ECU Report: Planning a Planetarium
This article describes the donation that was given to the University, to build a planetarium. This and other articles may be found in the University Archives.
Citation for this article is: Jenkins, Leo. "ECU Report: Planning a Planetarium," March 15, 1970. Record Group CH1050, Series 8, Publication File.
There's no telling how many people, subject to that human frailty which causes us to sometimes doubt laws of cause and effect, consider something which happened on or about March 7 a result of the solar eclipse.
For us at East Carolina University, it could well be the fact of a gift of $100,000 for a planetarium, presented to us on the morning of the eclipse day.
We are reassured, however, by logicians in our Department of Philosophy that there is no connection. The gift was a direct result of deliberate human planning -- and generoisty.
The interest and concern of the people at the American Credit Corporation Foundation of Charlotte are what caused them to plan the gift. The nature of the gift dictated that eclipse day would be highly appropraite for the presentation.
Along with a check, the foundation gave us a challenge to raise another $200,000 to pay for a $300,000 facility. And so we have begun.
Dr. Floyd Mattheis, chairman of the Science Education Department, tells us that plans are shaping up nicely and that a tentative construction date of about 12 months from now has been set. Of course, a go-ahead for construction depends entirely on the time it takes to raise $200,000. Dr. Mattheis says he and his fellow faculty members are already working hard to raise the money.
Some may question the reasoning behind construction of a planetarium at East Carolina. Aside form the fact that our gift so stipulated, there are other sound reasons.
We think of the planetarium primarily as a giant tool for the education of our sons and daughters. Dr. Matthies, pointing up the immediate value of such a tool, says that some 2,000 students at ECU will be immediatley and directly involved with studies at the planetarium when it is completed. In addition, the planetarium will serve as a valuable and fascinating means of introducing the wonders of astronomy to thousands of elementary and high school pupils and the general public in Eastern North Carolina.
When completed, the ECU planetarium will compare favorably with the facilities in Chesapeake and Newport News, Va. It will not be as large as the renowned facility at Chapel Hill; but there is no other planetarium within 100 miles of Greenville.
We believe the eduational value of such a tool is justification enough for its existence. And if that tool can double as a servant to the needs and interest of the community, then its existence cannot be decried.
In summary, all of us at ECU and the people at the American Credit Corporation Foundation, are convinced that construction of a planetarium on our campus will yield a value much higher than the sum of $300,000.
We would be pleased to know how the public -- our stockholders -- feel about this important project. I take this opportunity to invite your comments. These may be addressed directly to the president's office at East Carolina.
