Video coverage of the dedication
Photo gallery from the ceremony
BUIES CREEK, N.C.-Campbell dedicated its newest athletic facility on Friday, officially opening the Irwin Belk Track and Clarence E. Roberts Field.
"I want to thank Dr. Belk for making this day possible," said President Jerry Wallace. "This is a beautiful day and we're so happy to be here to honor Mr. Belk and the memory of Dr. Clarence E. Roberts, a beloved dentist and a person who loved Campbell University. He wanted to make sure that some of the results from his hard work would help Campbell. We are the recipient of that, and are so glad the Roberts name will live on at Campbell University."
Remarks were heard from University President Jerry M. Wallace and Bob Barker, representing the CU Board of Trustees, as well as Director of Athletics Bob Roller, head track & field coach Norbert Elliott and senior Nick D'Auria, representing the track team.
Jane Davis, daughter of the late Dr. Clarence E. Roberts and representing the Roberts family, and Dr. Irwin Belk also took the podium before the ribbon cutting ceremony.
"Throughout my service to Campbell University there have been numerous plans for the campus, improvements and new construction, and athletics has been at the forefront of many of these improvements," said Bob Barker. "This is certainly one of them. Campbell has made great strides over the years, and we have the opportunity to offer great facilities in many areas. On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I'd like to say thank you to Mr. Belk and thank you to the Roberts family, as well as any donor who made this day possible."
"We have a first class facility. I've been to many schools, and I'm not sure there's another track that's better than ours," said head track and field coach Norbert Elliott. "To Dr. Belk, the Roberts family and all the other donors that made this possible, I want to thank you. We look forward to having great days out here going forward. This is not only the varsity track team's facility, it's Campbell's and it's Buies Creek and the surrounding community's track. This allows us another way to showcase our beautiful campus."
The Camels will host their first home track meet since 1987 tomorrow, the Irwin Belk Open.
Dr. Irwin Belk
Born into wealth on April 4, 1922, Irwin Belk did not grow up knowing special privileges. His father didn't believe in them. A self-made department store millionaire, he put Irwin and his four brothers to work at early ages and made sure they hewed to a life of hard work and church attendance. Irwin was the fourth child of William Henry and Mary Irwin Belk, but the first of the six children to be named for his mother's side of the family. He was given no middle name or initial.
Irwin took his first trip to Europe when he was thirteen and was enrolled in military boarding school later that year. There, his classmates gave him the nickname of Ike, and he found he could excel at something – middle-distance running. It became a passion that stuck with him the rest of his life and one that fueled his philanthropic desire to donate track facilities to more than thirty schools, colleges and universities and led to his becoming the largest single contributor to the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Taught to be a shrewd investor at his daddy's knee, Ike was successful and later in life proceeded to support a number of good causes, but mainly colleges and universities, explaining that his mother was a teacher and he believed in education for all.
Ike decided not to seek a commission in the military during World War II and was drafted into the Army Air Force. He entered as a private, rose to sergeant and served in counterintelligence for a heavy bomber group based in England. His job was to brief and debrief pilots and crews before and after their missions.
After the war, Ike finished his college education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on the GI Bill and then went to work full time for his father in the department store business as a $35-a-week clerk. On a blind date in Asheville arranged by his older brother, Ike met a Chicago-area girl named Carol Grotnes on Valentine's Day in 1948, and they married on September 11 of that year. Four children – two boys and two girls – resulted from that union.
Ike entered politics in 1958, believing he should serve his community and his state. His well-known family name and the integrity established by his father propelled him to the leading name on the ballot when he ran for the North Carolina House of Representatives and later for the state Senate.
Ike enjoyed his service in the state Senate and led the effort to have a fourth branch of the University of North Carolina established in his hometown of Charlotte. He convinced all but one of the fifty state senators to cosponsor the bill with him. Ike became a leader in the state's Democratic party.
A passion Ike discovered in himself was a love of sculpture, and he began to commission mascots in bronze for various colleges, universities, and other institutions. Ike also commissioned research to make sure that many of them are the largest of their kind in the world.
One of his sculptures graces the grounds of the U.S. Olympic Training Complex in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and another was dedicated to New York City by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Ike has garnered more than 20 honorary degrees and six distinguished awards from a wide array of colleges and universities, as well as service awards from any number of national and international organizations. He received an Honorary Doctorate from Campbell University in May 2011.
Dr. Irwin "Ike" Belk's generosity sponsored the Irwin Belk Track and the Fighting Camel sculpture at Campbell University.
Clarence E. Roberts
(1916-2009)
Dr. Clarence E. Roberts of Dunn, North Carolina was a long-time friend to Campbell University.
Born on April 4, 1916 in Harnett County, Dr. Roberts was the son of the late Harry Clay and Edna Thomas Roberts. He passed away on November 24, 2009. He was preceded in death by his wife, Vivian Ann Roberts, who he married in 1953.
Dr. Roberts was a 1939 graduate of Wake Forest College and a 1942 graduate of Atlanta Southern Dental College of Emory University. He served in the U.S. Army from 1943 until 1946 in the 179th Field Artillery Medical Corp. He was in the D-Day invasion at Normandy and was awarded five Battle Stars.
Dr. Roberts practiced dentistry in Dunn from 1946 until 2006. He was a member of the original Board of Directors of First Federal Savings Bank in 1967. He was also a member of Divine Street United Methodist Church.
Dr. Roberts was a familiar face and friend to many at Campbell University. He established the Ann J. Roberts Divinity School Scholarship in memory of his beloved wife. In 2000, Dr. Norman Adrian Wiggins presented Dr. Roberts with the Campbell Presidential Medallion which is only awarded to individuals whose lives exemplify the Christian character, morality and commitment demonstrated by each of Campbell's presidents.
Campbell University is grateful to Dr. Roberts, his children, and grandchildren for supporting the creation of Clarence Roberts Field at the Irwin Belk Track.
Jane Davis, daughter of Clarence E. Roberts, and her husband, Paul, represented the Roberts family at dedication ceremonies on April 27, 2012.
