Friends of Campbell River Park

07/28/2026

This is the first of four posts about Campbell University's de/reforestation website. What it says. What it means. What it is not telling you.

GREENWASHING - Post 1

Campbell University's own website admits something remarkable: the university has given the River Park "limited forest management" for decades.

Limited is an understatement. In some areas, the River Park has been treated as a dumping ground. Campbell created an improper borrow pit in one of the pollinator meadows that triggered an NC Department of Environmental Quality action. This action forced Campbell to address the problem. They also deposited two demolished dormitories (Baldwin and Kitchin) worth of brick into one of the pollinator meadows around 2018. Now, legacy dump piles of asphalt and other debris, a crumbling homestead and an unsafe, uncapped well are further evidence of this long-term institutional disregard for this property.

The primary stewardship this property has received over the past decade has come from students and faculty who volunteered their own time, at no cost to the university. And they have made it into a largely beautiful space despite Campbell's own actions.

And now Campbell's solution to decades of neglect is to call it a reforestation project.

Let's be precise about what that means. Reforestation requires deforestation first. You cannot reforest what is already a forest. What Campbell is proposing is to clear cut 200+ acres of mature, ecologically productive forest — a forest that faculty, students, search and rescue teams, ROTC, boy scouts and an entire community have used and valued for years — and replace it with a commercial loblolly pine plantation.

That is not restoration. That is not a vision for a better Campbell University. That is neglect and destruction followed by a timber sale.

What we are asking instead:

🌿 Suspend all planned clear-cutting, herbicide applications, and reforestation activities
🌿 Preserve the existing forests, meadows, wetlands, and riverfront habitats through responsible, science-based stewardship
🌿 Reopen the River Park to alumni and the greater community
🌿 Create a collaborative management model that engages faculty, students, conservation partners, and the community

This is fixable. But not after the trees are gone.

Link to CU's website in comments.

07/26/2026

New painted sign installed!
Campbell University
Doodle Pop Designs

07/26/2026

Thank you to The Carolinian Newspaper (Raleigh) for featuring the our cause to save the Campbell University River Park from a massive clear cut.

By Jheri Hardaway Staff Writer Buies Creek, NC – On a webpage dedicated to ending Campbell University’s River Park Clear-Cutting Plan, a citizen shared the following: “I remember …

07/25/2026

Can you show up for the Campbell River Park this week?

Download and print this flyer. Post it in your community on bulletin boards, in coffee shops, churches, gyms, grocery stores, or wherever people gather. No one else has your unique reach and every flyer builds awareness and adds pressure.

And pressure matters. Public opinion is currency to Campbell University, especially when it comes to donors, alumni, and prospective students and their families. The wider this spreads, the harder it is to ignore.

A few more ways to make a difference:

🌿 Request a yard sign — message us in comments or by PM
🌿 Support our signage campaign on GoFundMe — link in comments
🌿 Sign the petition — link in comments
🌿 Share this post

Thank you for standing up for the Campbell University River Park. Your voice and actions make a difference.

07/21/2026

Our research found that Campbell University 's Board of Trustees is stacked with business people, has one lone educator, and zero non-medical scientists.

It shows.

Like a corporate board managing assets for short-term return, the decision to clear cut the River Park — and potentially sell it — was made without apparent consideration of what the space means for students, for educational quality, or for the community goodwill it has generated for many years.

Did they even know it was an active classroom for ten university courses? Have any of them ever walked the trails or heard the owls hooting in the woods? With 87.5% living outside Harnett County, were they informed about what this place actually is and what it means to the people closest to it? And do they now realize Campbell is losing its reputation locally one silent day after another?

Campbell was founded to educate whole people and serve community. Its own motto is "Leading with Purpose." Should this not-for-profit institute of higher education be run like a business that happens to have a chapel?

So TRUSTEES OF CAMPBELL UNIVERSITY, if you have reservations about this plan, please speak up to protect the students - your future donors, the quality of education, and the university's reputation in the community. Ask the hard questions and demand answers. This is the time to Lead with Purpose.

Campbell needs a hero on its board right now. Will you be that person?



Links to our petition and GoFundMe for signage are in the comments below.

07/19/2026

07/18/2026

Apparently, our message is making someone uncomfortable. Some of our signs have been STOLEN recently. Perhaps some opponents don't truly support private property rights after all. Note: we have gotten permission from every single property owner.

We are not deterred. With Campbell University Campbell University Alumni Association students and their parents arriving mid-August, we want Save CU River Park signs visible across the community. We have a spot secured near campus for a large banner and we intend to use it.

Help us keep the signs up and add more. We now have a GoFundMe page and here is what your contribution covers:

🌿 $15 — one yard sign
🌿 $80 — one 3x4 banner
🌿 $180 — one 8x10 banner near campus

Every sign and banner near campus is a question that incoming students and their parents will be asking before they even get out of their cars. Thank you for helping make this happen and for standing up for the River Park.

Link to GoFundMe in comments.

07/15/2026

You have heard a lot about Campbell University's plan to clear cut the River Park. The Board of Trustees approved it. Based on our research, here is who they are:

🔍 40 members including 6 Emeriti
🔍 87.5% live outside Harnett County
🔍 Average age: 70.4. Age range 38-99. Just two members are under 50
🔍 Seven women (17.5%)
🔍 Five people of color (12.5%)

Professionally:

• Finance & Banking: 6 members (15%)
• Real Estate, Dev & Mgt: 6 members (15%)
• Medical & Healthcare: 5 members (12.5%)
• Small Business, Services & Retail: 5 members (12.5%)
• Construction & Industrial: 4 members (10%)
• Legal: 3 members (7.5%)
• Ministry: 2 members (5%)
• Lumber & Timber: 2 members (5%)
• Agriculture & Farming: 2 members (5%)
• Government: 2 members (5%)
• Education & Academia: 1 member (2.5%)
• Other: 2 members (5%)
• Scientists: 0 members (0%)

Over half are in Finance, Real Estate or Business: Finance & Banking (6) + Real Estate (6) + Construction (4) + Small Business, Services & Retail (5) = 21 members (52.5%)

Two lumber company owners.

One lone Educator.

Zero Scientists (non-Medical) including Biologists, Ecologists, Chemists, Physicists.

Two questions. Does it make sense that this is the group that approved clear cutting 200+ acres along the Cape Fear without consulting their own scientists? And more broadly, does the composition of this board make for good governance and wise decisions for a nonprofit institution of higher education or is it better suited to a corporate boardroom?



Note: Board member professional categories and other data are based on our independent research using publicly available information. We welcome any corrections. Link to data in comments.

07/14/2026

399 signatures. We need one more.

If you have been meaning to sign the petition to protect Campbell's River Park from a 200+ acre clear cut, now is the moment. Sign, share, help us charge to 500.

Campbell University, 399 people have looked at this plan and said the same thing: terrible idea.

Listen to them.

Link in bio.

07/14/2026

399 signatures.

We need one more.

https://www.change.org/p/save-campbell-university-s-river-park

If you have been meaning to sign the petition to protect Campbell University's River Park from a 200+ acre clear cut, now is the moment. Sign it, share it, and help us charge to 500.

Campbell University , 399 people and counting have looked at this plan and said the same thing: this is a terrible idea. The forest is irreplaceable. The classroom is irreplaceable. The community trust you are burning through is irreplaceable.

Listen to them.

Save Campbell University's River Park