A Week to Remember
Inauguration Week for Campbell’s sixth president focuses on university’s history, future
The Inauguration | It’s Good to Be Home | Renewal, Growth & Recognition
The March 27 investiture ceremony of President William M. Downs capped a six-day build up — Inauguration Week — that included a worship program, academic lecture, student research symposium, dedication ceremony for the campus’ 300-year-old oak tree, day of service and a campus-wide cookout.
Those gatherings celebrated both the storied past of Campbell University, as well as its current mission and exciting future. Downs called the week “euphoric” an “re-energizing” after a busy first 10 months on the job, and he said the enthusiasm shown by students, faculty and staff reminded him of why he chose to come to Campbell.
“I have lived and worked in many different places over the course of my career, and there is something decidedly different about this place. When I walk this campus, I see it and I sense it,” he said in his inauguration speech. “There is an authenticity to the people’s affection for Campbell, unlike any I have ever seen elsewhere. People, community, family, relationships. Those will be the foundation of everything we will build here in the years to come.”
Worship service focuses on justice, mercy, humility
The weeklong celebration of the inauguration of Dr. William M. Downs began on a Sunday night with a Biblical charge, not just for the president, but the Campbell community as a whole.
Do justice. Love mercy.
Walk humbly with God.
This simple call from the Book of Micah (6:6-8) in the Old Testament represented the theme of the Inauguration Week Worship Service, kicking off a week of events that culminated with Down’s investiture ceremony. The message was a reminder to the Campbell community as a whole that a close, obedient and humble relationship with God is obtained through actions, not outward appearances.
“Ten words, three actions and one powerful message,” said Dr. Barry Jones, dean of Campbell’s Divinity school and one of three to present a sermon Sunday night inside Butler Chapel. “These are not just clear instructions. They are universal instructions. … This Scripture challenges us to ask, ‘What does God require of us as a Christian university as we rededicate ourselves to our mission under Dr. Downs’ leadership?’”
Downs said starting a week that celebrated Campbell’s past and future with a worship service was intentional. The school’s first inauguration celebration — for second president Leslie Campbell in 1935, also began in a church.
“Our faith foundation started with J.A. Campbell [a Baptist minister] 139 years ago,” Downs said. “That’s the DNA of this university.”
Campbell dedicates 300-year-old Founders Oak, new Legacy Tree
Two trees — one that has seen all 139 years of Campbell history and one that it is hoped will see the next 139 years — were dedicated in the University’s Academic Circle as part of a weeklong celebration of President Dr. William M. Downs’ Inauguration Week.
Downs was joined by students and staff on a bright, brisk spring day to dedicate the Founders Oak — the 90-foot tall, roughly 300-year-old willow oak tree near the Oscar N. Harris Student Union — and a newly planted Legacy Tree about 50 yards away to honor both the past and future of Campbell as it prepares to formally inaugurate just its sixth president.
According to Downs, recognizing the campus’ oldest natural structure was the idea of 1963 graduate and member of the Alumni Board of Directors Carroll Leggett, who was on hand for Wednesday’s ceremony. He said Campbell brought in the North Carolina Forestry Service to conduct tests on the tree last April and determined it to be between 275 and 300 years old.
“It stands here bearing witness to the life of our university,” Downs said. “This tree has seen literally thousands of students who have come through our classrooms, and then has watched them succeed and then secure their places in the world. This tree has been here for five presidents, who have shaped and shepherded this institution. From Buies Creek Academy to Campbell University. And as the sixth president, I, too, have met this enduring fixture, and I think we’re gonna get along well.”
The Legacy Tree is, currently, a 9-foot-tall sugar maple that can grow, on average 70 to 100 feet high when fully mature, which can take 30 to 40 years. Vice President for Student Life and Christian Mission Rev. Dr. Faithe Beam said the tree will turn, fittingly, bright orange in the fall.
Students, faculty join president on Campbell’s Day of Service
Campus clean ups. A daylong blood drive. Beautification and birdhouse building at a nearby community park. Letters for seniors (both the college type and those in local assisted living facilities).
These were among the several events held on the eve of the inauguration ceremony for Campbell’s sixth president, Dr. William M. Downs — on and around the University’s main campus.
Several Campbell students spent much of their day taking part in beautification efforts at Coats Community Park, located six miles east of campus and a much-used spot featuring youth baseball fields, walking trails and a playground.
First-year Pharmacy student Daria Brown of Fayetteville said she signed up to be a volunteer because one of the reasons she chose Campbell University was its dedication to service to rural areas in North Carolina.
“It just makes me happy knowing that I did pick the right school, and today I picked the right activity, because I love being outside,” said Brown as she and her classmates dug holes for flowering plants near the entrance of the park Thursday. “So being able to do something that I love while also helping out a local community really makes me feel good.”
A lesson in Carolina split-ticket politics
North Carolina’s unique split-ticket voting history was the subject of a lecture presented by East Carolina University Political Science Professor Dr. Peter L. Francia — titled “Split-Ticket Voting in North Carolina: Understanding the 2024 Elections and the Road to 2026” — to kick off President Downs’ Inauguration Week.
As polarization between the country’s two political parties and the ideological divide among U.S. citizens continues to grow, North Carolina has — for the past 40-plus years — remained an anomaly when it comes to its voters splitting their tickets for big-stage elections.In eight of the past 12 presidential elections — 1980, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2016, 2020 and, most recently, 2024 —the Tar Heel State voted for a governor of one party and a president of another.
Downs — who holds a doctorate in political science and worked with Francia while dean of the Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences at East Carolina University — said North Carolinians have a “front row seat to some fantastic political theater” and lauded Francia’s career and expertise in political polling.
Fun in Saylor Park
Saylor Park was the site for the President’s Picnic on the eve of Dr. Downs’ investiture ceremony. Roughly, 1,000 students, faculty and staff attended the event on a gorgeous late March evening. Live music from Campbell favorites Bantum Rooster followed. Said First Lady Kimberly Downs: “I remember going from thinking, ‘Who’s going to eat all this food?’ to ‘How are we going to feed all of these people?’ by the time it started. The turnout was incredible.”