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Hello reader! Welcome back to Higher Stakes, your source for higher education news in North Carolina. I’m reporter Jane Winik Sartwell.
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Let’s get straight into it.
NC State University is currently in negotiations with the Nature Conservancy over a 16,590-acre portion of its Hofmann Forest property in Eastern North Carolina. The property caused controversy in the mid-2010s when NC State announced a plan to sell the research forest to timberland investors and agribusiness officials — but then the school backtracked.
Now, the university will potentially grant a perpetual conservation easement to the Nature Conservancy — a move that would permanently limit future development on the land.
At a recent Board of Trustees meeting, board chair Ed Stack reported that The Nature Conservancy will pay NC State at least $13 million in net proceeds. The College of Natural Resources will remain responsible for maintaining the property — and funding that maintenance with the payment from the Nature Conservancy, Stack said.
NC State’s endowment fund “is working closely with the College of Natural Resources to ensure the potential transaction demonstrates long-term stewardship of the land and ensures the Forest continues to be a vital resource to the College’s research and academic mission,” the school told The N&O in a statement.
The Nature Conservancy said it looks forward to sharing more about the project once the details are finalized.
Duke University professor Felipe De Brigard won a MacArthur Genius Grant last month, my colleague Twumasi Duah-Mensah reported.
But De Brigard isn’t the only Genius Grant recipient with North Carolina ties this year.
Elizabeth Ellis, who earned her PhD from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2015, also received the prestigious award. Her research focuses on Native American politics and diplomacy in early North America — especially as tribes increasingly interacted with European settlers.
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“Ellis’ portrait of alternative conceptions of nationhood among small indigenous tribes offers a corrective to colonial histories emphasizing war and subjugation of Native Americans,” reads a UNC press release about the award. “The work provides key historical evidence for their ongoing efforts to gain federal recognition.”
Ellis works at Princeton now. The Genius Grant fellows receive a $800,000 stipend paid over the course of five years.
East Carolina University’s marching band will perform in the 101st Macy’s Day Parade in New York City in 2027. School administrators surprised the band with the news last week.
The Marching Pirates were selected from an estimated 100 bands nationwide for the Thanksgiving Day honor, ECU said. It marks the first time the school was selected.
More than 35 million viewers tune into the Macy’s Day Parade each year, making it one of the “highest honors in collegiate marching band performance,” according to ECU.
“The students in the band that do this will tell their grandkids about it,” ECU’s music school director Christopher Ulffers said in a statement. “They’ll watch the parade with their grandchildren on Thanksgiving Day and go, ‘I remember when I marched in that parade.’”
Macy’s gave $10,000 to the band to kick off its fundraising efforts, according to ECU. The goal is to raise $500,000 to cover the weeklong trip for 300 people and their instruments.
Thank you for reading Higher Stakes. See you back here next week.
— Jane Winik Sartwell
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This story was originally published October 13, 2026 at 5:30 AM.