‘It’s an honor’: Past and current Duke presidents reflect on tenure and the university’s future

Duke University presidents past and present reflected on their time leading the university and the future of higher education during a panel discussion Thursday afternoon to kick off Centennial Founders’ Day and Homecoming Celebration weekend

President Vincent Price, former President Richard Brodhead and former President Nannerl Keohane took the stage at the Reynolds Industries Theater at 4:30 p.m. for a conversation moderated by renowned broadcast journalist Judy Woodruff, Woman’s College ’68 and DHL ’98.

Keohane served as Duke’s first female president from 1993 to 2004 and was succeeded by Brodhead, who served from 2004 to 2017. Price took the helm in 2017 and served the university in its anniversary year.

“I think I am the luckiest president in the nation because I came to Duke and succeeded fabulous presidents and extraordinary policymakers,” Price said.

Reflect on terms of office, challenges and successes

All three presidents, each coming to Duke from different institutions, opened the panel by sharing their first impressions of the university.

Brodhead said he was initially unconvinced about becoming president of the university. However, during his visit to Duke, he shared how he was intrigued by their strategic plan, which proved to him that the university was “taking its future seriously.”

“Most universities made strategic plans, but they were the same as everyone else. “So what’s strategic about that?” he said. “… What interested me about Duke was that his plan had very specific things in it and that funds were set aside to accomplish (those) things.”

During her tenure, she also allowed same-sex marriages at Duke Chapel, making Duke the first institution in North Carolina to take this step. She shared that while this was not a difficult decision “in principle,” the university’s ties to the Methodist Church presented challenges that she had to overcome.

Keohane also spoke about her support for the Students Against Sweatshops movement, which mobilized after it was revealed that Duke apparel was allegedly made in sweatshops. She recounted how she argued with presidents of other universities who claimed the issue had “nothing to do with research, education or the university” – something she recalled strongly disagreeing with.

Brodhead discussed his successes at Duke, particularly improving student access to the university through the introduction of the Financial Aid Initiative. He noted that only “15% of the hundreds of millions of dollars of budget was covered by the endowment,” compared to other institutions such as Princeton University, which had 79% support at the time.

“​​University is America’s great luxury, but it is the one thing that should not only be available to people who can pay the price,” he said. “It should be available to anyone who hungers for it, anyone who wants to expand their mind and use the expanded mind to build a better world.”

He also emphasized the ambitious nature of Duke students, who viewed education not just as “fixed tasks” but rather as “learning to use your mind in many different ways and to work at it with many different people.” new responsibilities.” This passion inspired the creation of DukeEngage and Bass Connections during Brodhead’s tenure.

Price addressed more recent challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, addressing racial justice and global conflicts, particularly in the Middle East.

“No campus is perfect, but we have a community that is willing to take the time, that is willing to slow down and engage in dialogue,” he said.

Challenges for higher education

The presidents drew insights from their experiences in Duke’s highest leadership positions to address a range of current issues facing higher education institutions.

Woodruff identified a trend toward “declining respect for our legacy institutions,” including government agencies and colleges and universities.

“You hear critics say, ‘Well, colleges are elite colleges, a lot of them have lost touch, connection (and) sense of what the real world is like,'” she said. “They have no contact with ordinary people.”

She asked panelists how universities can “stay in touch” with the everyday lives of Americans.

All three presidents pointed to initiatives Duke has implemented to engage with the larger community, including the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership and DukeEngage.

Although they maintained that Duke has made progress in working with community members and external partners in a more supportive and equitable manner, they acknowledged that there is still room for improvement.

“I think we are perceived as out of touch,” Keohane said. “I don’t think we actually do that, but maybe we need to make the way we engage and interconnect with the world more visible and not in an ivory tower.”

Brodhead spoke about the problem of the higher education “bubble,” which he said could last for decades after graduation. He pointed to the first DukeEngage cohort as an example of a conscious effort by the university to encourage students to step out of that bubble and invest in the well-being of off-campus communities. Many of the participating students visited New Orleans in 2007 to help with cleanup and reconstruction efforts after Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of the city in 2005.

“These people who studied public policy and statistics knew exactly how to do something like that, but (they would) come back and realize that solving a problem statement is not the same as solving a problem,” Brodhead said.

Price also emphasized the importance of attracting a diverse student body. He pointed to the Initiative for the Students from the Carolinas, which began in fall 2023 and provides full tuition subsidies to students from North and South Carolina with annual family incomes of $150,000 or less, as well as Duke’s efforts to increase Pell Grant enrollment. eligible students.

Woodruff asked panelists to share their perspective on the university’s role in promoting free expression on campus.

Brodhead defined freedom of expression as “the basis of all other freedoms that we take for granted in liberal democracy,” but emphasized that universities “have an obligation to do so that is not the same as the legal obligation.”

“Universities are all about saying, ‘We don’t know everything yet,'” Brodhead said. “…If you allow a climate in which people can take the position, ‘I already know everything there is to know on this topic and you don’t seem to know it – that’s the end of it,’ you have the educational process actually stopped. ”

Keohane pointed to a growing tension in higher education between protecting free speech and the desire to avoid undue harm by restricting offensive language. While she acknowledged that people shouldn’t “feel oppressed and threatened” during their education, she insisted that “education was never designed to be comfortable” and that “that’s often what makes it work.” that it tears you out of what you think you are. “the truth.”

Brodhead advocated promoting a “culture of respect,” an idea with which Price agreed.

“We are also places of real change, and it is ingrained in our liberal educational (and) artistic traditions that we are that way,” Price said. “This requires cultivating a culture that can disagree vehemently, but is not necessarily polite, but rather respectful and open-minded.”

Minutes before the panel discussion began, Provost Alec Gallimore announced a new initiative designed to promote “free inquiry, pluralism and belonging.” The second such initiative this year focused on civil discourse.

“Universities will continue to struggle with this. They must if we are worthy of being universities,” Price said.

Woodruff concluded the discussion with a comment on Duke’s 100th anniversary and asked panelists what their greatest fears were for the university’s next century. However, all three presidents expressed views consistent with Keohane’s response that she “doesn’t think first about fear for Duke’s future.”

“We are an ambitious institution,” Price said. “This phrase is a gift to the university because it is understood not just as ambition, but as a desire to do things the Duke way.”

As the panel came to a close, Brodhead interjected to share one final thought with the audience:

“It is an honor to be asked to serve as president of this university,” he said.

Zoe Kolenovsky
| News editor

Zoe Kolenovsky is a Trinity junior and news editor for Volume 120 of The Chronicle.

Abby Spiller
| Editor-in-Chief

Abby Spiller is a Trinity junior and editor-in-chief of The Chronicle’s 120th volume.