Linda Woodle Campbell ’92, who’s been Mayor of Norwood, N.C. since 2020, majored in Criminal Justice at Pfeiffer College with the goal of becoming a state trooper. She scuttled that plan but ended up helping people in a variety of other ways, drawing on what she calls her “heart of a social worker.” 

Campbell had good reason to rethink her initial career aspirations: During her final semester at Pfeiffer, she was robbed at gunpoint while working part-time at a convenience store.

“I knew that robbery happened for a reason because from that point on, I didn’t want anything to do with guns and law enforcement,” she said. “I was traumatized and unsure about what to do next.”

Dr. Anne Byrd, a professor emerita of sociology at Pfeiffer, became a source of comfort and direction for Campbell, who made sociology an additional major before graduating. Today, Campbell’s ties to Pfeiffer are stronger than ever: Her daughter Adison is a senior at Pfeiffer who majors in Environmental Science and plays multiple positions as a frequent starter for the softball team.

After graduating from Pfeiffer, Campbell worked at the Stanly County Department of Social Services for 17 years. She now thinks her employment there was a logical next step following college: “I always enjoyed my sociology and psychology classes in the Criminal Justice program, so my job at DSS wasn’t by chance. I grew up in a good home and didn’t even know what DSS was about until I began working there. I was oblivious to kids being abused or neglected by their parents. I learned very quickly that many kids in the world are not as fortunate as I have been.”

Campbell’s roles at DSS were varied, from performing typical social work duties to managing daycare and emergency services. The more successful she became at the agency, the more she was asked to do. But, when a feeling of burnout set in, she concluded she should walk away. In doing so, she also reflected on new ways to serve people. “Eventually, I came to see that politics was a way that I could speak for people, represent people, and serve people.”

In 2012, after working as a substitute teacher at South Stanly Middle School, Campbell ran successfully for a seat on Norwood’s Town Council. She served for six years, becoming Mayor Pro Tem in her last two. In 2018, she ran unsuccessfully for Mayor, but was later elected to that office in 2020. Since 2018, Campbell has also worked as a full-time licensed teacher of social studies and English Language Arts at South Stanly.

Campbell’s current four-year term as Mayor ends in 2024. Under Norwood’s recently revamped charter, she is now one of five voting members on its five-member Town Council. She likes that arrangement because it enables her to express her opinions at council meetings and have a say when it comes time to vote. She often capitalizes on skills in public speaking that she developed at Pfeiffer. The idea of addressing groups once filled her with such dread that she would feel ill; “now, I feel like it’s part of my job as a teacher and as Mayor,” she said.

Campbell isn’t one to micromanage as Mayor, preferring to keep up with town business via email and only occasionally popping into Norwood’s town offices. “That way, I stay out of the way of town employees and let them do the job they’re paid to do,” she said.

As Campbell looks back on her time as Mayor Pro Tem and as Mayor, she is quite happy with where Norwood is headed. She speaks glowingly of at least five new businesses that have set up shop in the town recently, along with a farmer’s market. Norwood has also earmarked $150,000 for various beautification measures, and the town has seen a boom in residential development that has broadened the tax base significantly.

“I love meeting people and sharing our vision,” she said. And, with the heart of a social worker, she continues to be an advocate and a servant for the people she represents.