as a teaching degree. A change of name to East Carolina College in 1951 reflected this expanded mission. Over the objections of Governor Dan K. Moore, who opposed the creation of a university system separate from the Consolidated University of North Carolina, ECC was made a regional university effective July 1, 1967, and assumed its present name, East Carolina University. The university did not remain independent for long; on July 1, 1972, it was incorporated into the University of North Carolina System, the successor to the Consolidated University.