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Membership FAQ

What is membership?
The East Carolina Alumni Association became a dues based membership organization in the summer of 2006 due to budget restructure which supports the Chancellor’s Priority Fund and rapid institutional growth. Membership is open to all alumni and friends of East Carolina University. Membership establishes a direct link between the institution and the people who are passionate and dedicated to maintaining the excellence of the institution.

How do I join?
You can use our secure server and join online, download the application and fax it to 252-328-4369, call us at 800-ECU-GRAD to join by telephone, or request a membership brochure by mail and send or fax to the Alumni Association when completed.

What types of membership do you offer? What are the differences in the membership levels?
The Alumni Association offers individual and couple annual (Pride) and life (Forever Pirate and Senior Forever Pirate) memberships. A special level that is open to 100 members is the Centennial Pirate membership which is similar to a couple lifetime membership with additional benefits. Membership levels offer a variety of benefits and benefits increase according to your giving level. All levels of membership are tax-deductible. To learn more about membership levels, click here.

What level of involvement is needed to be a member?
When you join the Alumni Association you are showing your pride in ECU. You may decide to volunteer as a chapter leader, or help with recruiting students to ECU or become a regular attendee at Alumni Association events. Your level of involvement is up to you!

How does the Alumni Association serve alumni?
The Association will inform, involve, and serve all alumni in various ways from networking opportunities to updates on the University. Please be sure to check out the full list of benefits.

Why should I join the Alumni Association since I don’t live in Greenville (or eastern NC) and can’t take advantage of all the benefits of membership?
Membership in the Alumni Association offers exclusive invitations to events throughout the Pirate Nation as well as a variety of discounts nationwide. By doing your part as a passionate Pirate, you can ensure East Carolina will continue to be a strong university for future Pirates.

Does giving to the Pirate Club or the University make me a member of the Alumni Association?
We understand it may be a bit confusing, so lets see if we can clear things up.
  • Alumni are those individuals who attended East Carolina for at least two consecutive semesters.
  • Graduates are those individuals who completed their degree.
  • Alumni Association members are those individuals who choose to show their Pirate pride by being annual or life members of the Association.
The East Carolina Alumni Association is a predominately self-funded organization. Its dual purpose is to serve you, our alumni, and to support East Carolina University.

To meet these goals we run a membership program. You become an Alumni Association member by sending in a completed membership form along with your contribution. That money allows us to provide a variety of programs and services for alumni and students. In addition, it enables us to offer more than $20,000 in scholarship money each year. Membership in the Alumni Association provides you with more than 20 tangible benefits, including four issues of our EC Alumni publication.

Just like your East Carolina Alumni Association membership contribution is tax-deductible, so is a gift to the University’s Annual Fund. Your Annual Fund donation can be designated to a certain area of the university or undesignated in which case it will go where the need is greatest.

Alumni Association membership and donations to the University are equally important, but they serve different purposes. A donation does not make you a member of the Alumni Association and membership dues do not make you a donor. You can become a member AND a donor--many alums do both. That's the ideal way of keeping your Alumni Association strong and vibrant, while maintaining high quality at the University.

Whatever you decide, we appreciate and thank you for your support of East Carolina University.

I am not a graduate of East Carolina University, can I still join the Association?
Yes, those touched by ECU students, alumni, faculty, and staff often feel a devotion to the institution. We proudly recognize and support any person who wishes to be a part of our family and share our passion and pride for East Carolina!
East Carolina Alumni Association
Taylor-Slaughter Alumni Center • 901 East Fifth Street • East Carolina University • Greenville, NC 27858-4353
252-328-6072 • 800-ECU-GRAD • Privacy Policy • alumni@PirateAlumni.com