PA student Andrita Stokes and Governor Pat McCrory at the dedication of Campbell University’s Leon Levine Hall of Medical Sciences.
BUIES CREEK —A crowd of more than 700 people gathered on Thursday, Sept. 19, to celebrate the dedication of Campbell University’s new Leon Levine Hall of Medical Sciences. The building houses the university’s School of Osteopathic Medicine and physician assistant program. Thursday’s crowd included university trustees and committee members, donors, local and state elected officials, and representatives from the North Carolina Academy of Physician Assistants and the North Carolina Medical Society.
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory spoke before the ceremonial cutting of the ribbon about the importance of Campbell’s health sciences initiative to the state in terms of both health care and the economy.
In addition to greetings and speeches from several other elected officials and representatives of both the university and medical industry, two students took the stage to represent the charter physician assistant class of 2013 and the School of Osteopathic Medicine class of 2017. PA student Andrita Stokes shared a personal story of the many rejection letters she received before her acceptance into the PA program at Campbell.
“It wasn’t because of my capabilities or because I couldn’t meet the demands of the rigorous program, but it was because it took a school like Campbell University to recognize and celebrate the total person,” said Stokes, “… it [Campbell] was where my dream came to fruition. This was where my journey began. It was within these walls that I was pushed to the limit to be and do my best and be the best physician assistant that I can be.”
The ribbon-cutting ceremony came 22 months after the groundbreaking ceremony on what was then a bare pasture where Levine Hall now stands. In December, Campbell will graduate its first class of nearly 40 physician assistants, and the 162-member charter class of the School of Osteopathic Medicine is scheduled to graduate in May 2017.
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