Category: Speeches & Writings Page 1 of 8

Honoring Juneteenth

On June 17, 2025

To the Duke Community,

This Thursday, Duke University will observe Juneteenth, commemorating the June 19, 1865, arrival of the Union Army in Galveston, Texas, to enforce the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation barring slavery in the Confederate states.

Nearly six months later, in December 1865, the ratification of the 13th Amendment would abolish slavery throughout the United States.

This holiday, long celebrated within the African-American community before it became a federal holiday in 2021, is also an opportunity for reflection and education for all.

Duke University, like American society in general, has traveled a long journey through the course of its history. For example, Black students were not admitted until the 1960s, and Samuel DuBois Cook— Duke’s first Black faculty member— was not hired until 1966. Our specific history and context as a Duke community, here in Durham, North Carolina, continue to inform the ways we acknowledge our past, ask critical questions across academic disciplines, engage our neighbors, and work together to understand this moment and our shared future.

We are tremendously proud of the many ways Black students, faculty, staff and alumni have advanced our mission, and we are grateful for their impact both here at Duke and in communities around the world.

As we look to the university’s future, we are committed to continuing the unfinished work of advancing and celebrating Black excellence and supporting all members of our community in reaching their full potential. We will continue to use our recently completed Campus Culture Survey to identify areas where we can grow and advance as a campus community.

This week, a range of local events will offer opportunities to gather with others to mark Juneteenth and gain a deeper understanding of Black history in America. I encourage you to learn more about these events on the Duke Community Affairs website.

Duke is an extraordinary community of faculty, staff, students, and alumni with a wide range of backgrounds, lived experiences, and perspectives. As we celebrate the work of the past, the present and the future, I am confident that our commitment to inclusive excellence will propel the people of Duke to even greater achievements and impact.

Very best wishes,

Vince

Update on Strategic Realignment and Cost-Reduction Process

By Matthew Carter

On June 5, 2025

In News, Speeches & Writings, Uncategorized

Hello, and thanks for all you do to support the Duke University community.

While our campus is much quieter now as we swing into the summer, the world of higher education continues to be noisy, and complicated.

We’re working every day to sort out many significant federal policy changes—and proposals for additional changes—that have quite dire implications for the University.

Federal funding threats affect all areas of our work, and include:

severe cuts to research funding;
dramatic increases to university tax payments, and threats to our non-profit status;
restrictions on international education;
losses of federal financial aid and loan programs;
and changes to government-funded healthcare programs.

I expect you share my grave concern about what these dramatic policy changes mean for our work at Duke. And I want you to know that we are advocating, in every way possible, at both the state and federal levels, to:

maintain funding for our mission;
to protect jobs and economic vitality here in Durham and across North Carolina;
to support international students and scholars;
and to keep education and healthcare accessible to all.

I am personally engaged in this work on a daily basis, along with many other Duke leaders.

I also serve on the board of the Association of American Universities, or AAU, through which we are working collectively with America’s leading research universities to demonstrate powerfully, and advocate strenuously, for the transformative power of education, research, and innovation.

Though we still don’t know the full degree to which Duke’s financial resources will ultimately be affected, the considerable reductions we’ve already experienced—along with the scale of the additional losses we could face—mean that there is, sadly, no scenario in which Duke can or will avoid incurring substantial losses of funding due to these policy changes.

As I announced in March, this spring we began planning a university-wide strategic realignment and cost-reduction process to prepare us for the road ahead.

And now, like many other organizations around the country, we are being forced to reduce the scope of our activities and spending in order to sustain excellence in our core missions.

The leadership of every school and unit at Duke has had to think carefully about how to do critical work with fewer resources, while developing strategic plans for moving forward.

This involves making incredibly difficult decisions and painful choices about reducing the scope of our work. I know our leadership teams have felt the weight of those decisions, and their implications, throughout this process.

As you are likely aware, we’ve taken several steps:

we’ve frozen most staff and faculty hiring;
we’ve suspended capital spending on new projects;
we’ve limited non-essential spending;
and we’re making some tough decisions about our work and how to do it most efficiently.

We will, for the foreseeable future, have to be smaller—and do our work with fewer people.

