10 Ways CFAC is Building a Strong Future for our Students

Pirate Nation Gives 2026

It’s almost time for Pirate Nation Gives, ECU’s annual day of giving! This year, March 4 marks the 10th anniversary of PNG, and we are Building on a Decade of Impact here in the College of Fine Arts and Communication. To celebrate that theme, we want to share with our communities 10 ways that our college is building a strong future for our students. We work hard every day to achieve that goal, and we hope you will see the great variety of ways we do so.

If you feel inspired to help us continue this work and creating high-impact opportunities for our students, we hope you will consider a gift to the College of Fine Arts and Communication. We have an incredible focus this year — a 2027 alternative spring break experience for students from all four of our schools. This trip will connect students with outstanding ECU alumni working in a wide range of professional fields, including theatre, dance, and music performance, visual art and graphic design, entertainment production, strategic communication, media, and other industries closely tied to CFAC. As we know, connecting students with artists, performers, designers, and communicators working in the field offers invaluable insight and inspiration. These immersive experiences broaden students’ understanding of potential career paths and help propel them toward long-term success.

Check out this video message from Dean Linda Kean to learn more about our upcoming New York alternative spring break experience! Thank you for your support.

1. We create educational and experiential study abroad experiences — like our ongoing and popular “Canals, Culture, and Contemporary Dance” summer program in Amsterdam, Netherlands, led by associate professor of dance Jessica Teague. Students spend two weeks in classes and workshops at Henny Jurriëns Studio, experience beautiful culture, and enjoy dance and theatre performances. This brief description only scratches the surface of this program. Learn more at the program link, and follow ECU’s dance program on Instagram for more.

2. We engage accomplished faculty who bring professional expertise and a love of art, performance, and communication to the classroom — like those who teach our students during the academic year, and prospective students (high school and younger) through incredible summer camps. The photo below is from the February 2026 School of Communication career panel. Professor John Howard was the moderator, helping bring real-world career advice to our students, in addition to helping them learn the hard skills they need in the classroom. We appreciate the way our faculty help all of these students grow in their talents and passions!

3. We invite distinguished guest artists to share their work, expertise, and experiences with our students and communities — like Michelle Pearson ’92, who visited ECU to participate in dance masterclasses and screen her documentary film “We Lift Each Other,” which follows a week of Raleigh’s Black Box Dance Theatre working with Asheville veterans working through a treatment court.

4. We connect students directly with industry professionals by taking learning beyond the classroom — such as our New York City alternative spring break experience coming in 2027, and our School of Art and Design ceramics program, which has spent time with North Carolina potters at their studios and experience that art form outside their ECU classrooms.

5. We continually evolving our curriculum to provide students with up-to-date content to ensure success during their educational experience and beyond — like the way our School of Communication updated their concentrations, combining two previous focus areas into Communication and Media, offering students a more flexible choice of classes that will help them earn a degree that excites them and leads to potential jobs they feel passionate about.

6. We invest in current technologies that enhance learning, creativity, and professional preparation. Our School of Music has added equipment to help teach students editing and production skills to help them become more well-rounded musicians as they enter their industries post-graduation. You can check out one of their first projects.

7. We provide access to a variety of free and ticketed performances and events to engage our college, ECU, and broader communities, and showcase student and faculty talent. Sign up for our monthly calendar email, Sights & Sounds, to make sure you can attend every event that interests you!

8. We offer a wide range of study focus areas that allow students to specialize where their interests, skills, and passions align — like choral conducting, the focus for master’s student Alejandro Oliveros.

ECU Photo by Steven Mantilla

9. We work across campus and in the community to participate in innovative events and offerings — such as the Aman Pirate Challenge — that expand student opportunities to learn and grow. CFAC joined the APC for 2025-2026 with a special Round 1 event just for our students. It was a great way to help our students learn and grow their entrepreneurial skills.

10. We engage in off-campus opportunities like conferences, satellite audition days, and ECU events outside of Greenville to share CFAC with others and seek the best students to become Pirates and attend ECU — like two trips (so far) with students and college staff to visit the North Carolina General Assembly to celebrate a new collaboration with our local and alumni legislators choosing student art to display in their offices. The art rotates each semester, and it is a great exhibition and educational opportunity for our art students.