Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx speaks at launch of Davidson College fundraising campaign

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx returned to his alma mater of Davidson College Saturday to help the liberal arts institution launch the largest fundraising campaign in its 177-year history.

Speaking to a group of donors, parents and students, the former Charlotte mayor reflected on his experience at Davidson, where he became the first African-American elected student body president.

Foxx recounted how he grew up in Charlotte’s Lincoln Heights neighborhood, saying that “you might describe it as the other side of the tracks.

“I would never have set foot on campus unless there were scholarships,” said Foxx, a 1993 graduate of Davidson. “I read John Stuart Mill and the history of Islamic civilization. It was an incredible experience. But I struggled to catch up the first year.”

A chance to visit South Africa in 1991 opened his eyes. Nelson Mandela had just been released from prison, and remnants of apartheid were still in place.

“Seeing that country taught me about my own,” Foxx said. “I had opportunities I didn’t understand.”

When he returned to Davidson College, “instead of struggling to catch up, I struggled to absorb as much as I could,” Foxx recalled. “Two-hour study sessions turned into four-hour sessions. Slowly, things got better.”

By his senior year, Foxx thought he knew what learning really meant, but he said writing a paper on race and affirmative action was the capstone of his academic experience.

Following a professor’s direction, he distilled arguments on the side of the issue with which he disagreed. Later, he said the experience helped him in problem-solving and “articulating what the other person is thinking.”

The skills he developed at Davidson honed his ability to “understand the world around me in a way I would never have done on my own,” Foxx said.

Davidson provides students with a good foundation “for what human experience has taught us,” he said. And they’re exposed to a basic sense of decency “the world needs more of.”

Foxx’s remarks followed an address by Davidson President Carol Quillen and the program “Inside Davidson,” which gave student and faculty perspectives on study projects.

Banners around campus promoted the $425 million “Game Changers” fundraising campaign that will help pay for expansions, upgrades and scholarships. The drive was announced on Friday.

Davidson, with an enrollment of 1,911, has about 20,000 living alumni, and about 60 percent consistently donate to the college annually, one of the highest percentages in the nation.

Back on campus Saturday, Tony Oakley, 63, of Raleigh said he’d been active in fundraising since graduating from Davidson in 1974.

“I wish I could do more,” he said.

Growing up on a tobacco farm in Eastern North Carolina, Oakley had never heard of Davidson until the name came up on the “G.E. College Bowl,” a popular TV quiz show.

As a student at Davidson, Oakley said he encountered people who tried to do the right thing “and made a difference in my life. I feel an obligation to come back and try to do for other people what they did for me.”

This story was originally published November 15, 2014 at 3:14 PM with the headline "Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx speaks at launch of Davidson College fundraising campaign."