Billy Campbell ’78 on Comfort Zones, Faith, and Doing the Griddy

On April 3rd, CCES Middle School students shuffled into the Chapel of the Good Shepherd for an assembly. As is often the case on a Monday morning, their expressions ranged from melancholy to indignation as memories of the weekend were already fading. And the prospect of a speaker, Billy Campbell ’78, seemed to be doing little to raise their adolescent spirits. Certainly no one expected that within minutes, this esteemed guest would be doing the Griddy with classmates Tito Gray ’29, Cross Paddock ’30, and Jacob Abrams ’27. 

For those unfamiliar, Wikipedia defines the Griddy as “a dance move in which a person alternatingly taps their heels, either in place or while walking, while swinging their arms back and forth.” It is a celebratory groove performed in end zones across the country, a fitting choice for Mr. Campbell who, with his teammates, brought home the first Cavalier football state championship in 1977. 

In town for his 45th high school reunion, Mr. Campbell was kind enough to spend the day on the Cavalier campus, starting off at a 7:45 a.m. breakfast with the varsity football players. The Middle School assembly was his second stop on the tour with an Upper School assembly and a lunch with Junior Leadership Academy to follow. 

As the pews erupted in applause, one thing was clear -- Mr. Campbell now had his audience’s full attention. “So,” he said, waiting for the remaining giggles to quiet. “You might be asking yourselves ‘why would a 63-year-old man be trying to do the Griddy -- something I’ve never done before -- in front of hundreds of you and risk complete embarrassment?’” 

Part of the reason, he explained, was simply that he wanted to. At CCES, Mr. Campbell had played football, basketball, and baseball. He was captain of the football and baseball teams his senior year and captain of the basketball team in junior and senior year. He was Vice President of the student body and a Cavalier Express Sports Editor. “But I never got to dance in front of everyone,” he said. “And I always admired my talented classmates who could sing and dance like Broadway performers.” 

But beyond realizing a dream, Mr. Campbell used the performance as a metaphor for larger themes like pushing beyond your comfort zone, putting your “hand up,” and taking advantage of opportunities. 

Mr. Campbell has certainly walked this walk, and it has resulted in a life full of incredible experiences as well as successes. After CCES, he attended Harvard, where he played basketball. He then went on to Harvard Business School, where, during his second year, the CEO of ABC television came to speak to his marketing class. “After class was over, everyone left, but I noticed he was still sitting there. I walked over, thanked him, and introduced myself. We talked for about ten minutes. By the end, he had invited me to have lunch with him in New York City, and during our lunch, he offered me a job in the programming department at ABC Television in Los Angeles.”

Despite having zero knowledge or experience in the world of television, Mr. Campbell saw it as an opportunity. “I put my hand up and said, ‘I’ll give it my best shot.’ And it led to a most wonderful and exciting career.”

He ended up working in Los Angeles for 20 years on shows such as ER, Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond, and MacGyver. He then moved to Washington, DC to run the Discovery Network and had thirteen channels to manage including Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, and the Travel Channel. 

“I had the best experiences,” he said. “I took my mom and my sister to Tanzania and hiked in the mountains with Jane Goodall. I joined film crews in Botswana where we used new technologies that allowed us to film animals from miles away without disturbing their natural habitats and brought that footage into homes with the award-winning series Planet Earth.” 

He urged students to be curious, to travel, to work hard, and, especially when things don’t look so good, to never give up. “I want to share a personal experience with you,” he said. “And as you hear my story, I hope that you will think about your own life – dealing with the unexpected, the nature of miracles, but mostly about God’s love.

“For the next few minutes, I’d like for you to forget that you are sitting here with your classmates and friends in the comfort of this beautiful chapel, and join me on US Airways flight 1549 leaving New York’s LaGuardia Airport and bound for Charlotte, North Carolina.” 

US Airways flight 1549. While it was doubtful that these students had made the connection, this was the flight that, shortly after take-off,  lost all engine power when it was struck by a flock of geese. This was the flight, piloted by Chelsea “Sully” Sullenberger,  that made an emergency landing in the middle of the Hudson River on a freezing day in January 2009. 

The chapel was silent as Mr. Campbell relayed the story. He told of the sound of the explosion, the sight of flames pouring from the engine, the smell of jet fuel, and ultimately the feeling he had when he heard three horrifying words – brace for impact. “Now I would like to ask each of you to do something a bit uncomfortable. Pretend that you have just been told that in 59 seconds you are going to crash into the Hudson River. And based on aviation history it is probably your last minute on earth. I’ll let you ponder your own life for these next few seconds.”

While it was just a few seconds, it was a powerful moment – and not just because it held within it a chapel full of quiet and riveted Middle Schoolers. One had to wonder what was going through their young minds. 

Mr. Campbell continued. He described the sensation of seeing beautiful moments from his life – “like they were scenes on a movie screen.” He described the impact, the 35-degree water rising to his chin, the exit doors mobbed with terrified passengers. He described how, in the midst of chaos, he felt fully at peace if God was calling him home and felt gratitude for the life he was given.   

“Every day is a miracle,” he said. “We never know where life’s twists and turns will lead us. Celebrate the wonder of being alive today. Even though you’re really young, one day your life will flash before your eyes. So make it worth watching.”