Friday with faculty member Ovid Pierce (1910-1988) and Leo Jenkins (1913-1989), 1973

Major power struggles also occurred within the system of higher education. In the early 1960s, East Carolina University President Leo Jenkins began to campaign for a medical school. Friday opposed the idea at first, fearing the state could not adequately finance two medical schools. After trying to work out a compromise, he eventually acknowledged the strong support for a second medical school in eastern North Carolina. The legislature fully funded it in 1975, on Friday's recommendation.