As we start a new semester, we welcome many new faces. One of these faces is Reverend Dr. David Joyce, the new president of Averett University. He has served in various roles throughout his career at schools including Elon University, Pfeiffer University, Vanderbilt Divinity School, Otterbein University and most recently as president of Brevard College. Joyce has 27 years experience as a college president.
Averett brought Joyce out of retirement in order to help the university with some recent challenges that the school has been facing.
“A lot of schools right now are challenged, all private schools. We lost 40 schools last year of this nature. And I just don’t want to see another one go down. I want to do the best I can to be helpful, and I think we have a good path forward. We’ve got some challenges, but every private school has challenges. We just got to figure them out and take care of them,” Joyce said.
Joyce wants to come in and help the university not only within our campus but outside of it as well. The community is very important to him, and he wants the university to be a big part of it as well.
“We don’t have to worry about things way out there. We need to worry about things close by that make this institution and this community come together and stand tall,” Joyce explained.
Joyce has not only been able to live in various states because of his job, but also because of his stepfather’s occupation. Being a “Marine brat” has allowed Joyce to live on the coast and move around a lot. A few states that Dr. Joyce has been a resident of include Hawaii, California, South Carolina, North Carolina, Connecticut, Ohio, Wisconsin, Tennessee, and now Virginia.
Joyce’s favorite place to live was in the mountains of North Caroline where he and his wife enjoyed their vast outdoor hobbies. The couple loves mountain biking, camping, skiing, and even white-water rafting. Along with all their outdoor activities, that is no shortage of love for North Carolina from Joyce.
Joyce has had the opportunity to receive many awards over the years. One of his favorites has been an exclusive award provided by the governor of North Carolina.
“It would have to be the Order of the Long Leaf Pine by Governor Cooper. It’s the highest award you can get as a normal citizen. I’m very proud of that. I’m humbled by it, and I appreciate the recognition.” Joyce said.
Community has always been important to Joyce wherever he lives. It helps bring hope and life into a university along with its students. Joyce has many high hopes during his time as president at Averett.
“The biggest hopes would be to get everything moving in a good direction so that Averett can stay afloat. It would be awful to see this one fade away, and I don’t think it will. It shouldn’t. I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Joyce said.
With Joyce having worked at so many different institutions there is always a favorite spot in the city. When asked about Danville, he explained that the University was his favorite spot by far.
“I’ve never gone to a school as an employee that I haven’t fallen in love with,” Joyce explained.
To say the least, many people are excited about Joyce being at Averett. With all his experience and hopes for the future, many of us are starting to see the light at the end of this dark tunnel.
“We are looking forward to being a part of the community, getting to know the students, faculty and staff,” Joyce said.
