President’s Inauguration Week to culminate with March 27 ceremony

A weeklong inauguration celebration beginning March 22 will lead up to the investiture of Campbell University's sixth president, Dr. William M. Downs, on March 27.

The 2 p.m. ceremony will be held in the John W. Pope Jr. Convocation Center and will be followed by a reception in the Oscar N. Harris Student Union.

Downs was elected president in February and took office on July 1. An accomplished academic leader and political science scholar with more than 30 years of experience in higher education, Downs previously served as president of Gardner-Webb University and was dean of East Carolina University's Thomas Harriot College of Arts and Sciences. A Raleigh native, Downs earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from North Carolina State University. He also holds his master's degree and Ph.D. in political science from Emory University in Atlanta.

Inauguration Week will begin with a worship service at 7 p.m. on March 22 in Butler Chapel and an academic lecture the following night, also at 7 p.m. in the chapel. On March 24, Downs will deliver the keynote address following the daylong Wiggins Memorial Library Academic Symposium. Following that day's awards ceremony, the Fine Arts Department will perform a choral presentation with international repertoire at 7:30 p.m. in Scott Concert Hall.

The University will host a celebration honoring Founder's Day at 1 p.m. on March 25, where Downs will be on hand for the dedication of the Founders Oak in the Academic Circle. That evening, at 8 p.m., the Student Union Theater will host Movie Night with Downs choosing the feature.

On the eve of inauguration, March 26, William and Kimberly Downs will host a student cookout at 5 p.m. in Saylor Park, followed by live music at 7 p.m.

"Inauguration Week brings our Campbell community together - faculty, staff, students and friends - to celebrate Dr. William M. Downs as our sixth president," said Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Michael Adams. "Through worship, scholarship, service and the arts, the week reflects our values, honors our past and looks toward Campbell's future under Dr. Downs' leadership."

Downs' investiture ceremony on March 27 will be only the fifth such ceremony in Campbell University's 139-year history. The first inauguration ceremony was held 91 years ago on Jan. 31, 1935, when Dr. Leslie H. Campbell succeeded his father, founder J.A. Campbell, who died in 1934 after serving as president for 47 years.

At his ceremony, the second President Campbell paid tribute to his father: "This occasion is truly a tribute to the sainted founder of this institution and others - like Rich, Day, Duke, Treat and Kivett - who have here a monument more lasting than bronze. The events of this hour constitute only a link between a past set with marvelous achievement and a future calling for our wholehearted endeavor.

"This is no coronation day. Rather, it witnesses the solemn dedication and surrender of all there is in us to a holy cause."

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As was the case with Campbell's ceremony, Downs' event will be held roughly nine months after his first official day as president. Downs has said his goal from Day 1 has been to bring "eager ears, fresh eyes and a jolt of energy, optimism and positivity" to his role as president, as well as a willingness to search and ask for the resources that are needed.

In his first of six Campbell Forward speaking tour stops held in Charlotte in September, he laid out three priorities for his first year in office - strengthen and defend what works well at Campbell, fix what doesn't work well and "have the audacity to dream big about Campbell's future and the determination to deliver on those dreams."

Gene Lewis III, a 1995 Campbell graduate and chair of the University Board of Trustees, said Downs has had an "immediate positive impact" on the school and the greater community.

"Just as we expected, he and Kim have immersed themselves in Buies Creek and Campbell, illustrating their servant leadership in every way possible," Lewis said. "Dr. Downs has quickly engaged in some of the more acute matters that our board identified for him and is successfully executing against each of those priorities."

Most recently, Lewis said, Downs presented and received board approval on a new five-year strategic plan for Campbell University that will be presented to the public early this year.

"[The strategic plan] paves the way and cements our brightest future as a leader in Christian higher education in the Southeast," Lewis added. "I am thrilled to welcome Dr. Downs to Campbell, and our entire Board of Trustees looks forward to his strong and profound leadership in the coming years."

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Learn more about Inauguration Week online at https://www.campbell.edu/inauguration/.