Welcome

Dear Fellow Vikings and Friends:

I am honored to serve as the Interim Athletic Director at one of the finest institutions in the world - Elizabeth City State University. As a former member of the Lady Viking Basketball Team (1985-89), I accept this appointment with immense pride and sincerity. During this interim period, it is my intention to govern the department in excellence to ensure that our student-athletes encounter the ultimate VIKING experience.

The athletic administrative team is diligently working to plan and implement new initiatives to enhance the academic, professional and social development of our student-athletes. Student-Athlete Mentoring, Academic Support Services, Life Skill Workshops and Community Outreach are just a few programs we have in mind. Notwithstanding, we are committed to raising funds to assist with offsetting operational and scholarship expenses.

The "Vision for Vikings Victory" Campaign serves as a premiere fundraising opportunity designed to raise funds to provide competitive scholarship opportunities for student-athletes. Like you, we want our teams to be CIAA and National Championship front runners, but it will be very challenging to achieve without championship resources.

Comparatively speaking, the top football team in the CIAA Conference offers significantly more in scholarship dollars to student-athletes than ECSU Athletics, making it difficult to compete and attract the finest student-athletes to the university.

To ensure the success of the "Vision for Vikings Victory" Campaign we are appealing to 500 former student-athletes, alumni, employees, and friends to make a $100 contribution by May 31, 2013. Chancellor Willie J. Gilchrist, '73 has agreed to lead the campaign by making the first $100 contribution to support the scholarship initiative. In an effort to show our commitment to the campaign, the athletic administrative staff and coaches have been asked to support the campaign as well. Finally, each student-athlete has been asked to invest $1.00 to support the campaign. If you have any questions or need more information, please contact the Department of Athletics at 252.335.3396.

Viking family, I strongly believe that we are a sleeping giant among all Division II Athletic Programs but, we must secure championship resources to win championships. A wise person once said, "greatness is expensive and you will never catch it on sale." If we want great teams that produce championships, we must be willing to pay the price.

With Viking Pride,

Dr. Angelia Nelson
Interim Director of Athletics
(252) 335-3104
adnelson@mail.ecsu.edu