Remove all students and faculty from Brewster for the 21-22 academic year
The Issue
Since 2011, 5 ECU professors have died of pancreatic cancer after working in the A-wing of the Brewster building.
- Dr. Frank Murphy, Associate Professor of Philosophy died in 2011
- Dr. Wen Wang, Assistant Professor of Political Science died in 2018
- Dr. Randall Parker, Professor of Economics, died in 2018
- Dr. Kenneth Wilson, Professor of Sociology, died in 2018
- Kathy Jones, Teaching Instructor in Sociology, died in July, 2021
Other illnesses linked to this building are throat cancer, brain cancer, pancreatic cysts, and kidney failure.
ECU conducted an investigation into the building in 2019 after concerns were raised about the health conditions of those working in the building long-term and found no hazards in the air or water. However, there was no test for asbestos during this investigation.
The Brewster building was build in the 1960s, when asbestos was still commonly used in building materials. While asbestos has not been explicitly linked to pancreatic cancer, it has been linked to cancer in general.
Dr. Zipf, who teaches in the history department and is the president of the ECU chapter of the American Association of University Professors, is the person who rang the alarm and alerted administration. She says she feels the university is prioritizing this issue and the university states they are utilizing local scientists and outside consultants to do a hazard assessment of the building.
The Brewster Building is home to several ECU departments including History, Geography, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, Economics, Religious Studies, and Women's Studies. In addition to this, Brewster houses ECU’s testing center where the ACT and SAT are administered, meaning that hundreds of Pitt County high schoolers have potentially been exposed to harmful materials in this building.
At the time of this writing, classes are just over a week away. Until this hazard assessment is completed and necessary measures are taken to ensure the safety of students and faculty, it is irresponsible to allow classes and other activities to resume in the building.
This petition asks that all classes and activities move to other buildings (or if that’s not possible, online) until the building’s issues are addressed.
The Issue
Since 2011, 5 ECU professors have died of pancreatic cancer after working in the A-wing of the Brewster building.
- Dr. Frank Murphy, Associate Professor of Philosophy died in 2011
- Dr. Wen Wang, Assistant Professor of Political Science died in 2018
- Dr. Randall Parker, Professor of Economics, died in 2018
- Dr. Kenneth Wilson, Professor of Sociology, died in 2018
- Kathy Jones, Teaching Instructor in Sociology, died in July, 2021
Other illnesses linked to this building are throat cancer, brain cancer, pancreatic cysts, and kidney failure.
ECU conducted an investigation into the building in 2019 after concerns were raised about the health conditions of those working in the building long-term and found no hazards in the air or water. However, there was no test for asbestos during this investigation.
The Brewster building was build in the 1960s, when asbestos was still commonly used in building materials. While asbestos has not been explicitly linked to pancreatic cancer, it has been linked to cancer in general.
Dr. Zipf, who teaches in the history department and is the president of the ECU chapter of the American Association of University Professors, is the person who rang the alarm and alerted administration. She says she feels the university is prioritizing this issue and the university states they are utilizing local scientists and outside consultants to do a hazard assessment of the building.
The Brewster Building is home to several ECU departments including History, Geography, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, Economics, Religious Studies, and Women's Studies. In addition to this, Brewster houses ECU’s testing center where the ACT and SAT are administered, meaning that hundreds of Pitt County high schoolers have potentially been exposed to harmful materials in this building.
At the time of this writing, classes are just over a week away. Until this hazard assessment is completed and necessary measures are taken to ensure the safety of students and faculty, it is irresponsible to allow classes and other activities to resume in the building.
This petition asks that all classes and activities move to other buildings (or if that’s not possible, online) until the building’s issues are addressed.
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Petition created on August 13, 2021