GOLD STANDARD

Toby Bryson

Hometown: Greenville, North Carolina

Major: Nursing

Career goal: Critical care flight nurse

Scholarship: Robert G. and Amy K. Brinkley Scholar

What do you like most about your major?

What I like most about my major is the ability I have to help others as a career. Without the fire service and Eastern Pines Fire-Rescue, I never would have found my love for helping others. Nursing allows me to help others in a different way than pre-hospital. In a hospital setting, I can provide care from start to finish and see full circle how my care and the actions of the care team work to improve outcomes for my patients, whereas in fire/EMS, most of my patient interaction ends upon arrival at the emergency department. The best part about this major is the excitement I get knowing that I will be able to dedicate my life to doing what I love. Nursing doesn’t feel like work.

What does receiving a scholarship mean to you?

It means so much more than financial support. It means I have a group of people or organizations supporting me to succeed beyond my greatest aspirations. This scholarship has provided opportunities that, on my own, I would not have ever been able to find. Because of generous donations, I am now on a fast track to personal and professional success that otherwise might not have been possible.

Why should alumni support scholarships?

Because it propels students to be able to achieve so much more than they ever would without financial and emotional support. My scholarship has changed my life. I have been able to partake in research, study abroad internationally and create connections professionally. Most importantly, through BrinkleyLane Scholars, I’ve met lifelong friends, who are among my strongest supporters through nursing school and the waves of life.

Donor spotlight: Robert and Amy Brinkley

Robert ’78 and his wife, Amy, are generous supporters of ECU’s academic and athletic priorities. Robert previously served on the ECU Board of Trustees (two years as chair), ECU Foundation Board of Directors, Board of Visitors and Real Estate Foundation.

pursuegold.ecu.edu

Pirate Nation Gives Surpasses Expectations

More than 2,300 Pirates answered the call to support ECU during Pirate Nation Gives. The seventh annual day of giving on March 22 surpassed expectations, raising nearly $12 million in support of university priorities.

It was the final Pirate Nation Gives held during the Pursue Gold campaign and continued the steady course of the university’s ambitious effort to raise $500 million.

Notable gifts included:

• A leadership gift from Pat ’67 and Lynn Lane, supporting the Brinkley-Lane Scholars program and the Honors College

• Keith Beatty ’73, who has endowed access and athletics scholarships with a gift of more than $980,000

• ECU trustee Cassie Burt and husband Travis, who have committed to a professorship

• Todd Ervin ’94, who gave $25,000 toward the Todd & Elizabeth Ervin College of Business ROTC Scholarship Endowment

• Cheryl and John Oliver, who provided a Pirate Nation Gives challenge gift of $25,000 in addition to a bequest and planned gift in support of the Coastal Studies Institute

• Darrell Roberts, a technology systems student, who has donated $5,000 to start a scholarship in the Bachelor of Science in industrial technology program

• Nicholas Steward ’07 ’11, who established a scholarship endowment in the College of Nursing in memory of his wife, Christina Hill Steward ’07.

– Patricia Earnhardt Tyndall

“They need the financial support at all levels to continue the robust programs they have and seize the opportunity provided by the local maritime heritage niche,” Cheryl Oliver added. “Eventually on-site housing will make it all much easier.”

As staff with the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration in Silver Spring, Maryland, they had professional connections to the coast. The CSI mission and goals were a natural fit for their endowment.

Cheryl and John Oliver have long been captivated by North Carolina’s Outer Banks. They vacationed there, were married in Manteo and have been connected to the coast for many years.

Through a bequest and IRA beneficiary designations, the Olivers are investing in the coast’s future by supporting the Coastal Studies Institute. Their $2.5 million planned gift will provide housing for students studying at the Wanchese campus and resources for other needs that may arise at CSI. The Olivers additionally championed CSI during Pirate Nation Gives.

“We hope it will encourage others to do something similar and provide support to CSI,” John Oliver said. “You don’t have to be an ECU alum to support CSI.”

“Cheryl and John have been a part of CSI from the very beginning and are demonstrating their confidence through this investment in the significance of the interdisciplinary coastal science being conducted by the faculty and staff at CSI. We are grateful for this transformative gift and humbled by their generosity,” said Reide Corbett, executive director of the institute and dean of integrated coastal programs. “The Coastal Studies Institute has a reach beyond just Pirate Nation. This generous gift demonstrates that directly.”

Corbett described the Olivers’ gift as a gamechanger as the relatively young organization continues to grow academic programs at the coast. Through their investment, CSI will expand opportunities for students to participate in programs embedded in a coastal community.

– Patricia Earnhardt Tyndall