I sincerely wish that were not the case, but the harsh reality is that reducing our spending by the scale required means that Duke will have to employ fewer people.

It is likely we’ll come to a point where we’ll need to engage in involuntary reductions in staff; but first we are trying to do as much as possible through a voluntary process, one that provides generous separation benefits to eligible staff at all levels of the university.

Within this landscape of significantly reduced funding, academic leaders will also need to give thought to the future shape of our faculty.

In the coming weeks, eligible faculty members will receive information from their schools about new, again voluntary, retirement incentives that are being offered across the university.

Each of you has made a major contribution to our mission over the years, and this process highlights the value of those contributions.

As with all personnel matters, voluntary separation and retirement offers extended to colleagues are confidential, and I trust that our community will be thoughtful and respectful regarding decisions others may be weighing about their futures.

I’m confident that the steps we are taking now will position the university for continued success in the years ahead. But none of this will be easy, and I’m especially aware of the impact these changes will have on valued colleagues and their families.

I hope that if you have questions or concerns, you will discuss those with your supervisors, reach out to your unit HR professionals and other Duke resources for support, and consult the updates.duke.edu website for more information.

Yes, these are challenging times. Yet our recent Centennial celebration reminds us that the Duke community has faced and overcome many challenges over the past one hundred years.

I’m incredibly proud to be part of this community as we enter Duke’s second century, and I thank you for your ongoing commitment and support for each other, and for our mission.

2025 Commencement Remarks

By Matthew Carter

On May 11, 2025

In News, Speeches & Writings, Uncategorized

This morning’s Commencement ceremony is both a celebration of the Class of 2025, and the continuation of a cherished academic tradition that connects Duke students and alumni across class years and generations.

And today’s ceremony is special in this regard, as we honor the 100th anniversary of the first Duke University Commencement, held just months after James B. Duke’s indenture of trust sparked the transformation of Trinity College into Duke University.

As we conclude our formal celebration of this centennial year, we are also looking ahead to the pivotal roles Duke students, faculty, staff and alumni will play in addressing the tremendous opportunities and challenges of the next 100 years.

In doing so, we may find helpful perspective in the life experiences of the class of 1925.

In June of 1925, the first students to graduate from the newly named Duke University gathered in Craven Memorial Hall on East Campus, where they were addressed by Curtis D. Wilbur, the Secretary of the Navy.

Among the 187 members of the Class of 1925 were several individuals of note, including:

Yasuko Ueno, the first Asian woman to graduate from our university;
Graduate student Mike Bradshaw Jr., who was one of the Chronicle writers credited with first referring to our athletics teams as the Blue Devils;
And Charles E. Jordan, who received his Law degree that day, and whose lifetime of service to Duke and Durham would later be recognized in the naming of Durham’s Jordan High School, located just a few miles from here.

They and their classmates would go on to pursue lives of purpose and principle in a variety of settings that would have made our benefactor James B. Duke proud.

Indeed, at the time of their graduation, the majority of the class reported an intention to pursue teaching, business, medicine or religious work, paths that aligned very well with the fields Mr. Duke considered best positioned, in his words, to “uplift mankind.”

The class of 1925 emerged from Duke during the Jazz Age, a dynamic period in American history. Optimism was high thanks to strong prosperity and seemingly lasting peace following World War I.

But the graduates would soon be forced to wrestle with rising social, economic and political tensions, and a general tenor of uncertainty that may seem familiar today.

Just a month after that graduation, the Scopes Monkey Trial, held 400 miles west of here in Dayton, Tennessee, would draw the world’s attention to questions of evolution and religion, and their place in public schools.
Some four years later, the Great Depression would result in heartbreaking family hardships and widespread economic devastation with generational consequences.
And of course, a decade after the Great Depression, the outbreak of World War II would signal the beginning of some of humanity’s darkest days.

However, in their lifetimes, the class of 1925 also enjoyed an era of enormous innovation and nearly unimaginable progress.

Consider—if you will—some of the wonders they would experience:

The life-saving discovery of penicillin, in 1928, which would revolutionize treatment of bacterial infections.
The unprecedented economic growth and prosperity that followed the end of World War II.
The advent of home televisions, of commercial aviation, and other technologies that facilitated the flow of information, ideas, and people.
And the significant movement—albeit sometimes slow, and sometimes uneven—toward equal rights and broader distribution of opportunity in society.

