Campbell University’s Winter Commencement will be held at 10 a.m. on Dec. 14 in the John W. Pope Jr. Convocation Center. Graduates from all eight schools and colleges who earned associate, bachelor, master or doctorate degrees between August and December are set to walk the stage to close out Campbell’s 137th year.
Below are some of the details about this year’s Winter Commencement. For more information regarding this week’s and future graduation ceremonies at Campbell, visit https://www.campbell.edu/registrar/graduation/.
THE CEREMONY
Roughly 400 degrees will be handed out at this year’s ceremony. Last December, Campbell awarded 16 associate, 241 bachelor, 59 master and 87 doctorate degrees, including 19 for the University’s first Doctor of Health Sciences class.
The invocation will be delivered by Collin Reed, assistant rector for pastoral care at St. Stephen’s Anglican Church in Sewickley, Pennsylvania; and the benediction by Daniel W. Creswell II, worship pastor for North Wake Church in Wake Forest, North Carolina.
Chairman of the Board of Trustees and 1994 graduate Gene Lewis III will offer greetings to the Class of 2024. Lewis is the senior vice president and marketing director of Trust and Fiduciary Services for First Citizens Bank in Raleigh. Lewis earned his degree in Trust Management from Campbell and is a graduate of the National Graduate Trust School at Northwestern University.
He is also a trustee at Harnett Health Systems and serves on the executive board of Campbell’s Trust Education Foundation. He is also leading the search for the University’s sixth president, as this ceremony will mark the final Winter Commencement for President J. Bradley Creed, who announced his retirement this year, to take effect in summer of 2025.
Creed’s first graduation ceremony was the 2015 Winter Commencement. There, he challenged graduates to “live a life of service” to make the world a better place. “When you do this,” he said in 2015 on the same date at this year’s ceremony, “you truly make a difference. Now and forever more.”
This year’s Winter Commencement will be open to the public (no tickets required) and will be livestreamed at https://livestream.com/accounts/3736866.
SULLIVAN AWARD
Campbell will honor 1970 Campbell graduate Guilford “Gil” Bass with the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award for his continued service to his alma mater and his community.
Bass was for decades the manager and president of Holden Beach Fishing Pier Inc. (before he sold the pier to the town in 2022) and served in several leadership roles in his community, from mayor to vice president of both the Brunswick Islands Chamber of Commerce and the Holden Beach Homeowners Association. He is the son-in-law of the late Lonnie Small, who served as vice president and treasurer for Campbell University for over 40 years and built the Holden Beach pier in 1959. Bass took over management of the pier in the 1980s, watching generations of families enjoy the town’s historic landmark for over three decades.
Bass’ dedication to service extended well beyond his hometown. A 1970 graduate of then Campbell College, Bass has shown the same love and commitment to his alma mater over the years. He served three terms on the Campbell University Board of Trustees (2004-07, 2009-12 and 2014-17) and became a Lifetime Trustee in 2019. He and his wife, Janet Small Bass, saw two children attend Campbell University — son Guilford Wilson (Wil) Bass Jr. (a 1991 graduate) and daughter Shannon Bass.
In 2023, Wil and his wife Stephanie dedicated a gift to the Fund for Campbell in his parents’ honor, stating: “A gift to the Fund for Campbell is an investment in Campbell’s students. Wil and Stephanie Bass knew that when they made a gift in honor of Wil’s parents, Guilford W. Bass, Sr. (’70) and Janet Small Bass (’68). Wil (’91), a legacy family member at Campbell, understands first-hand the importance of creating opportunities for future Campbell generations.”
Since 1934, the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Foundation has taken as its primary mission the inspiring of young people to lead lives of integrity, characterized by service to the community through the recognition of citizens whose lives reflect the nobility of character exemplified in the life of Algernon Sydney Sullivan. Bass reflects these qualities through a spirit of generosity and humility as well as an unwavering commitment to strengthen and care for his community.