Southern Conference - We Made It! EC Officials Comment on Admission
This article describes the comments on East Carolina being admitted into the Southern Conference, and the excitement and possibilities ahead as a result for the sports teams. This and other articles may be found in the University Archives.
Citation for this article is: "Southern Conference - We Made It! EC Officials Comment on Admission," East Carolinian, May 8, 1964.
During last week's excitement concerning the admission of East Carolina to the Southern Conference, officials of the college were asked to comment on their reaction to the admission.
Dr. N.M. Jorgensen, head of the Health and Physical Education Department replied, "Our admission into the Southern Conference culminates a great deal of effort and work in the part of many people associated with the college over a period of ten or twelve years. I have felt for a number of years that our direction of the athletics here at the college should be toward gaining entrance in a conference which is more in line with our size and growth. The Southern Conference will certainly challenge our efforts and I am very happy that we were accepted at this time.
James Mallory, Dean of Men, stated, "The admission of East Carolina to the Southern Conference is a culmination of a great deal of work by a great many people. It will be a tremendous boost for East Carolina not only athletically but also academically. People of the Greenville area are very happy that we made it, because they realize the quality of competition and the caliber of the teams. With our track facilities, which are among the best in the country, and our new field house, I envision Southern Conference meets here in the near future."
Carl Earl Smith, coach of the East Carolina baseball team, said, "I am definitely in favor of our admission to the Southern Conference. We have spent a lot of work trying to get into the conference, and our efforts have now been shown. It will help us in the baseball schedule. We have been playing northern teams at the beginning of the season, and they have been happy to play us. However, at the peak of the season, we have a very light schedule. Now that we are in the conference, we will be able to have a continual full schedule. We will continue to play northern teams, since our only limit is our budget."
Dr. Ray Martinez, coach of swimming, stated, "I'm very happy to be in the Southern Conference. I wish we could compete with the conference this year, because we know we can win. We will soon host the meets at our new pool, since we have one of the finest in the world."
Coach Odell Welborn, coach of the school track team, replied, "It's a tremendous asset to our track program here at East Carolina. The Southern Conference is relatively strong and with our new track we should be able to compete with our great potential. This is our first year we have separated the Freshmen and Varsity track teams, and for that reason we have been somewhat weak, but by next year, with the incoming freshmen and this year's Freshmen team added to the Varsity, we should show up better."
Coach Robert Gantt, coach of wrestling, stated, "I am very happy to be admitted to the conference, and this will give the wrestling team a chance to compete in a wrestling championship meet. Before entrance, we had men that were undefeated, and yet being in no conference they were not given material recognition. While these colleges in Va. have a great deal of interest in the sport, we do not have as much local interest here at East Carolina. The conference, with the fine teams they have, should improve the situation."
President Jenkins said, "This is an ideal arrangement, because we can make a great contribution to this Conference and in like manner this Conference can do much to enhance the prestige of East Carolina and project us into the national picture. This is an old and respected Conference, its forty-second year.
