Elizabeth City, N.C. — Twenty-five years ago, Kevin J. Wade made Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) history. Today, he helps shape its future. During the 2026 Homecoming celebration, ECSU crowned its newest Mr. and Miss ECSU on Oct. 7, and Wade was front and center to watch a tradition he helped create. There is just one detail that makes this year’s Coronation especially significant—25 years ago, Wade was the first.
Today, the former Mr. ECSU is ECSU’s vice chancellor for Student Affairs, helping to elevate the college experience for the students who now walk the same campus he once called home.
Before the Crown
In some ways, Wade has spent nearly his entire life around higher education. As a child, he spent many late evenings in a community college commuter lounge and library while his mother attended classes. She enrolled in college immediately after high school in 1976. As a full-time working mother raising Wade and his two brothers, earning a degree would take far longer than she initially imagined. On several occasions, she had to stop and start again. Over 30 years, and with her three boys in tow, she kept finding her way back to higher education. In 2006, she finally completed her associate’s degree.
For Wade, those years offered an early lesson in what higher education can mean. At an early age, he saw persistence, possibilities and what second chances look like when life does not go according to plan.
He would eventually carry that lesson to ECSU. There, as a student, he helped create a new opportunity of his own.
Becoming the Crown
Before Wade became Mr. ECSU, male students could serve as escorts to Miss ECSU. They were visible representatives of the university and an important part of the campus tradition. But there was no official Mr. ECSU title.
Wade believed there should be.
As a junior, he approached James Polk, who was serving in the role at the time, and began discussing what it would take to establish an official opportunity for male students.
Then he did what would become a recurring theme throughout his career. He turned an idea into action.
Wade wrote the proposal, created a partial constitution and submitted both to the vice chancellor for Student Affairs. The proposal then moved through the university’s leadership, reaching then-Chancellor Mickey L. Burnim and the ECSU Board of Trustees.
It was approved the following year. During Wade’s senior year, his peers elected him Mr. ECSU—the university’s first official Mr. ECSU.
Wade became the first student to receive an official coronation. That distinction is significant on its own. But 25 years later, it carries another layer of meaning. The student who once walked into the vice chancellor for Student Affairs office with an idea now occupies that leadership role himself.
More Than a Crown
For Wade, the crown was never the whole story. It was an early expression of something that would follow him throughout his career: a commitment to developing people, creating opportunities and helping others step into their potential. After ECSU, Wade built a career spanning higher education leadership, corporate image strategy and national pageantry. His pageantry work has included coaching and developing titleholders across the Miss America, Miss USA and Miss Black USA systems.
That same philosophy of developing people eventually brought Wade back to higher education leadership, where he spent nearly 20 years serving at community colleges and public and private HBCUs before returning to ECSU. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from ECSU, a Master of Public Administration from Troy University and a doctorate in Community College and Higher Education Leadership from Morgan State University.
As vice chancellor for Student Affairs, Wade helps lead the university’s strategic priority around student learning and success. His work extends to the experiences that define college outside the classroom: student engagement, belonging, preparation, support, leadership development and the many systems that help students thrive once they get to college.
That work shows up in initiatives such as Vikings PREP, ECSU’s summer bridge program designed to help students build skills, form relationships, and begin seeing themselves as successful college scholars before they officially begin their college journey.
Wade’s Mission is Bigger Now
Wednesday night, he put his commitment to students into action.
In a surprise presentation, Wade announced the establishment of the $25,000 Dr. Kevin J. Wade Endowment, which will provide lasting support for the Mr. and Miss Elizabeth City State University Royal Court Resource Fund.
Because of Chancellor S. Keith Hargrove’s Endowment Matching Initiative, Wade’s investment will be matched dollar-for-dollar—doubling his impact on the students who will carry the tradition forward.
For the man who helped create the Mr. ECSU tradition 25 years ago, the gift is a tangible expression of his appreciation for the university that helped shape him as a student, alumnus and leader.
Now, students can step into the experience of being Mr. And Miss ECSU with greater support behind them, like obtaining resources that can help cover the costs associated with representing the university, participating in professional development opportunities and making the most of an experience that was designed to prepare them for life after the crown.
From the Waiting Room to Leadership Rooms
As a child, he waited for his mother to finish class. As a college student, he became a trailblazer. As a professional, he built a career developing leaders. Now, as a vice chancellor, he spends his days helping students navigate college and prepare for what comes next.
The little boy who once sat in a college library while his mother pursued her education became the man helping students pursue theirs. The student who once saw an empty space in ECSU’s traditions created an opportunity that has outlived his own coronation. The first man to wear the official Mr. ECSU crown now serves in the same university leadership position to which he once submitted his proposal. With a resume like this, some would see a full career; others would see a full circle.
With students at the forefront of the mission, Wade is still leading, still serving, still building—and still a Viking.
