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Henry Williamson (0:03)
I was on the Chancellor Search Committee and Dick had been invited to Raleigh to meet with us. I will never forget Dick's comments and made such an impact. Dick said that it was really interesting to him, because the people, the very closest at ECU really didn't appreciate what they had. And what the real potential of East Carolina University was. He said, as a matter of fact, he said, within the academic community outside of North Carolina, you have a great, great reputation and people know what you are, and those of you that closest to it don't, and then he used a term and it it has always stuck with me. He said, You folks have an absolute sleeping [jaunt] at ECU with its potential.

Dr. Tinsley Yarbrough (0:52)
Dick Eakin I think has a very good feel for people. He and his wonderful wife, Jo, have a tremendous capacity for making people in their presence feel important. And for reaching out to people.

Andre Frederick (1:12)
I was very surprised to find out just how amiable and personable he was. He immediately approached me the big smile and extended his large hand out to greet me. And we just we just talked initially not about school in particular, or about the scholarship, but I've just done what I was interested, and what I'd like to do with my life. And that gave me an impression that he was more interested in me as a person as opposed to a number that could make his statistics look good, or someone who could bring in a GPA.

Dick Eakin (1:47)
I believe that the merit scholarships pose the greatest opportunity for our university to increase its quality, its reputation, and its service to North Carolina. We for many years have been well behind other universities in our capacity to attract the best and the brightest. This Merit Scholarship campaign now puts us in a position to be very competitive in attracting those students.

Henry Williamson (2:20)
It means back to this truly being a scholar. I mean, he spent the latter part of his career being an educational administrator, but truly in his heart. He's a scholar, and I think it it shows and demonstrates more than anything else. He has great desire for East Carolina University to become an academically excellent institution.

Dr. Michael Ferrari (2:47)
Well, it seems like only yesterday that the cake and invited me to go to East Carolina University to be the commencement speaker at his first commencement after going to the university. And we've been spent so many years together at Bowling Green State University, colleague and friend. I look forward to that. And of course, as soon as I got on that campus, I knew that Dick Eakin was going to make a great contribution to ECU over the years, and he surely has, it's been a real success story and in American higher education. Certainly, ECU has advanced greatly in its academic stature, known throughout the country and throughout the world for the quality of its undergraduate and graduate programs. He's done just a terrific job and he's been aided greatly by by Jo Eakin.

Dr. Tinsley Yarbrough (3:31)
Think one evidence of the Chancellor's great wisdom is his selection of Jo Eakin as his wife.

Henry Williamson (3:41)
One of the people on the search committee is the late Pat Draughon and Pat was extremely interested in athletics and about the time Dick and Jo came, we had had some pretty bad football season several of them in a row. And Pat went over to was talking to Jo and said something about having a winning football season and go into a bowl game soon. And Jo very flippantly said yes, Dix, back in the back bathroom now practice and walking on water, he can do anything. Now, I've always remembered that story about Jo and that kind of anecdote and that's, that's sort of the kind of people that they are. One thing I'd say about her too I think she's been an incredible supporter both of Dick as chancellor and of our university, when you see what's required to be the official hostess of that university, day in and day out. It is incredible. I just have the greatest admiration for her and her support of the chancellor of our university. Through that process to done a great job.

Dick Eakin (4:54)
One of the memories that will stick with me over the course of my years will be a memory of my wife and I walking on the campus. We did that a great deal early in my career here. And every time we would walk on the campus, I would point to something with some degree of pride and say, Isn't that really wonderful? What we've done there, Jo? And she saved and say, Yes, but have you looked over there? She's the boy that really needs some attention. Well, this went on to such an extent that finally, I told her that I would be willing to walk the campus. But I would like for her to carry a tablet and a pencil, and just simply write those things down. And it, it was, it was a moment of good humor, fortunately. And it was something that I think, frankly, Jo took great, great interest in and the fact that he's Carolina University is a much more attractive place than perhaps it was in the past is largely attributable to Jo Eakin, not Dick Eakin.

Dick Eakin (6:16)
The flood probably had the most profound emotional impact on me, I guess anything that that I've experienced at East Carolina, I was, frankly, initially worried about our capacity to cope. I knew that we would all have to work together. And I knew there would have to be literally a superhuman effort to be able to cope with this natural disaster. What I learned was that we were able to cope. And we cope, I learned that there wasn't a person at this university staff member or a faculty member who wasn't willing to, to do anything and everything, to help the university survive and help its students survive. It was a difficult time. I think we all each of us, learned something about ourselves. And I think we each learned that we can do a lot more than we ever thought possible. And that was a wonderful lesson to learn from that flood.

Andre Frederick (7:21)
I remember that ECU opened up its doors to not just the members of, of the university, but all members of Greenville, as a shelter. And when I was at Todd Dining Hall, one day, actually saw the chancellor out there, I don't know if it got publicized very, very much, or if a lot of people even know it now. But the chancellor was actually out there interacting with the students, he was showing genuine concern. And I think that really put a lot of people's minds at ease. And just let them know that not only did they have a leader, who was there in a position of just governing but also in a position of helping, sharing, caring, showing a lot of compassion. And that that image of him going down to line shaking people's hands, tell him that it's going to be all right. Is is vividly burned into my head and probably be there forever.

Dick Eakin (8:20)
The face of all the adversity, the team had faced a new face. That was probably one of the most exhilarating moments that I had experienced, and to be with all those other people who love East Carolina, cheering at the top of their lungs. That moment was just just delightful.

Dr. Tinsley Yarbrough (8:52)
Dick Eakin is one of the least boastful people, certainly for the sort of position he is and he's one of the least boastful people one of the most modest and humble people I've ever met. I have been amazed over my years of association with him with how willing he is to give credit to others around him.

Dick Eakin (9:21)
We have as an institution, gone from comprehensive to doctoral research. And we have transformed all of us have transformed this institution in the course the last 10 or 15 years, and is something quite different. Something quite wonderful. And something I think will serve the people of eastern North Carolina much more significantly. I also take great pride in the fact that we have been able to to raise private resources. People have been very generous to East Carolina, whether it be the shared visions campaign that raised some 55 million dollars to advance our academic programs or whether it be in the recent Merit Scholarship campaign in which we have now successfully completed a $15 million campaign. Those I think are, if you will, legacies that that will be enduring.

Henry Williamson (10:22)
I go back to the very first time I met him in person, I heard him talk about East Carolina and I heard him use the terminology asleeping [jaunt], I believe history will show that Dick is the chancellor that awoke the [jaunt] and truly put that [jaunt] on a path toward becoming the great university that is destined to be so many things over his tenure have happened, which say to me, that that potential that he saw, he wanted to come to East Carolina University and become our chancellor. He has helped awaken that potential awaken that [jaunt], and that [jaunts] well on the way to becoming great. And I think that sticks legacy.