Welcome Home Pirates
Welcome to the Dr. Jesse R. Peel LGBTQ Center at East Carolina University. 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.
Since our founding in 2011, we have served the entire ECU campus. Our Center is located in Suite 209 in the Main Campus Student Center and we are open Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. Our resources include: a lending library; information on campus, local, and national resources; and four computer workstations, in addition to a social area, a conference room, and offices for our staff. Throughout the year, we offer educational programs and events, and participate in national campaigns such as National Coming Out Day, Transgender Day of Remembrance, World AIDS Day, Bisexual Awareness Week, Asexual Awareness Week, and Transgender Day of Visibility. We invite you to visit the Peel LGBTQ Center–everyone is always welcome!
ECU ranked #12 in national LGBTQ-friendly college poll
For LGBTQ Pride Month, Student Loan Hero researchers culled colleges and universities with a four-star rating or higher in the national Campus Pride Index and ranked these schools based on affordability. East Carolina University, at #12, received the highest ranking for any university or college in North Carolina. In the article accompanying the release of the findings, the author states, “Most students and their families have to consider affordability when choosing a college. But with homophobia, transphobia and other forms of discrimination running rampant in the world and on college campuses, LGBTQ students need to think about how welcoming their college of choice will be, too.”
The Campus Pride Index is the national LGBTQ benchmarking tool for colleges and universities to create safer, more inclusive campus communities. Since 2018, ECU has been designated as a Premier Campus with a rating of 4.5 (out of 5) stars.
ECU Purple Pantry assists students
ECU’s Purple Pantry is housed in the Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement and is a collaborative effort between ECU Recovery and many entities of ECU’s Division of Student Affairs. The mission of the ECU Purple Pantry is to decrease food insecurity among the students of East Carolina University and increase access to other personal care items. Since opening in the late spring of 2018, students have been able to collect their most needed food and hygiene items. Members of the ECU community dedicate their time, talent and treasures to create a sustainable resource on campus to combat food insecurity.
For full details on locations and hours of operation, click here.
Gender Affirming Care in Greenville
The ECU Health Sciences Sexual and Gender Diversity Committee (SGDC) and the Dr. Jesse R. Peel LGBTQ Center are happy to announce there are multiple options for gender-affirming care, including hormone therapy, in primary care practices in Greenville.
Dr. Brigid Hast Wilson is a family medicine physician who practices with ECU Family Medicine (252-744-4611 for appointments).
Dr. Colby Dendy is a specialist in internal medicine and pediatrics, and she sees both adults and children at the ECU Adult and Pediatrics Health Care Clinic (call 252-744-0766 for pediatric patients and 252-744-0750 for adult patients).
Dr. Kelley Haven practices obstetrics and gynecology with Greenville Women’s Care (call 252-757-0952 for appointments).
Finally, the Health Sciences Sexual and Gender Diversity Committee has compiled a general list of LGBTQ+ affirming providers in the region.
Using Your Preferred First Name at ECU
At ECU, we strive to promote a diverse, respectful, and inclusive environment for the university community. We recognize that students, faculty, and/or staff may wish to use first names to identify themselves, other than their Legal First Name. In a good faith effort to put such individual preferences into effect within the university, the university has implemented this opportunity to allow individuals to update their Preferred First Name.
The MyName section of the ECU website explains how to indicate a preferred first name, where this name will show up, and where, by law, your legal name will continue to appear.