More on the Trustees Mace
ECU’s Main Campus Library had a role in preparations for Chancellor Philip Rogers’ installation ceremony on March 24.
The Trustees Mace has been housed in the library since 2007. It is encased near the front entrance, where it was carefully removed a few days before the ceremony and loaded into a temporary transportable case. It was placed by a senior faculty member mace bearer next to the podium for the ceremony.
The Trustees Mace boss features the inscription, “East Carolina University, 1907.” (Photo by Heather White)
Made of sterling silver, the Trustees Mace is 43 inches and weighs about 14 pounds. It was commissioned by the ECU Board of Trustees in 1978 for the installation of Chancellor Thomas Brewer. John Satterfield, a faculty member in the School of Art, was the designer.
The following is an excerpt from an ECU News Services story by Jamie Smith from the installation ceremony:
East Carolina University’s 12th chancellor Dr. Philip Rogers was officially installed Thursday morning. Members of the ECU community, higher education leaders from across the state, faculty, staff and students braved the rainy weather to celebrate the academic tradition.
The chancellor’s installation ceremony was part of ECU’s Founders Week and celebrated the university’s past while looking to the future.
“It’s an honor to be here today, because I believe this truly does mark a new era for East Carolina University and a reawakening of this institution’s core mission of service to North Carolina and beyond,” said UNC System President Peter Hans.
Rogers returned to ECU as chancellor in March 2021 after previously serving as the university’s policy analyst in 2007 and then chief of staff from 2008 to 2013. The years in between were spent as the senior vice president of the American Council on Education, a nonprofit organization that acts as a coordinating body for its membership of approximately 1,700 colleges and universities across the nation.
Originally from Greenville, Rogers is the great-grandson of an early student of the East Carolina Teachers Training School and his wife, Dr. Rebekah Rogers, is a two-time ECU alumna.
“It surprised none of us when Philip was lured away to Washington (D.C.) … sharpening his skills and insights so that one day he might render yet greater service to North Carolina. I am thrilled that day has arrived. We are not just celebrating an installation today, but a homecoming,” Hans said.
Rogers took time to thank those who helped pave the way for him while growing up in Greenville. From teachers to coaches, family and neighbors, the homecoming for Rogers brought a large audience of family and friends to celebrate this moment with him in ECU’s Wright Auditorium.
“Every day, I am surrounded by reminders that my success in this world, the fact that I’m standing in front of you today, comes from the investment this community made in me,” Rogers said.
The Trustees Mace is positioned next to Chancellor Philip Rogers during his installation ceremony on March 24. (Photo by Cliff Hollis)