Team: East Carolina Pirates
Stadium: Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium
Conference: Conference USA
Sport: College Football
Background: East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university located in Greenville, North Carolina. It was chartered by the General Assembly on March 8, 1907, as East Carolina Teachers Training School, a two-year institution. The chairman of its original board of trustees, T. J. 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. 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 1921 ECTTS became a four-year institution and was renamed East Carolina Teachers College; its first bachelor's degrees were awarded the following year. A master's degree program was authorized in 1929; the first such degree granted by ECTC was in 1933.

Progress toward full college status was made in 1948 with the designation of the B.A. as a liberal arts degree, and the B.S. as a teaching degree. A change of name to East Carolina College in 1951 reflected this expanded mission. Racial segregation ended in 1957. The years that followed saw the establishment of schools of nursing (1960), business (1960), art (1962), music (1962), and education (1963), as well as the College of Arts and Sciences (1964), later named for Thomas Harriot.