It was easy for Angel Castañeda Vargas, a student at Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas (Peruvian University of Applied Sciences), to summarize how he felt on East Carolina University’s campus for a week last month.
He stood between ECU baseball’s Clark-LeClair Stadium, about an hour before the start of a sold-out NCAA regional game, and 50,000-seat football venue Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium as Pirate tailgaters surrounded him and his Peruvian peers.
Filled with excitement, but not overwhelmed, Vargas said he was eager to visit the ECU Main Campus Student Center later in the day to add more purple and gold to his wardrobe.
“The atmosphere here is really cool. This feels amazing. This is great,” said Vargas, who is studying human resources and was paired with a Special Olympics athlete as part of the 2024 ECU and Special Olympics Unified Youth Exchange project.
Four Special Olympics athletes from Peru were joined by unified partners, coaches, coordinators and other Special Olympics staff for eight days of activities in North Carolina. This was after ECU sent College of Health and Human Performance representatives to Peru during spring break in March to share and exchange ideas about how to make sports more accessible in both countries.
The Peruvian delegates flew from Lima to Raleigh, where they enjoyed watching and cheering on athletes at the Special Olympics North Carolina Summer Games.
Then in Greenville, their itinerary kept them busy.
They participated in a pickleball clinic, learned about animal recreation and enjoyed the Fleet Feet Big Run 5K event, held on Global Running Day on June 5, at the Greenville Town Common. They became more familiar with baseball, including a Greenville Yard Gnomes game for sensory awareness, featuring the ECU mobile sensory trailer for children, adults and veterans who experience sensory overload.
They stayed at College Hill Suites and ate at local restaurants. They visited Aces for Autism, ECU Health and HHP labs, shopped in art galleries, and fully embraced eastern North Carolina food culture via a behind-the-scenes barbecue cooking class.
“I have had a great experience with the dorms and the city and all the places we have visited,” said Bruno Giraldo Martínez, a Special Olympics swimmer. “I’ve learned how to cherish this experience about Special Olympics and unified sports. I loved meeting other athletes, too.”
ECU HHP students were present throughout the week to assist and to interact. Leading a campus tour one day were students Manny Torres, Allan Munoz and Jillian Conroy.
“I enjoyed teaching them about the culture here,” Torres said. “They asked us about what fraternities and sororities are, and what we like to do for fun. It’s been pretty interesting, because this is different from what they are used to compared to their school. We’ve tried our best to show them how it is here.”
Andrea Buenaño served as co-principal investigator with Stacy Warner and focused on experiential learning for ECU’s students.
“These types of experiences, both international and domestic, provide intellectual growth and personal growth, as well as the ability for students to gain a broader understanding of global issues,” Buenaño said. “International experiential learning provides an opportunity for students to gain an external perspective. While traveling abroad and bringing international individuals to North Carolina, students have the opportunity to challenge their perspectives, get outside their comfort zone and broaden their education.”
Other HHP faculty members, including AJ An, David Loy, Christine Habeeb, Eboni Baugh and Lindsey Oakes, were instrumental to the success of the program.
An overarching goal of this exchange was to connect delegates through sport diplomacy. Specifically with the Peruvian group coming to Greenville, Buenaño said goals were based on relationships and togetherness.
“Our vision for this initiative was to bring together athletes, community leaders, sport managers and emerging sport leaders to foster more inclusive communities via sport at the local level, while promoting cross-cultural relationships,” Buenaño said. “By the end of the exchange programming, I’m certain we accomplished our goals and so much more.”
Wallen, Stansbury identified as leaders in UNC System
Two veteran members of the ECU community, Chris Stansbury and Dr. Michele Wallen, were selected to represent ECU in the fifth cohort of the UNC System’s Executive Leadership Institute.
They will participate in various leadership development opportunities during the 10-month institute. This cohort consists of 33 participants.
Wallen is chair for the Department of Health Education and Promotion in the College of Health and Human Performance. Stansbury is ECU’s senior associate vice chancellor for student affairs. Stansbury’s role is directly linked to facilitating and overseeing student success, and he works frequently with other campus leaders to guide strategic planning.
“I am extremely honored to be part of the next UNC System cohort of the Executive Leadership Institute,” said Stansbury, who holds a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in communication from ECU. “Now in my 18th year working for my alma mater, I am excited to learn more about who I am and who I can be as a leader. Over the course of the next year, this will be a chance for me to push my boundaries and seek growth for myself, but also for the teams I work with daily and this great institution.”
Wallen’s roles have included serving as the health education and promotion department chair for four years, and previously as the department’s director of graduate studies. She began at ECU in 2006.
“I am grateful for this opportunity to further develop skills and build relationships,” Wallen said. “It is an honor that will allow me to better serve my colleagues, our students, ECU and the UNC System.”
The Executive Leadership Institute was established in 2019. It is designed to develop a pipeline of well-prepared, highly qualified future leaders from all institutions in the UNC System.
“The Executive Leadership Institute is an important investment in the future,” University of North Carolina System President Peter Hans said in a UNC System release. “We are blessed to have a large pool of brilliant and dedicated colleagues right here within the system, and it makes sense to nurture that talent, putting time and resources into developing those leaders.”
Five interactive and experiential immersion modules will be delivered during the program, including instruction at UNC-Chapel Hill, North Carolina A&T and UNC Charlotte. Upon completion, graduates of the institute will receive a certificate and benefit from the opportunity to build relationships and professional networks with previous and future cohorts.
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