To the Duke Community,
I hope you are enjoying an invigorating and rewarding semester.
This will be a very special week on campus as we welcome back thousands of alumni and host a special series of events for the entire community as part of our Centennial Founders’ Day and Homecoming celebration.
On Thursday, former Duke Presidents Nan Keohane and Dick Brodhead will join alumna and Trustee Emerita Judy Woodruff and me for a wide-ranging discussion of Duke University’s past and our future.
Friday afternoon we will gather with descendants of George Wall and representatives of the Walltown community for the formal dedication of the George and George-Frank Wall Center for Student Life. This special program will celebrate the legacy of these two early employees and their family’s ongoing impact at Duke and in Durham, as well as the generations of staff members who have advanced the university’s mission throughout our first 100 years.
Our celebration will continue on Friday evening in Wallace Wade Stadium and at a student watch party in Penn Pavilion for a Centennial program featuring 9th Wonder, Retta, and a magnificent student and alumni chorus, followed by a concert by Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran.
And on Saturday we’ll return to Wallace Wade Stadium for our Homecoming football game vs. UNC, including on-field recognition of dozens of faculty, staff, alumni and friends of the university who represent excellence across our mission.
These are just a few of the many ways we will continue our yearlong celebration of the people and the moments that have shaped Duke’s first 100 years and the tremendous promise of our second century.
Many of this week’s events will be held both in-person and virtually; I hope you will plan to participate as your schedule allows.
Thank you for being part of this extraordinary community.