Paul family dedicates study room

On February 14, Dr. Joseph West Paul Jr. and Mrs. Sheri H. Paul officially christened a group study room in Joyner Library in honor of Sheri’s mother, Faye Howell, a 1961 graduate of East Carolina College’s library science program.

Howell is not the only ECU alumnus in her family. Dr. Paul graduated from the ECU School of Medicine (now the Brody School of Medicine) in 1992 as the first student to earn a dual M.D./Ph.D. And West and Sheri’s son, Joseph West Paul III, graduated from ECU in 2016 and is currently pursuing his Ph.D. at UC Berkeley.

Said Jan Lewis, director of Joyner Library, “By naming this group study room, the Pauls do more than honor Mrs. Howell. They are helping future ECU students succeed. During the last academic year, students reserved this room 1,566 times. Since we started tracking reservations in 2013, it has been reserved more than 8,200 times, for more than 17,000 hours – or nearly two years of constant use.”

The Paul family’s impact on student success doesn’t end with the study room. “When Joseph was a student, he came to see me,” Lewis shared. “He wanted to discuss ways the library could help reduce the cost of textbooks for students. Our talk helped lead to Joyner’s textbook affordability initiatives, which have already saved students more than $900,000 dollars.

“The Pauls’ gifts to ECU Libraries have helped us furnish group study rooms and provide technology and learning opportunities for students. We thank them for their engagement with Joyner Library and ECU through the years,” Lewis concluded.

The Howell group study room, number 1804, is located on the first floor of Joyner Library.

For information about giving to Joyner Library, please visit library.ecu.edu/giving