About Us
East Carolina Teachers Training School was founded as an all-women’s school in 1907 and in 1920 was renamed East Carolina Teachers College. In December of that year seven women came together to form the first student government association. It was titled the Student Self-Government Association. Helen Bahnson was the first President.
By the start of World War II much of the structure of the student government had fallen apart. The student government association in 1934 was divided into two branches including one for women and one for men. In December 1942 a mass meeting of students came together to rewrite the constitution. They formed a new government called the Student Cooperative Government Association.
One year later in 1943 the male and female branches merged to combine both men and women into one governing association. In 1947, with the ratification of a new constitution, the organization was renamed the Student Government Association. East Carolina Teachers College became East Carolina College in 1951. On June 29, 1967 the North Carolina General Assembly renamed East Carolina College East Carolina University. In the years since a number of new constitutions have been written and ratified, reflecting the ever-changing opinions of the student body in their effort to self-govern.
Most recently, in 2016, a new constitution was ratified by the student body, giving the Student Government Association a clearer outline and structure, while solving many problems of the past several years. This constitution was most recently amended in 2019.