Editor’s note: Chancellor Randy Woodson has announced he will retire on June 30, 2025. This article is part of the Celebrating Transformation initiative, a yearlong effort to honor the chancellor’s 14 years of service and to recognize the university’s extraordinary achievements under his leadership. Learn more and join the celebration at https://transformation.ncsu.edu/.

On the dining room table, there is a delectable spread of heavy hors d’oeuvres being served to hungry guests. In the living room, some visitors admire the wide selection of books and delightful holiday decorations while others make conversation next to the hearth with a roaring fire. Occasionally, a jovial voice can be heard from the entry hall, bellowing “ho ho ho” to more people as they arrive. 

Surprisingly, this is not your average family get together — it’s the chancellor’s Holiday Open House for NC State faculty and staff. 

With the exception of the COVID-19 pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, Chancellor Randy Woodson and his wife, Susan, have welcomed NC State faculty and staff to their home every December for food, beverages and holiday cheer. While Woodson is not the first chancellor to host a holiday reception for faculty and staff, he is the first to live in and host events at the chancellor’s residence known as the Point. Constructed in 2011, the house overlooks Lake Raleigh and includes 5,400 square feet of public space on the ground floor as well as a private living area upstairs, which encompasses 3,100 square feet.

Since moving in, Randy and Susan Woodson have hosted multiple holiday receptions as well as private family gatherings and countless events for students, faculty, staff, alumni, and parents and families. It has also served as a formal meeting place for the chancellor and esteemed guests like astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, astronaut Christina Koch, celebrity chefs Vivian Howard and Ashley Christensen, Wolfpack legends Bill Cowher and David Thompson, elected officials, and a plethora of international education and industry leaders. 

In its 13-year history, the Point has lived up to architect Marvin Malecha’s intention of being a building that is both “very traditional, but also very modern.” Much like NC State’s outgoing leader, it strikes a balance of formal and informal. It’s a place where official university business is conducted but also where Randy Woodson can crack jokes with students around a firepit during their initiation as Chancellor’s Aides each fall. 

During their service as student representatives of the university, Chancellor’s Aides get to know Woodson quite well. Jacob Parvin, a senior in his second year in the program, said Woodson recognizes him around campus when he’s not in uniform, and he always makes sure to compliment his mustache.

“It’s been a great time getting to know him,” Parvin said. “Being a Chancellor’s Aide is like being part of a little family.”

Another Chancellor’s Aide, Lauren Cook, has enjoyed the unique opportunities that have come with the role. As a senior in the College of Sciences, she said one of her favorite experiences was having lunch with Dean Lewis Owen. 

“These have been the best two years ever,” Cook said. “Chancellor Woodson is hilarious. I’ve always loved how he just goes with the flow.”

A Wonder to ‘Behold’

Like the Chancellor’s Aides, Rave! Catering staff members spend a considerable amount of time with Woodson and have their own inside jokes with him. Before an event earlier this year, a group of kitchen employees were admiring their work on the table spread. Some were native Spanish speakers who had just learned the word “behold” for the first time, and a few of them happened to be practicing their pronunciation of the word as a group when Woodson walked in. The room suddenly went silent.

Woodson broke the tension by saying, “Don’t mind me! Keep practicing, and keep up the good work.” Since then, Woodson regularly greets the catering staff by announcing “Behold!” in his best party voice.

“Our staff got the biggest kick out of that,” said Michele Yambrick, event coordinator for Rave! Catering. “It’s a perfect example of how approachable, normal and human he is.” 

Yambrick has overseen catering operations for the Point for the last two years, but her relationship with the Woodsons goes back much further. Prior to her current role, Yambrick worked a part-time catering/wait staff job for the chancellor’s events at PNC Arena (now the Lenovo Center). She started in 2013 after moving to North Carolina from Michigan, and she knew nothing about the Raleigh area or NC State — or what a chancellor was. Over time she has become much more familiar with the term and the Woodsons. Yambrick enjoys helping Randy Woodson work on his own pronunciation for foods he’s never heard of, and one of her personal favorite memories was explaining the concept of vegan bacon to him. 

“They’ve always been great people,” she said. “I loved doing his receptions at PNC Arena, and I love doing stuff for them at the Point. When people ask me what it’s like working with him, I tell them he’s a normal person. If we could serve barbecue mac and cheese every single time we’re over there, he would love it.”

If you would like to share a message or memories of your own with Chancellor Woodson, please visit transformation.ncsu.edu.