Livingstone College President Dr. Anthony J. Davis is celebrating a renewed lease on life after receiving a life-saving kidney transplant, months after publicly sharing his need for a donor during the college’s spring commencement ceremony. Davis’s emotional appeal resonated across the campus and beyond, sparking an outpouring of support that ultimately led to a successful transplant and a powerful story of faith, community, and hope.
Before receiving this miracle transplant, Dr. Davis battled stage 5 kidney disease, spending nearly 18 months on dialysis. On days when the illness took its toll, he relied on golf carts to navigate the campus and continue fulfilling his duties. At the time, Davis had no idea that a compassionate stranger—moved by his story—would ultimately become the answer to his prayers and change his life forever.
“How do you ask somebody to give something as vital as a body part?” he told HBCU Gameday. “It was humbling. The hardest season of my life.”
In addition to expressing gratitude to his anonymous donor, Dr. Davis also thanked HBCU Gameday for amplifying his story, crediting the platform with helping connect him to his life-saving donor. “Had you not pushed it out,” Davis said, “I wouldn’t be sitting here today on the other side of a transplant.”
In a powerful full-circle moment, Dr. Davis—the 13th president of Livingstone College—underwent his transplant surgery on November 13, which also coincided with National Day of Giving. Just one week after the procedure, his new kidney was already showing signs of normal, healthy function, marking a hopeful new chapter in his recovery and leadership journey.
Dialysis can be an intense and physically demanding process for those diagnosed with kidney disease, often bringing side effects such as fatigue, nausea, anemia, and weight gain. Dr. Davis endured all of these challenges while continuing to lead the North Carolina HBCU. Throughout the ordeal, he praised the Livingstone College community for their unwavering support, crediting students, faculty, staff, and alumni for helping carry him through one of the most difficult chapters of his life.
“Students would stop me, circle the golf cart, and pray for me,” Davis said. “Young brothers grabbing my hands in the cafeteria… bishops in the AME Zion Church—everywhere I went, people were praying.”
Now back in good health, Dr. Davis is focused on continuing his work as president of Livingstone College, reaffirming his commitment to service and leadership. He has shared that leading and serving others is not just a role he holds but a calling—one he is grateful to return to with renewed strength and purpose.
In addition to this growth, Livingstone has received multiple multimillion-dollar donations from an anonymous donor, including a $10 million gift in February. According to Dr. Davis, the funding will support a $225 million campus infrastructure project, featuring a new 350-bed residential quad, a four-star, college-operated hotel, expanded solar energy initiatives, and a comprehensive modernization of the campus. Together, these developments signal a period of renewed momentum and long-term transformation for the historic HBCU.
“Livingstone College will not look the same,” Davis said. “We will be a different HBCU—still affordable, still mission-driven, but competitive with the higher-echelon schools.”