The class of 1925 was part of what came to be known as “The Greatest Generation.” Shaped by hardships—and fueled by resilience, honor, and an industrious spirit—their generation went on to make possible the many remarkable achievements of the 20th century.

Class of 2025, in your relatively short lifetimes the world has already seen transformative developments, including:

breakthroughs in artificial intelligence;
a revolution in media and information sharing;
and the introduction of life-changing technologies, including the iPhone and electric vehicles

… to say nothing of the air fryer—not exactly revolutionary, but a big step forward for making homemade chips.

Just as Duke’s very first Blue Devils, those members of the greatest generation who commenced into their unpredictable, changing world 100 years ago, today you commence into yours.

This changing world will bring challenges, I assure you, including many we cannot foresee today. These will test your resilience, your honor, and your industrious spirit.

But it will also bring opportunities for innovation and human progress, perhaps as never before.

And your generation of Blue Devils will discover and develop the breakthroughs that will define the 21st century. In that transformative, life-improving and life-saving work, as alumni of this university you will carry on Mr. Duke’s bold vision for uplifting mankind.

In this century to come, may you come to be known as the even greater generation.

Congratulations, Class of 2025.

Duke’s Place of Leadership in a Rapidly Changing World

By Matthew Carter

On March 20, 2025

In News, Speeches & Writings

Annual Address to the Faculty

Thank you, Trina. And let me begin by recognizing your leadership and service as chair of this council over the past two years, as well as that of your colleagues on ECAC who will be finishing their terms this year.

I am deeply grateful for your service.

Congratulations are also due to Professor Mark Anthony Neal on his election as incoming council chair.

And I’d also like to offer my thanks and appreciation to the full council for your ongoing engagement and work in support of our academic mission.

In his indenture of trust that established our University, James B. Duke requested that the institution secure for its officers, trustees and faculty people, “of such outstanding character, ability and vision as will insure its attaining and maintaining a place of real leadership in the educational world.”

One hundred years later, we have most certainly attained that place of leadership.

You—our faculty—and your predecessors, are largely responsible for that achievement.

You have devoted your careers to expanding knowledge; to educating the next generation of young minds; and to providing world-class health care.

And the world has taken notice. Today the Duke University faculty is home to:

Two Nobel Prize recipients, joining six who served at Duke previously, and another six who studied or trained here;

Two National Medal of Science recipients;

Ninety-six members of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine;

Sixty-three members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences;

A culture of interdisciplinary teaching and scholarship that is unparallelled, and was duly recognized in this year’s inaugural Times Higher Education rankings for interdisciplinary sciences, which placed Duke among the top five in the world;

And hundreds of colleagues who have worked together to launch Trinity College’s first new undergraduate curriculum in 25 years.

But that list of accolades only begins to touch the surface of your many accomplishments.

And it neglects the reality we all know, which is that the work of education and scholarship can’t be well summarized in honors and awards alone.

We on the faculty recognize the heart and soul of the academic life we chose, as it’s reflected in our everyday lives:

the countless hours in the classroom, lab and library;

the late nights on hospital rounds;

the methodical fieldwork, conducted thousands of miles from home;

the twists, turns and failures that mark the unpredictable path to a discovery;

and the innumerable, lively discussions and debates with colleagues and students that lead to new perspectives and greater understanding.

Those are the moments, and the pursuits, repeated thousands of times over the past century, that have vaulted Duke to its place of leadership in higher education.

And you—together, as a faculty—will play a critical role in determining how Duke will not only maintain but advance our place of leadership in this rapidly changing world.

A world where artificial intelligence and other technologies expand as never before our capacity for generating knowledge—even as they stand to exacerbate inequities and introduce profound ethical concerns.

A world in which our students are digital natives, whose formative learning experiences were profoundly disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and who—despite their comfort in the digital world—still crave genuinely human connections and community.

A world in which—ironically at the very moment when academic breakthroughs in so many fields stand to improve our lives in dramatic ways—public support of higher education and academic research has been trending downward, and our primary sources of external funding appear to be diminishing rapidly before our very eyes.

A world where social media platforms have largely replaced evidence-based forms of communication.

