Marine returns after 19 years for Dorman diploma
SEMPER FI: Campbell earns high school credit 19 years after failing government
By ASHLEI STEVENS
Published: Wednesday, September 12, 2007 | Updated: 8:38 am



Master Sgt. Jason Campbell with his mother, Lourene Campbell.

Master Sgt. Jason Campbell has dedicated his adult life to working for the government. But 19 years ago, it was the course in government Campbell failed that left him without a high school diploma. Nearing the end of his career in the Marines, the 37-year-old Spartanburg native made it a personal goal to earn his diploma from Dorman High School.

Monday night, at the Spartanburg School District 6 board meeting, Campbell had a graduation ceremony.

In uniform

Instead of a cap and gown, Campbell wore his military uniform. And his diploma had a picture of the old Dorman High School, which was on Highway 29 where the current Dorman shopping center sits. District 6 Superintendent Darryl Owings also presented Campbell with a print of the old Dorman High, a brick from the old school and an award.

"There was a void. I completed 12 years of school, and it was a loose end," Campbell said. "I knew if I didn't get it now, I'd never get it. I wanted that diploma; I didn't want anything that was an equivalent."

Back in the late 1980s, Campbell said he'd gotten used to sleeping through certain classes but still made grades good enough to pass the courses. So when it was time to take government, he thought his lackadaisical attitude would get him by.

He failed.

"I went through the graduation practice," Campbell said. "It was kind of embarrassing really."

Another blow from not earning his diploma was his commitment to join the Marines. During his junior year in 1987, he signed up, again banking on the fact that he'd earn his diploma.

When he didn't graduate, he was told he could not go to boot camp. So Campbell went into the work force and began a pipe-fitting job. He didn't even attend the June ceremony to see his friends in the Class of '88 earn their diplomas.

"I didn't know until it was too late," said Campbell's mother, Lourene Campbell, who has been employed as a cafeteria worker in District 6 for the past 25 years.

Two weeks before boot camp was scheduled to start, Campbell got a surprising phone call: he was told the Marine Corps had one position for a non-high school graduate. So he was in.

During his career in the Marines, Campbell attempted to take classes to make up the government credit three separate times, but each time he was deployed.

Earlier this year, Campbell e-mailed Owings and asked him what courses he would need to complete to earn the half credit in government that he had missed.

After reviewing his military transcripts, and seeing that Campbell had passed the exit exam in the late 1980s and had taken college-level courses, Owings and the guidance staff at Dorman High School decided that he "certainly made up that half a unit of government that he missed in 1988," Dorman guidance director Kathleen Allen said.

The school checked with the state Department of Education to submit a diploma request that was granted on May 22.

Campbell returned from Iraq last month and made receiving his diploma a priority. Monday, before the board of trustees, administrators and audience members, Campbell received a standing ovation as he earned his diploma nearly two decades after leaving high school. His mother, sister, brother and sister-in-law were all there to support him.

"He's been after this diploma for 19 years, so he's excited," Lourene Campbell said. "I'm just so proud of him."

Owings said District 6 students are always reminded of how important a diploma is and how they can each make the country great, which is something Campbell has done through his military service. Each year, a distinguished senior earns the Spirit of the Cavalier Award at graduation, and Owings presented Campbell with that statue Monday night.

"The Cavalier represents bravery, dedication and courage, and I think Jason Campbell embodies that," Owings said. "To still desire a Dorman High School diploma is something to be commended."

Campbell and his wife, Rachel, reside in Hubert, N.C., at Camp Lejeune with their two sons, 16-year-old Blake and 11-year-old Bryn. The family could not attend Monday's ceremony because it was a school night, but they'll celebrate at Disney World later this fall.

"I'm very honored to be awarded, and it shows my boys that you have better opportunities when you have a diploma," said Campbell, who will retire in a year and already has begun a plaque and memorabilia business with his wife. "If you want something bad enough, you'll get it - even after 19 years."

Ellie