West, J. Cameron

President Emeritus J. Cameron West served as the 14th President of Huntingdon College for over two decades, from June 1, 2003 – June 30, 2024.  The Board of Trustees recognized his transformational presidency during its May 2024 meeting by naming him President Emeritus and extending “our deepest gratitude to Dr. West and his wife, Elizabeth, for their extraordinary work to create a thriving Huntingdon College.”

The Board of Trustees also appointed President Emeritus West as Senior Advisor for United Methodist Polity, during Academic Year 2024-2025, as the College continues its missional leadership to the denomination during this time of transition and renewal.

President Emeritus West has served as an Ordained Elder of the United Methodist Church since 1979 and as a member of the Alabama – West Florida Conference since 2003.  In 2013 and 2024, he received the Francis Asbury Award from the Alabama – West Florida Conference in recognition of excellence in higher education leadership.  He is an Emeritus Member of the Duke Divinity School Board of Visitors and served on the University Senate of the United Methodist Church from 2013 – 2016.  While serving as a local church pastor in his native North Carolina, he led the North Carolina Conference Board of Worship from 1980 – 1984 and served as the Bishop’s Ecumenical Officer in the Western North Carolina Conference from 1996 – 1999.

President Emeritus West has also been a national and regional leader in higher education.  He has served on the Executive Committee of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, twice as Chair of the Alabama Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, and as Chair of the Presidents Council of the USA South Athletic Conference. He was an architect of the newest athletic conference in NCAA Division 3, the Collegiate Conference of the South, which he served as a member of the Executive Committee.

At Huntingdon’s Commencement Exercises in May 2007, the Board of Trustees awarded West the Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, citing “the remarkable turnaround in enrollment, donor support, and United Methodist Church support witnessed during the past four years at the College.”

President Emeritus and Mrs. West live on the Huntingdon Campus in The Delchamps Residence, where he also maintains his office.

Speeches and Sermons

• Presidential Inaugural Address, April 4, 2004
• Remarks to Huntingdon College Board of Trustees at the Launch of the Huntingdon Tomorrow Campaign, May 12, 2011: “So Great a Cloud of Witnesses“
• Announcement of the Joyce and Truman Hobbs Honors Program, June 20, 2013, Remarks by President West
• 2014 Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference, June 1, 2014: “Christianity is a Full Time Job“
• 2014 Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference Service of Ordination, June 2, 2014: “Are You Out of Your Mind?“
• 2014 Western North Carolina Annual Conference, Opening Worship Service of Holy Communion, June 19, 2014: “We May Be a Little Crazy, But Here We Are Again“
• 2014 Western North Carolina Annual Conference, June 20, 2014: “Jesus, the Big Questions, and United Methodist Higher Education: He Died to Take Away Our Sins. Not Our Minds.”
• Remarks to the Alabama-West Florida Conference, Bishop Graves, June 2019
• “Witnesses,” delivered on the occasion of the Dedication of the Wanda A. Howard ’81 Black Student Union Center, October 2020
• 2022 Commencement Address
• “Ordinand to the Invisible,” A Sermon for the Service of Ordination and Commissioning, Alabama-West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church, June 12, 2023
• “Reclaiming the Mission”, an interview as part of the “Office Hours” podcast series with Dr. John N. Gardner of the John Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education, aired June 20, 2023
• A Report to the Board of Trustees – Spring Board of Trustees, May 19, 2023, “Huntingdon College and the United Methodist Church 2023” (pdf)
• Remarks at the Board of Trustees Plenary Session, Tuesday, May 21, 2024, Regarding Presidential Transition (pdf)
• Valedictory Credo on the Purpose of United Methodist Baccalaureate Higher Education, June 9, 2024 (pdf)
• Address to Alabama – West Florida Annual Conference, June 17, 2024 (pdf)

Awards

Introduction of Francis Asbury Award – President J. Cameron West, Huntingdon College

In 21 years as the President of Huntingdon College, the Reverend J. Cameron West has led the College to thrive, even against major trends in higher education. While many colleges experience sharp enrollment declines, enrollment at Huntingdon College is 50 percent higher today than when President West took the reins in 2003. When the rush in higher education was to provide more and more distance learning opportunities, the College doubled down on the residential college experience, leading to student success as well as an expanded campus footprint in the Cloverdale neighborhood.

Perhaps most notably, President West bucked higher education trends as he continually reaffirmed the College’s relationship with the United Methodist Church, especially the Alabama-West Florida and North Alabama Annual Conferences.

During the presidential search in 2003, West, then a Vice President and Dean at Brevard College, met with members of the search committee from the College’s Board of Trustees. During the interview, the question was asked, “What can the Annual Conference do for the College?” President West, , turned the question around asking, “With all due respect, what can the College do for the Annual Conference?”

Bishop Lawson Bryan, who was a member of that search committee says, “Looking back now over twenty years ago, we see that his earliest response revealed his heart for serving Christ by leading the College to be a servant of the greater work of the Annual Conference. I particularly celebrate the robust religion department he has developed. And the emphasis on helping students discover their ‘calling’ in life. And of course, in the process, he saved a United Methodist college — pretty good accomplishment for a United Methodist preacher!”

President West has shown his commitment to relationship with the Church through investment in curriculum that emphasizes religious teaching and helping every student, no matter the religious background, to find their life purpose and calling. The commitment extends far beyond the curriculum as the College boasts perhaps the best Religion Department faculty among its peers and an ordained elder as the Chaplain of the College.

Bishop Will Willimon says, “In the time that Cam West has led Huntingdon, he has made this dear college a model of how Christian higher education ought to be done. There’s no other college in Methodism that has as strong, vibrant, and meaningful relationship with the church as Huntingdon. Cam’s primary vocation has always been as a pastor and preacher. He has demonstrated what a keen sense of Christian vocation can do to empower someone to transform an institution for the good of all.”

During his 21 years at Huntingdon, President West has stewarded the role of the Board of Trustees as a way to keep the College closely connected to the church. That has led to fruitful and helpful to episcopal leadership of both the Alabama-West Florida and North Alabama Annual Conferences. “Congratulations to President Cam West,” says Bishop Paul Leeland. “Cam has exhibited an unusual contribution to higher education and has served as an outstanding President, with the rare ability to guide the college in reclaiming its mission, vision, and values.  He has indeed been a turn around President, changing the culture and vitality of Huntingdon College to becoming a sustainable model for all institutions of higher education.”

Growing up on the campus of Pfeiffer College, a United Methodist-related liberal arts college, Cam West was born for this role and for this important juncture in the life of Huntingdon College. Bishop Ken Carter says, “President Cam West came to Huntingdon College at a providential time in his own life and in the school’s history. He has led Huntingdon to model the fullness of what a church-related college’s vocation can be. As a fellow clergy, a colleague, a Huntingdon College parent and a close friend, I give thanks to God for President West’s service and leadership.”

With all of the institutional success, President West has always been interested in helping young adults thoughtfully consider their place in this world. In his inaugural address, President West echoed the Huntingdon motto when he said, “Wisdom applied practically through a life of service is the ethical heart of the Christian life and the ethical heart of responsibly informed American citizenship.” Over 21 years, thousands of students who walked the halls of Huntingdon College are impacting West Florida, Alabama, the United States, and the United Methodist Church because of President West’s remarkable leadership.

The Francis Asbury Award recognizes United Methodist individuals who have made a significant contribution to fostering United Methodist ministries in higher education. The 2024 Francis Asbury Award is presented, for the second time, to President J. Cameron West of Huntingdon College.