Campbell University president Norman Wiggins retires

The News & Observer ^ | May 30, 2003 | Barbara Barrett

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Friday, May 30, 2003 12:00AM EDT

Campbell president retires Wiggins reshaped small rural school into noted university

By TIM SIMMONS AND BARBARA BARRETT, Staff Writers

BUIES CREEK -- Norman A. Wiggins retired Thursday from his post as president of Campbell University, 36 years after taking over a small, private college that he turned into one of the best-known Baptist schools in the nation. The university trustees announced Wiggins' retirement and the selection of longtime administrator Jerry M. Wallace as the school's next president.

Under Wiggins, Campbell was transformed from a rural school struggling under debt to a Baptist powerhouse with five professional schools that has graduated some of the state's better-known lawyers, politicians, educators and pastors.

"When he came, it was just a little school in a little town, and he has led it to become a university in the truest sense," said R.G. Puckett, a senior professor of journalism at Campbell and former editor of The Biblical Recorder, the weekly journal of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. "What he has done in 36 years is absolutely nothing short of a miracle."

The university announced this month that Wiggins, 79, the third president in its 116-year history, was recuperating from recent illness. Wiggins spent a week at Wake Forest University's Baptist Hospital shortly after the school's commencement May 12. School officials at the time said Wiggins was dehydrated and had been told by doctors to rest.

Wiggins took a short leave from his post two years ago after he was diagnosed and treated for cancer. Wallace said he did not know whether Wiggins' current health problems were related to the lymphoma. He said Wiggins would assume the title of chancellor after returning from a sabbatical that could last as long as a year.

Wallace came to Campbell in 1970 as an adjunct professor of sociology and became one of Wiggins' closest associates over the years.

Wallace served as provost and vice president of academic affairs from 1984 to 2001 before taking a job as a special assistant to the president for two years and teaching in the university's divinity school.

"I expected to serve the remainder of my time at Campbell University in the divinity school, but that's not how things have worked out," Wallace, 68, said in an interview. "I will certainly remain in close contact with Dr. Wiggins."

Among those who hold degrees from Campbell are U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge, a Democrat from nearby Lillington; Margaret P. Currin of Raleigh, a former U.S. attorney and president of the National Association of Former United States Attorneys; Wake District Attorney Colon Willoughby; and Durham school Superintendent Ann Denlinger.

Wiggins is close friends with former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms. Helms delivered his first public address after leaving the Senate to about 775 graduates at Campbell's May commencement ceremony.

Over the years, graduates of the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law have become known for posting near-perfect passing rates on the State Bar Exam, frequently outscoring the state's more established law schools. Wiggins also established business, education, pharmacy and divinity schools during his tenure.

Currin, who is an associate dean at the university's law school, was a member of Campbell's charter law class in 1976. Wiggins taught her criminal law.

She recalled the former Marine as a commanding presence, a tough teacher who assumed that if he mentioned a case by name in class, his students would head to the law library to look up the details and take notes.

"I can see him standing up there behind the podium right now," Currin said.

Wiggins also maintained a commanding presence outside the classroom. In rural Harnett County, where the university is located, he was known for his autocratic style of leadership and his iron-clad conservative rules.

The campus attracted attention over the years, for example, for its strong ROTC program during the height of antiwar sentiment in the 1970s, its prohibition of alcohol on campus and off, and its prohibition of sex among unmarried students and its rules against "extensive entanglement" among those who were dating.

"When Norman Wiggins walks into a room, you know he's there," Puckett said. "He's very likable, a good conversationalist -- but you also have the feeling, the conversation is going where he wants it to go."

Wiggins built strong ties with Southern Baptists during his tenure, serving as president of the Baptist State Convention for two years. Puckett said that although Wiggins was conservative socially, economically, politically and religiously, he embraced a Baptist view that was in line with mainstream North Carolinians.

"He was just on course to do what he could for the kingdom and the university," Puckett said. "To him, they were one and the same."

Wiggins' role as chancellor won't be defined until he returns from sabbatical, Wallace said. But the trustees vote makes it clear that the former president will not return to day-to-day operations of the school.

"I knew this day would come eventually, and it's going to be a tall order for trustees," said James Royston, executive director and treasurer of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. "He knows of our love and support and prayers for him. He's just an outstanding man."

Staff writer Barbara Barrett can be reached at 829-4870 or bbarrett@newsobserver.com.

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