Town and gown: President touts Campbell’s role in community at tour event

October 31, 2025

Buies Creek the fifth stop of President Down's Campbell Forward speaking tour

After introducing himself to alumni in Charlotte, Raleigh, Winston-Salem and Fayetteville over the past month, Campbell University President Dr. William Downs returned to his backyard - technically, about a block away from it - for the fifth leg of his Campbell Forward speaking tour.

The Oct. 28 leg of the circuit was held on Campbell's main campus in Buies Creek, inside the Oscar N. Harris Student Union's spacious Keith Family Ballroom. In front of an audience of Campbell faculty and staff and Harnett County residents, Downs stressed the many benefits of Campbell's location, its relationship with the Harnett County community and the importance of continuing to have a strong presence not just in their backyard, but in North Carolina as well.

"There are schools that have been successful in our state that have simply turned their back on North Carolina students in order to attract students from elsewhere. We will never do that," Downs said. "That means we have got to be physically present, both in our high schools and in our churches. … We are inextricably tied to one another, town and gown. They say that fortune favors the bold, and when Campbell has been bold, our county, our region and our community have all benefited.

"When Harnett County thrives, so, too, does Campbell University."

[Link]President William Downs, First Lady Kimberly Downs and Campbell mascots Gladys and Gaylord.

Buies Creek was the fifth of six Campbell Forward stops; the final stop in Wilmington is scheduled for Nov. 6. Downs used the opportunities to get to know Campbell alumni all over the state, to introduce his vision for the University going forward and to lay the foundation for his upcoming strategic plan and financial campaign.

To his Buies Creek audience, Downs shared some numbers showing the impact Campbell has on its community:

• 800: The (approximate) number of full-time Campbell employees, making the University the largest private employer in Harnett County.
• 73 million: The amount paid in salaries to Campbell employees in the last fiscal year. That money, Downs said, gets reinvested into the community through housing, shopping, dining, taxes and a wide array of commercial activity.
• 500 million: In dollars, it's Campbell University's estimated annual economic impact, from payroll to operational expenses and local spending by students and alumni.
• 2,989: The number of Campbell alumni who graduated and remained in Harnett County. Downs included the numbers "47" and "360," the number of Harnett County freshmen and total residents, respectively, currently enrolled at Campbell. "Our fates are linked," Downs told the audience.

To the Campbell employees in the crowd, Downs pledged to do a better job "investing in people," and announced steps taken to improve employee compensation, beginning with an increase in the University's contribution to individual retirement accounts.

The top priority from Day 1 - which, for Downs, was July 1 of this year - has been and will continue to be undergraduate enrollment. Downs pointed to "visible and meaningful progress" Campbell has taken in his first few months toward enhancing the experience of current students and attracting future Camels in the coming years. For current students, Campbell has made considerable improvements to residence hall furniture and has added 360 new washer and dryer units.

"The ultimate objective is to convince students to stick around for seven days a week and be a part of the life of a college campus," Downs said. "Most of us look back on our college experiences and think, 'Wow, best four years of our lives.' And I remember so many of those experiences were beyond the classroom. We've got to make sure that our students know about and participate in the vast array of opportunities and distractions that we provide."

[Link]President William Downs speaks to the crowd gathered at the Oct. 28 Campbell Forward tour held in the Oscar N. Harris Student Union at Campbell University.

To that end, Downs said he would like to see Butler Chapel become a Sunday morning destination for students - "It's a beautiful, inspirational venue on our campus. We've got to find a way to engage our students and encourage them to stick around for Sunday mornings at Butler Chapel."

As for attracting students, Downs said considerable resources will be added to University marketing efforts. He encouraged attendees to become ambassadors for their school and suggested Campbell has the pieces in place - from location to its history and its reputable undergraduate and graduate programs - to become a model 21st Century higher ed institution.

"'Build it, and they will come' sounds like a wonderful strategy, but it doesn't work anymore," Downs said. "The reality is, if you build it, then you have to climb to the mountaintop and shout about it as loudly as possible. Then you have to go out and find students, bring them to your campus and reel them in. [Higher education] has never before been more crowded and more competitive. Campbell has to be competitive. That means, ladies and gentlemen, we have a heavy lift ahead of us."

As he was before he spoke at other stops on the Campbell Forward tour, Downs was preceded at the podium by an alum and/or a current student in Buies Creek. This time, it was both. Alumnus Morgan Timiney, vice president and board member for Campbell's Alumni Association and a two-time Campbell graduate now working as a chassis engineer for Caterpillar, delivered the invocation, and Cutler Bryant - president of Campbell's Student Government Association - shared his testimony on the impact Campbell has had on him over the last three-plus years.

[Link]Board of Trustees Chairman Gene Lewis introduces President William Downs.

The Robeson County native and member of the Lumbee Tribe said Campbell "changed the trajectory" of his life after growing up in a community that consistently ranks in the bottom of state lists when it comes to health, education and the economy.

"I chose Campbell because of its Christian heritage and because of the promise of a personalized academic experience," Bryant said. "Not only were my expectations met, my expectations were exceeded. Campbell has a way of seeing the potential in students before they even see it in themselves. … It's been a place for students from every background can come and discover the gifts that God placed inside of them and learn how to use those gifts to serve their community.

"When I arrived as a freshman, not knowing a soul, what I found was a community here at Campbell that encouraged me to get involved, to lead and to grow. Professors who did not just teach, but who invested in me personally. Mentors who challenged me to work hard and to step out of my comfort zones. Friends who were and still are with me through good times and bad. Friends who sharpened me, who shaped me and who strengthened me."

Bryant said he looks forward to working with Downs, "whose attentiveness and desire to get things done I can personally attest to."

"Under our new leadership, I'm optimistic that Campbell will no longer be North Carolina's best kept secret, but one of its worst kept secrets, because the world deserves to know what's going on at Buies Creek," he said.

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