And a world increasingly beset by confrontation, confusion and conflict, entangling institutions of higher learning in political, social, and cultural clashes.

Indeed, it seems the American research university is in a moment of existential challenge.

Unquestionably we are in a moment of deep uncertainty.

One thing that does seem increasingly clear, however, is that we no longer enjoy at this moment many of the resources upon which we have relied in the past to help propel our momentum. These include, most foundationally, the broad trust of the American public and the support of our government.

And yet, this moment of challenge could conceivably present, for those of us prepared to lead, some opportunities to refine and perhaps even improve research institutions like ours. This could be a moment in which, provided we focus on our unique institutional strengths and are open to new ways of working, we may be able to deepen and even extend our impact.

How, then, are we as an academic community to lead our way forward? How do we navigate through the challenges before us, and see and seize the opportunities on the horizon?

I suggest three principal ways Duke can best capitalize on our place of leadership in this rapidly changing world.

First, even if these immense pressures feel to us unwelcome and unwarranted, we should try our best to see them as potentially clarifying of our purpose.

A scarcity of resources, while likely to be unpleasant at best, and painful at worst, can serve to sharpen our focus on identifying and reinforcing true excellence and true distinctiveness in Duke’s education, research, and clinical care.

If we can increase clarity with regards to what has distinguished Duke and remain true to our core values of respect, trust, inclusion, discovery and excellence—we have reason to be optimistic about our long-term success.

We are, fortunately, headed into these rough financial and political waters in an enviable position of institutional and financial strength, both in absolute terms and relative to peers.

As communicated to the Duke community last week, we should be prepared not only to seek cost-reductions across the university, but also to re-imagine our work and consider how we might strategically realign around our highest priorities.

We will find ways, even as we work to cut costs, to invest in funding student access and opportunity; in catalyzing Duke science and technology; in living up to our climate commitment; and in advancing healthcare—all as we maintain our core commitment to a superior liberal arts education and our distinctive residential undergraduate experience.

Second, even as we feel under attack and mischaracterized by our antagonists, we should approach this moment in a spirit of openness to fair criticism and with a desire to do some things differently than in the past and, in so doing, become better at what matters most.

The loss of public trust in American higher education comes from a sense, shared by far too many beyond the walls of this campus, that institutions like ours are privileged in our disposition, unaccountable for our actions, and profligate in our spending.

These I believe are caricatures; but they may reflect some underlying deficiencies that we can and should address.

Now is the time for us to commit to being maximally efficient and transparent in our operations, and maximally effective in realizing our most critical goals and objectives.

We will need to make some difficult tradeoffs. If we are smart and serious about pruning and perhaps thinning now as needed, we can position ourselves well for a vigorous response when conditions more conducive to growth return.

Third, even as we turn inward and undertake this vital work of implementing cost-savings and identifying opportunities for realignment, we should retain, even expand our outward focus on making real difference in the world through purposeful partnerships.

The insularity of the academy is one of the challenges we need to face, and the only way to gain public trust is to demonstrate our commitment to listening and engaging in common cause with those who may be skeptical of our intentions or our work.

Our consideration of strategic realignment should not come at the expense of being engaged globally and in our local region and community. Instead, it should be a lens through which we sharpen our focus on engagement that foregrounds our mission of education, research, and patient care.

This university community has faced many challenges before, and we will face others in the future.

And even as we look for efficiencies and cost reductions, we will move forward to make the case for new resources, as is the goal of our comprehensive campaign. I think that both the timing and the theme of our campaign are prescient: We are Made for This. Made for this moment.

We may find our path challenging, and rocky, and steep at times; but we will maintain our course and stay true to our Duke character. We will remain outrageously ambitious in our aims. We will remind ourselves every day that we succeed as a team. In a world that leans toward the negative, we will remain positive and always look for “yes.” And we will remain pragmatic. We want to do the work.

I am confident that by working together—and by being grounded in our mission and our values—we will successfully navigate the uncertainty of this moment and will ensure that Duke’s second century is one of even greater impact than our first.

Thank you.

