Alumni Association at Welcome Week Recap
Welcome Week is a Campbell tradition known for bringing new friends together and making memories. It is a week full of excitement and anticipation. Every year, Alumni Association volunteers help incoming students move into their residence halls, celebrate legacy students and families at the Legacy Lunch, welcome new students at New Student Convocation and more.
Friday, August 19
Freshman Move-In
Alumni volunteers helped freshmen move into their residence halls on Friday — hauling boxes, carrying totes and creating a stress-free move-in process for every family. Volunteers worked with a smile, ensuring students received a friendly welcome to Campbell University.
Legacy Lunch
The Alumni Association kicked off the fall semester with a celebration of legacy students and their alumni family members.
Twenty-six legacy freshmen and their families (over 100 guests) attended the Legacy Lunch in the Oscar N. Harris Student Union ballroom. The new students were pinned by their alumnus relative — parents, siblings and grandparents — and were led in reciting the Legacy Pledge:
As a Campbell legacy, I will strive to be a successful student and a vibrant member of the Campbell alumni family. I will learn and appreciate Campbell’s past and invest in its future, so that others may also have this opportunity.
I will be loyal to my alma mater, pursue a life of meaningful service and lead with purpose as a student now, and an alumnus forever.
Members of the Alumni Association Board of Directors, Brittney Patterson (’14) and Lynn Rodgers (’90) (also a legacy parent), welcomed Legacy students and offered words of encouragement to students and parents.
Sarah Swain (’05), assistant vice president of alumni engagement at Campbell, shared, “We hope our students remember this tradition of being a Campbell Legacy with strong appreciation and embrace this new family they are now a part of.”
Saturday, August 20
Ignite Your Legacy
The second-annual Ignite Your Legacy included a candle-lit thematic retelling of Campbell’s beginnings, sparklers and a dance party. Rachel Davis (’19) and Gray Barnhill (’19) addressed the crowd, leading new and returning students through the ceremony.
Rachel began, “Take a deep breath, look around, and take in how you feel tonight. Acknowledge that you made it. Each one of you has taken a unique path to get here.” Gray continued, “From our beginning, Campbell students have come from many backgrounds to this place, seeking the same opportunity to learn and grow. And like those who came before you, you have navigated life’s challenges to prepare yourself for this moment, for this new challenge.”
The ceremony connected Campbell’s past and present. Buies Creek Academy was established by J.A. Campbell in 1887 to educate children in the rural community. After a devastating fire in 1900, there was no guarantee that the school could ever recover. However, the community rallied and rebuilt. And now, over a century later, Campbell University stands strong.
Rachel assured, “You are standing where J.A. Campbell chose not to give up, but to continue his legacy.”
Watch the full ceremony here:
Ignite Your LegacyMonday, August 22
New Student Convocation
At the New Student Convocation and medallion ceremony, Morgan Timiney (’15, ’20), welcomed incoming students on behalf of the 54,000 Campbell alumni.
At this annual ceremony, incoming students are presented by a faculty or staff member with a medallion signifying the start of their college career. Students wear this medallion as they cross the stage at graduation, bookending their experience.
In his speech, Morgan recalled his excitement and nerves as he sat in the Convocation Center during the 2010 ceremony. Early in Morgan’s Campbell experience, he realized he was a part of a special community.
“Here at Campbell,” Morgan addressed students in the crowd, “You will find a community like none other.”
Morgan shared the “big plans” he had for himself after Campbell: number one, become a professional athlete. And if that didn’t work out, he would settle for his backup plan: become a pharmacist.
By his first graduation in 2015 (he later returned to earn a degree in engineering), Morgan had accomplished neither of his two goals. “Fast forward to now,” Morgan said, “I’m a pastor, a husband and an engineer.”
The journey to graduation is as unique as the student who travels it; Morgan can attest to that. His encouragement to incoming students was simple: Campbell University is a place to explore, learn and discover your calling…however long it takes, and no matter the detours you will face.
Watch Morgan’s full welcome message here:
Morgan Timiney at New Student ConvocationEvery year during Welcome Week, the Alumni Association appreciates the opportunity to engage with new and returning students. We look forward to one day welcoming them into the Alumni Association.
Learn more about alumni events and programs at alumni.campbell.edu.