Social Justice

As part of the Department of Intercultural Affairs within Student Involvement and Leadership at ECU, the LGBTQ Center works in conjunction with our colleagues in the Ledonia Wright Cultural Center, the Women and Gender Office, and the Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement to cultivate a transformative and culturally competent community centered in intercultural learning. We strive to foster understanding and acceptance of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community. The Peel LGBTQ Center works each day to develop tomorrow’s leaders to serve and inspire positive change.

The Office for Equity and Diversity (OED) engages in programming, compliance, and outreach to foster a diverse and inclusive living, learning, and working community. Through leadership and partnerships, we will provide dynamic educational experiences, prepare our students to lead in a global multicultural society, and engage the region with inclusive social and economic opportunities.

We acknowledge the Tuscarora people, who are the traditional custodians of the land on which we work and live, and recognize their continuing connection to the land, water, and air that Greenville consumes. We pay respect to the eight state-recognized tribes of North Carolina; Coharie, Eastern Band of Cherokee, Haliwa-Saponi, Lumbee, Meherrin, Occaneechi Band of Saponi, Sappony, and Waccamaw-Siouan, all Nations, and their elders past, present, and emerging.

The Ledonia Wright Cultural Center leads with vision, compassion, ethics, transparency, and we always put our students first. We stay current with student development theory and cultural center best practices and develop tools to measure student involvement through the Center and its impact on student retention and persistence.

In addition to creating and delivering programs and services that align with the Division of Student Affairs and the University’s Strategic Direction, we collaborate with faculty, alumni, and community partners whose academic, professional, and research interests match our programming content areas. Our programming areas focus on Cultural Education, through our Heritage Month celebrations; Student Success through initiatives to highlight academic success with our A.L.A.N.A. workshops; Identity Development in our work to help students understand their many overlapping identities and how they intersect and what that means in the modern context when discussing social justice; and Leadership, Social Justice and Community engagement are particular focuses in that we hope to create the leaders of tomorrow who work within their community to create an equitable and socially just society in quoting Dr. Cornel West, “Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public.”

As part of the Department of Intercultural Affairs within Student Involvement and Leadership at ECU, the Women and Gender Office (WGO) works in conjunction with our sister centers the Ledonia Wright Cultural Center, the Dr. Jesse R. Peel LGBTQ Center, Student Veteran Services, and the Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement, to help prepare students with the knowledge, skills, and values, to succeed in a global, multicultural society. We work each day to develop tomorrow’s leaders to serve and inspire positive change.

Why Ethnic Studies? If your major at ECU, your future career, or your personal interests include issues of race or ethnicity in the United States, our program is here to support you! Students pursuing an ethnic studies minor can take relevant coursework throughout the university, in departments from anthropology and English to psychology and public health, that gives them opportunities to think critically about questions like these:

What is race?
How does ethnicity relate to race?
What constitutes membership in an ethnic group?
How is ethnicity expressed, perceived, lived, constructed, and understood?
How are experiences of race and ethnicity intersectionally informed by gender, socioeconomic status, and other facets of identity?
What relevance does the study of racial justice have to diverse professional environments and fields from education to social services and criminal justice?
As a field that has traditionally focused on the United States, how does ethnic studies also prepare us to view the cultures and histories of the world in transnational perspective?

East Carolina University’s Program in African and African American Studies consists of an interdisciplinary BA major and minor housed in the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences. The program’s comparative focus and multidisciplinary emphasis complement many existing programs that seek to prepare undergraduate students for competitive careers and productive work in a global world of different cultures, political systems, and economic infrastructures. Students pursuing a degree in AAAS will develop a broad perspective on human values and ethnic diversity, as well as an understanding of the socio-political, religious, and historical evidence related to African peoples, both in Africa and the diaspora communities of North America and the Atlantic World. Students may specialize in either the African or the African American concentration in the major. The minor combines both concentrations. Undergraduates are encouraged to double major in AAAS and another course of study at East Carolina University.

Learn to re-vision societal patterns, especially those leading to prejudice, and explore new frameworks from which to analyze contemporary issues. The Gender Studies minor is designed to add value to any major—helping you meet personal and career goals through interdisciplinary study emphasizing critical thinking and social consciousness. Knowledge of cultural and gender diversity is crucial to students looking for careers in human services, health and wellness professions, national and international business, and human resources.