Sponsor comments.

• Author: Staton, Cecil P.
• Position: SPONSORED SECTION

It was 110 years ago that some of North Carolina's visionary leaders succeeded in their battle to bring a teachers college to the state's eastern counties. They argued that economic growth could only come from a better-educated population, and teachers who were native to the region and educated locally were more likely to stay for the long term. It turns out they were right, but that was just the beginning of the story for ECU.

Sixty years later, East Carolina leaders won a hard-fought battle to gain university status--a significant step that would usher in many new fields of study and decades of growth for the institution, Greenville and the broader eastern North Carolina region. Not long after, another battle was fought, this one to create a medical school. Established medical schools fought hard against the proposal. But the same argument that won the battle for a teachers college swayed decision-makers: People who were native to the area and trained as doctors were more likely to stay. And improved health for residents and a growing health care enterprise would contribute mightily to an improved economy. That's exactly what...