Although the ECU medical school had been authorized by the legislature in 1965, it only existed as a one-year feeder program to UNC-Chapel Hill’s medical school. For years, Chancellor Leo Jenkins had fought for a full-fledged medical school to train primary care physicians, but the idea encountered strong opposition from UNC-Chapel Hill supporters and others who thought the endeavor was too expensive. In 1975, the General Assembly appropriates the money for facilities and the expansion of the school into a four-year program.