Support the Series

Make a Gift to Voyages of Discovery using the newly redesigned online giving website.

2025-2026 Community, Foundation and Corporate Partners

The Voyages of Discovery series is actively seeking corporate, foundation, community organization, and ECU campus partner sponsors for the 2025-2026 season. For more information on how your business, organization, or unit can support this valuable series, please contact THCAS Director of Alumni Relations and Outreach Ashley Harzog at clelanda18@ecu.edu.

Amanda Whited, Ph.D., Realtor

2025-2026 ECU Campus Partners

The Voyages of Discovery Series is possible thanks to the following ECU Campus Partner contributions.

Department of Anthropology
Honors College
W. Keats Sparrow Distinguished Chair in the Liberal Arts

Corps of Discovery

Individual and family supporters are warmly invited to join the Corps of Discovery. These generous gifts allow us to continue to bring timely, thought-provoking, and impactful leaders to speak directly to our community, as well as secure the financial future of the series.

In 1804 President Thomas Jefferson commissioned his own Corps of Discovery, led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, to explore the American West. The objectives of the expedition were to study the plants, animal life, and geography, as well as learn about the native peoples and the cultures of those living in that region.

In that same spirit of exploration, the Voyages series brings to ECU speakers who help us understand more fully the world in which we live and those with whom we share it. The speakers in the Voyages series are changing the world and inspiring us to work together for a better future. The benefits of the series are not just for the university, but also for our city and our region.

Just as the Corps from the Lewis and Clark expedition shared the wonders of their discoveries and new-gained knowledge, so our own Corps of Discovery will enrich the lives of those in the region by ensuring access to the rich treasures of the Voyages series.

Corps of Discovery Program Rates

Donation LevelDonation Amount
Royal Yacht$20,000
Flagship$10,000
Galleon$5,000
Fly-boat$2,000
Clipper$1,000
Schooner$500
Skipjack$100

Make a Gift to Voyages of Discovery

Corps of Discovery Contributors

The Voyages of Discovery Series is possible thanks to the following Corps of Discovery contributions.
(This list is based on gifts made to the Series from January 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025.
All good faith has been made to compile a list that is as complete and correct as possible.)

Royal Yacht

Mr. William Phillip Hodges & Mrs. Lisa Brewer Hodges
Mr. Alton Wayne Holloman & Mrs. Sherry McKee Holloman
Ms. Harvey S. Wooten

Flagship

Anonymous
Dr. Michelle F. Eble & Mr. Shane L. Ernst
Mrs. Elizabeth Harris Sparrow

Galleon

Mrs. Meredith Spears Hinton & Mr. Hank Hinton, III
Mr. Mitchell Lee Hunt

Fly-boat

Dr. Deanna Marie Boyett
Dr. Allison S. Danell & Dr. Ryan Danell
Mr. Carl Wade Davis, Jr. & Mrs. Martha L. Davis
Mr. Neil Edward Dorsey & Mrs. Donna Morgan Dorsey
Mr. Carlos Adrian Ochoa
Mr. Charles Edward Saunders
Mr. Matthew Howard Slate & Mrs. Kelly Mitchem Slate
Mrs. Judith Kirkpatrick Whichard

Clipper

Dr. Paul Joseph Gemperline
Dr. Gregory Lyn Hassler
Mrs. Jessica Creson Nottingham
Mrs. Wanda Edwards Yuhas

Schooner

Dr. John T. Bray
Mrs. Beverly Jones Cox
Mrs. Christine Danell-Tepper
Dr. Jeffrey Stephens Johnson

Skipjack

Mrs. Emily Wilder Austin
Mr. James Zachary Bailes
Dr. George A. Bissinger and Mrs. Wendy Bissinger
Mrs. Estelia Jackson Carney
Dr. Robert Raymond Christian
Dr. Alethia H. Cook
Mrs. Jennifer Ann Daugherty & Mr. Michael Ezra Daugherty
Mrs. Deborah D. Diffenbaugh & Mr. Jon G. Diffenbaugh
Mrs. Bonnie Taylor Galloway
Dr. Regis Gilman
Mr. William Luther Grant
Ms. Ashley B. Harzog & Ms. Kelsey Curtis
Dr. Keith Holmes
Mrs. Jordan Kelly Joyner
Dr. Derek F. Maher & Mrs. Jill Dorothy Jennings-Maher
Mrs. Joan Lester Mansfield & Dr. Christopher J. Mansfield
Mr. Randall Thomas Martoccia & Mrs. Christie Martin
Mr. Lee Mascarenhas & Ms. Julia Toms
Dr. Victoria Hardy McGowen & Mr. Sean Perry McGowen
Ms. Louise McNamee
Mrs. Aurelia Stafford Monk
Mrs. Wanda Mauney Montano
Ms. Amanda Murer
Dr. Clorisa Phillips
Mrs. Ann Gray Riggs & Dr. Stanley R. Riggs
Dr. Jean-Luc Scemama
Mrs. Jon Ward Shaw & Dr. Robert A. Shaw
Dr. David L. Smith
Dr. Anne Marie Spuches
Dr. Robert J. Thompson
Dr. James Hugh Wease & Mrs. Cynthia C. Wease
Dr. Lester A. Zeager