RAINSVILLE, ALA. – Northeast Alabama Community College announced that President Dr. David Campbell was the Honoree of the Year at last week’s 2024 Northeast Alabama Community College Foundation Board Holiday Gala.
The Holiday Gala is NACC’s largest annual fundraiser, bringing together staff, patrons, and Foundation Board Members to celebrate and support the college’s mission. Proceeds from the Gala contribute to the NACC Foundation, which provides scholarships for students and supports various college initiatives, making it a cornerstone event for fostering educational opportunities.
NACC stated that Dr. Campbell was so honored to have been chosen this year. “It was such an honor for the NACC Foundation Board of Directors to recognize me for my career at Northeast,” said Dr. Campbell. “There is no better feeling than to be appreciated by your friends, colleagues, and the community, and to be introduced by my son Jeremy was just icing on the cake! To reach an even broader audience with my appreciation, here are my written comments that I presented at the Gala. They were made from the heart, and I hope you enjoy them
I can’t thank you enough what an honor this is to me. It is such a great feeling to have my family, my Northeast family, and all my community of friends here this evening. That in itself is a perfect occasion for me without even being recognized for anything. And wow! Can you believe these decorations and this facility! This is a late 1960s gym redone, folks! Unbelievable. Mrs. Heather Smith, her staff, and the Foundation Board picked a New York City Christmas theme, knowing how much our family and I love being there at Christmas time. This is just perfect. Last year at this time we were attending The Tonight Show. But for sure, we don’t need to be in New York City this year. I will add that we do hope to have in the next few years a new facility made just to accommodate these events. (Keep your fingers crossed!)
I will say that it has been my pleasure to serve as the president of Northeast Alabama Community College. I will have to give my age away and say that I did not have the opportunity to attend Northeast – it was not yet in existence when I graduated from high school back in the 1800s. Northeast actually opened in 1965, a few years after I finished high school. I did get to counting, though, and I have been here at the college, in some capacity, for 48 of the college’s 59 years of existence. I started out as a Saturday adjunct instructor at a young 31 years old, which I would now describe as a kid.
These years have had wonderful opportunities that I never would have had without being here at Northeast and serving as President going on 24 years. I still have such fond memories as a teacher here and cherish so many great friendships and memories I have with students. Becoming president of Northeast in the community that I was born and raised in has made it even more special.
I have worked with so many talented, dedicated, and special people here at Northeast through the years, and whatever we have accomplished, we have done it all together. So many of those people are here in the audience tonight. And we have a current staff that is so talented. In fact, our Chancellor uses us as the model for the system in being so community-involved.
I especially thank my wife Carole and son Jeremy for all their support. Oddly enough, just a few days ago, we were back where things had started for us – in Austin, Texas. I was attending a conference there. Jeremy, who I am proud to say was the 2018 Foundation Alumnus of the Year honoree, now lives in Austin.
I was attending the University of Texas and working on my doctoral degree there when my career turned to education. I had been in an interdisciplinary program at the time, planning to go into a writing field. But life can change on a dime, as they say. One of my fellow students got a Fulbright Scholarship, and he was teaching a course on the American South. I was the only full-fledged Southerner in the program, so I was asked to take his place to teach it. I fit the typecasting, I suppose!
Now about everybody in my family was a teacher – my mother, sister, Carole, my cousins, my aunt, so many others. But I had not thought about teaching before. I was willing, though, and took over the course. I wound up loving the teaching process and the students. That was the beginning of my education career. You often hear it said that you never know what direction your life is going to take – my venture into education is a good example. It has been such a fulfilling and rewarding journey, and all you people out there, especially our students, you just never know where life will take you.
I won’t bore you with a lot of life lessons. But I will leave you with one. As President of Northeast I have strived to make the college the best it could possibly be and make Northeast as good or better than any in the state and nation. I was never one to lack ambition. When I first started out as president, I felt that some people in our region had internalized some of the negative stereotypes about Appalachia and the South. I wanted to show that we have the capability, will, determination, intelligence, and ingenuity to do anything anyone in America can do.
I hope this is validated by some of the recognition Northeast has gotten in recent years. The Aspen Institute has named Northeast a top American community college six times. That is out of some 1,200 community colleges. A number of ranking services have named Northeast the top community college in Alabama on numerous occasions. We recently finished our SACSCOC reaccreditation with no findings – a perfect score! Our Northeast people did this, and those of you who are here, please stand up and get a round of applause.
Without sounding vain or boastful, I will say that I never lacked confidence about what myself or our people can do. I like that popular phrase, “Bring it on!” Along the way, I hope some of our work has made you more aware of the great things in you as well.
Now, before I declare myself for sainthood, let me say that I know our people here at Northeast can find me a little difficult at times. In fact, my former administrative assistant, Pat Wildman, thought it was a great idea to make a Top 10 list of “Ways to Get Along with Dr. Campbell.” These are some of the things Pat suggested:
- Don’t complain about having too much work to do. He will not be sympathetic and will only give you more work to do.
- Don’t be negative. He is very impatient with negativity. Instead, say, ‘Yes, we can do that! We will get it done.’ Then, figure out a way to do it without explaining all the details to him. He doesn’t want to hear those!
- It’s not smart to tell him, “You told me not to do anything about that,” even if it is true. Just say, “I misunderstood what you wanted me to do, but now that I know, I will get it done.”
- Know when to stop explaining. He will think anything you say, no matter how logical, is an excuse for not getting something done!
I am sure many of you, especially Carole, can confirm many of these traits!
Thank you so much for honoring me on this occasion. Thanks so much to our Foundation board. I especially thank Senator Steve Livingston and Representative Mike Kirkland who are with us tonight. Their support has been so vital to the success of the college, as has other of our current and previous legislators. Mr. Dus Rogers from the Alabama Community College System Board of Trustees is with us tonight. Thank you, Dus, for what you do for us and community college education in Alabama.
Special thanks to our Foundation Development Director, Mrs. Heather Smith. Heather does a fabulous job at anything she undertakes. And much thanks to her assistants in this, the ones who put this event all together – Rachael Graham, Julise Clement, Jarrod Blackwell, Stacy Morris, and Sara Markham and our music students, Andrea Okwu and our Presidential Hosts, and our tireless maintenance crew.
I will mention Jarrod Blackwell did the lighting for us, including the sign on our front. Great job, Jarrod and everyone! There are so many people here I would like to recognize. I would be remiss if I didn’t recognize Mrs. Susan Webb. She organized our very first Foundation event back in 2001 or 2002. Chip Falk is also with us tonight. Chip is the husband of our late friend and colleague Patricia Falk.
If you have the time, drive by our new buildings on campus – the women’s softball stadium and the Workforce Skills Training Center. We left the lights on for you to see while driving by. There is more to come at Northeast. We are just getting started!
Again, I am just so glad that I have had the opportunity to be your President at Northeast Alabama Community College and do some good things for our people. This has made such a wonderful life for me. Thank you.
-Dr. David Campbell, President
