Campbell welcomes nearly 800 new students for first day of classes

image of campbell students

View photos from Move-In Day and Saturday’s Tartan events


Nearly 800 new Campbell students took part in the first day of classes on Wednesday as the University resumed in-person learning to begin the fall semester. 

Of the 784 freshman and transfer students, 81 percent are North Carolina natives. Their arrival follows a “unique” 2021 admissions cycle as college-bound students all over the country navigated a very different college search over the past year and a half due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Dr. David Mee, Vice President for Enrollment Management. 

“Yet, these students were resilient and resolute — they completed college applications, applied for financial aid opportunities and made virtual and in-person campus visits in an effort to find the perfect fit,” Mee said. “Prospective students, their families and Campbell faculty and staff truly came together to ensure the mission of Campbell would continue. A new chapter in our history is being written, and I look forward to seeing what this special group of new Camels will accomplish.”

The campus community took part in the annual Welcome Week Street Fair on Tuesday, and event that was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic. Photo by Billy Liggett.

Popular majors for incoming students include business, biology, exercise science, history/political science/criminal justice, nursing and engineering. And while the overwhelming majority of new students hail from North Carolina, states like Virginia, Florida, South Carolina, Pennsylvania and Maryland were also well represented in the Class of 2025. 

The fall semester at Campbell begins with in-person classes and the return crowds at athletic events, though a mask mandate remains in place indoors and in areas where social distancing is difficult. While Campbell has not required students, faculty or staff to be vaccinated, all were required to show proof of vaccination or proof to have tested negative for COVID-19 within 48 hours of returning to campus. Vaccinations and rapid-result COVID tests are available to the campus community. 

The University’s Campus Health website tracks the vaccination status of students, faculty and staff and provides a twice-a-week update on active COVID-19 cases among on-campus and off-campus students and faculty and staff. 

Access the Campus Health COVID-19 page here.

— photo by Bennett Scarborough