My dad told my three sisters and me to get into the best colleges we could and he and my mom would figure out how to pay for it. I realized only later how audacious this was. He supported the whole family on a minister’s salary minus the tithes he returned. But I was admitted to Duke, earned some grants, took some loans and committed to get a job to work my way through.
I was sometimes a fish out of water. The private-school and boarding-school kids seemed more comfortable, more connected – and much better funded. My minimum-wage work study jobs were cleaning bird cages for psychology experiments and working the student locator desk in Flowers Lounge. Others spent money while I counted mine. I wondered if I fit.
But boy did I appreciate the democratic opportunity the classrooms gave me! I tried classes in everything, liberal arts style – ethics, economics, environment, the Constitution, history, racial domination in South Africa. Duke’s professors showed me the world, pushed me to think critically, and instilled in me a curiosity and love of learning that’s lasted me decades. My personal maturity followed, sometimes clumsily, but steadily. And the basketball was ridiculously fun (and free).
My years at Duke have been the foundation for everything I’ve accomplished as a lawyer, community leader or public servant. I met my wife there, and both my kids and my son-in-law are graduates. I never took Duke for granted.
I still don’t.
Forever Duke.