Elizabeth City State University’s Homecoming Parade is Saturday morning and this year's grand marshals are the Rev. Ricky L. Banks and Keith Parker, superintendent of Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Public Schools.
Saturday's parade is from 9 a.m. to noon.
This year’s Homecoming theme, “The Viral Viking: Era of the Influencer,” celebrates the spirit, energy and influence of ECSU and its Viking community.
“There may be no better way to embody that spirit than by placing two longtime champions of education, leadership and community at the forefront of the celebration,” said Kevin J. Wade, vice chancellor for student affairs.
For Banks, the parade is a homecoming in more ways than one.
A Camden County native, Banks earned a Bachelor of Science in intermediate education from ECSU in 1977. For more than four decades, he has served as senior pastor of St. Stephen Missionary Baptist Church, becoming a widely respected religious and community leader across northeastern North Carolina.
His service extends beyond the pulpit. Banks is president of the General Baptist State Convention of North Carolina Inc. and serves on the Shaw University Board of Trustees.
His commitment to ECSU has remained equally strong. He has taught Old and New Testament courses as an adjunct faculty member and has served as secretary and vice chairman of the ECSU Foundation.
His decades of service have earned him some of North Carolina’s highest honors, including the Order of the Long Leaf Pine in 2022 and the key to the city of Elizabeth City.
From ECSU to communities across the region, Banks has built a legacy rooted in education, faith and service.
Joining him as grand marshal is Parker, an educator and advocate whose career has focused on expanding opportunities for students across rural eastern North Carolina.
A native of Four Oaks, Parker earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history education and a doctorate in educational leadership from East Carolina University. He also completed school administration training through N.C. State University’s Northeast Leadership Academy, which prepares educational leaders to serve rural northeastern North Carolina.
Parker began his career as a social studies teacher before moving into school and district leadership. As principal of Martin Millennium Academy in Edgecombe County, he helped establish a Spanish dual language immersion program and partnered with the community to develop a global education curriculum.
As superintendent of ECPPS, Parker has led the district through significant gains in student achievement. Under his leadership, the district earned its first “A” school performance grade, and nine of its 12 schools improved by at least one letter grade over three years, including two that rose two letter grades.
His work is grounded in the belief that public education is a powerful pathway to economic mobility, particularly for students in rural communities.
He has put that belief into action by leading the ECSU-ECPPS partnership behind the Northeastern Aviation Academy, which opens new pathways in aviation education for local high school students. That work makes his role in the Homecoming Parade especially fitting.
As the Viking community comes together for Homecoming, Banks and Parker will lead a parade that celebrates where ECSU has been and the influence it continues to have throughout the region.
The parade is free and will run Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon, traveling east along E. Ehringhaus Street before turning south onto Water Street.