In this article, the authors describe one institution--East Carolina University--that they think is representative of an important type and a large proportion of American universities, the comprehensive public university, and its responses to the lingering Great Recession. As a group, comprehensives handle almost 40 per cent of the total student enrollment in the US. The 400-plus member institutions of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) account for almost half of all four-year public enrollments. Virtually all American colleges and universities--public and private—have been hurt by what is now known to be the worst economic crisis since the Depression. Along with community colleges, comprehensive public universities are the most battered. The time, therefore, seems right to begin to take stock of the present state of affairs--which, as grim as it is, may be "as good as it gets"--and to describe one institution's attempts to adapt to it. The authors believe their story is illustrative, and hope it is also instructive. (Contains 5 resources.)