Character. Initiative. Calling.
The defining hallmarks of the Campbell University experience.
Going all the way back to our founding in a small, rural schoolhouse in 1887, the history and mission of Campbell University reveals a deep devotion to cultivating — within all members of its community — character aligned with a sense of calling an initiative. Campbell University is committed to ensuring that every student is challenged to reflect meaningfully on their lives and their communities, to ponder critically their individual design and nature, and to respond thoughtfully to the needs of the world that God loves through creative expression in both their professional and personal lives.
In 2024, Campbell received a large grant funded through the support of Lilly Endowment Inc. and Wake Forest University to create “a distinct undergraduate learning experience that integrates the hallmarks of character, initiative and calling.”
Character
Character embodies our calling through traits, qualities and virtues that we inhabit in our being and doing. Character is formative, and it grows and changes as we learn more about ourselves, the world and how we will participate meaningfully in community. It is shaped by our lived experiences and context and is defined by our willingness to step beyond ourselves to live with magnanimity, bearing witness to God’s goodness and grace at work in the world. Character is the substance of who we are as we live in our individual design and seek to love God, love our neighbor and self. Our model of character is Jesus Christ and is defined as “actively pursuing compassion, generosity, integrity and justice.”
Wallace Servant Leadership & Character Fellowship
Students from medicine, law, pharmacy, public health and Campbell’s physician assistant program took part in this year’s Wallace Servant Leadership & Character Fellowship program, which is designed to “challenge students and faculty to accept the call to servant leadership through recognition, support and encouragement” through coursework, internships and other projects.
“Campbell has been such an awesome place for me to learn and grow as a person,” said Meaghan Nazareth, a soon-to-be Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine graduate who plans to focus on pediatrics in her upcoming residency. “In addition to learning about the importance of being a good neighbor and being a servant leader, this program has helped us figure out what it takes to be leaders without our own programs and that we’re working to serve others. It’s a big part of our professional education here.”
Initiative
Initiative is an active concept that describes the motivation to develop knowledge, skills and competencies that will prepare one for life and work. It is also where inquiry in the classroom and in life lives, and where decision making, discernment and confidence are developed. As a student cultivates initiative, there is a strong chance they will experience failure and will learn the value and importance of resilience. While initiative takes on many forms, the concepts of critical thinking, curiosity, collaboration and courageous leadership resonate within the classroom and in professional settings for Campbell students. These forms of initiative take particular expressions in the context of one’s calling and are practiced through their sense of character.
NASA Rover Competition
Campbell’s School of Engineering is among only handful of schools accepted into NASA’s 2025 human-controlled and remote-controlled rover competitions in Huntsville, Alabama.
Campbell’s team — which finished third overall in 2024 against schools from all over the world — will again field a Human Exploration Rover Team (HERT) team and will for the first time take part in the recently launched Remote-Operated Vehicular Research division, which will require students to build a rover that can be controlled remotely.
“To have Campbell accepted in both is pretty impressive,” Dean Jenna Carpenter said. “We have great faculty mentors and outstanding students who put countless hours into making these teams such a success. We are also grateful for wonderful sponsors and funders who support their efforts.”
Preserving the Pollinator Trail
Biology professor John Barlett and his students have become caretakers of the Pollinator Trail, which occupies 370 acres between U.S. 421 and the Cape Fear River, next to the Keith Hills community and golf course.
“It’s a wonderful teaching space,” says Bartlett, a former research scientist for the USDA Forest Service. “I’m a huge proponent of learning by experience, and for much of what I teach in the classroom, you have to get out here to see it to really understand what you’re learning. I’ve had students from larger cities who’ve never seen areas like this — they’d never stepped off an asphalt path before and were terrified of being out in nature. But after a few weeks, they own the space. They fall in love with it.”
Calling
The concept of calling represents a universal invitation to all God’s people to participate in Christ’s redemptive work in the world. While calling is dynamic and may change, our participation in that calling provides an opportunity for us to contribute to God’s goodness in the world in ways unique to who we are. The questions of “who am I, and who am I becoming” that express the hallmark of calling represent a purposeful endeavor for students to consider their design and nature in how they will live faithfully in God’s story. It is in the faithful discovery of calling that character is understood more fully and amplified, and we develop our sense of moral agency.
Serving the Underserved
Three-time Campbell grad and resident doctor Sarah Lassiter is passionate about serving in a small, medically underserved town like Coats, where patients need and trust a familiar face.
“We refer to family medicine as ‘cradle-to-grave care,’” Lassiter said. “We take care of you from the moment you take your first breath until the minute you die. And that’s the draw for me. I have some patients who I see the mom, the dad, the kids and the grandparents — you become more than just a doctor in those situations. You become a part of their little family unit. If you trust your doctor, you’re more apt to listen to their advice, [or] to tell them your problems — no matter how personal — so they can treat you better and more holistically. I think that’s what Campbell University had in mind when they started the med school.”