Duke’s Commitment to our Academic Values and Mission

By Matthew Carter

On March 13, 2025

In News, Speeches & Writings

Dear Colleagues,

Over the past 100 years, the people of Duke University have made extraordinary contributions to society through transformative teaching, pathbreaking research and scholarship, and lifesaving health care. As President, I am incredibly proud to be part of this community that is grounded in academic freedom and strengthened by the diverse backgrounds and perspectives of its faculty, staff, students and alumni.

I also recognize that recent reductions in funding for various aspects of our mission, along with the prospect of additional changes in the future, are causing uncertainty and concern within our community. I share those concerns and, as we have communicated previously, the university’s academic and administrative leaders are fully engaged in responding on a number of levels. These include providing guidance for colleagues across campus whose work has been affected by recent changes; educating policymakers about the value of Duke’s work and our impact on the communities we serve; and advocating for policies and practices that maintain support for Duke’s priorities and mission.

In addition, we are working to prepare for the possibility that the university will have to adopt new ways of operating in order to fulfill our teaching, research, and clinical care missions with reduced federal funding in the future.

To that end, I have asked Executive Vice President Daniel Ennis, working in close coordination with Provost Alec Gallimore, Executive Vice President for Health Affairs and Dean of the School of Medicine Mary Klotman, and Duke University Health System Chief Executive Officer Craig Albanese, to lead a university-wide strategic realignment and cost-reduction planning process to identify measures that may be needed to ensure Duke’s operational and financial health for the long term. You will soon receive a message with additional information regarding this planning process.

I understand that you likely will have questions about what this may mean for the university and for you individually, and that the uncertainty involved with the changes affecting colleges and universities nationwide, including Duke, may be stressful. We are committed to moving this planning response forward in a thoughtful, holistic, and expeditious manner and will provide opportunities for you to ask questions and offer input and feedback.

This is a critically important moment for Duke and one in which our responses will be grounded in and guided by our mission and our values. I am confident that by working together, we will ensure that Duke’s second century will be one of even greater impact and value both here in our own community, and around the world.

Sincerely,

Vincent E. Price
President

Information about Changes to NIH Indirect Cost Reimbursement Rates

By Laura Brinn

On February 12, 2025

In Speeches & Writings

Dear Colleagues,

As Duke’s Vice President for Research & Innovation Jenny Lodge wrote to our research community this weekend, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced on Friday that it would immediately cap reimbursement of facilities and administrative (F&A) costs on research grants at 15%, drastically reducing a critical source of support for biomedical research. This abrupt shift in policy would significantly slow or halt discovery in critical areas such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, infectious diseases, and pediatric health, eliminating roughly $194 million in annual research funding from NIH at Duke alone.

It is important to recognize that federal grants, despite supporting both direct and F&A costs, do not currently cover the full expense of the research they now fund. Like other universities, Duke provides essential infrastructure such as lab space, equipment maintenance, administrative support, and compliance systems required by federal funding agencies. These unreimbursed institutional investments, which exceeded $198 million in FY24, are critical to enabling groundbreaking discoveries.

On Monday, a number of higher education associations, including the Association of American Universities (AAU) and the American Association of Medical Colleges, and state attorneys general filed three separate lawsuits challenging the NIH’s action. A judge entered a temporary restraining order pausing the cuts until a hearing later this month.

Much is at stake. Our nation’s world-leading research enterprise has been enabled by—and will only be sustained by—partnership and co-investment from both the government and higher education. If these large funding reductions are allowed to stand, they will necessitate careful planning and difficult decisions, determined in collaboration with leadership across our schools and research units, as we seek to maintain the strength of our research enterprise. We will keep the community informed as we gain more clarity on the path forward. We will also continue to stay engaged with peer institutions and key higher-education organizations to assess the implications of this shift and advocate strenuously for sustainable funding.

We understand the uncertainty and concern across our research community caused by these recent events. If you are engaged in research, please continue your work in accordance with your grant agreements. We will keep apprising everyone of changes in policy. If you have questions about specific grants, please contact the Office of Research & Innovation at grantsupport@duke.edu.

Every day, members of our Duke community work to advance research that will help solve the world’s greatest challenges and enhance human health and well-being. The excellence of our research mission requires significant resources, and we are tremendously proud of our decades-long partnership with federal agencies that support groundbreaking discoveries across academic disciplines and improve the lives of all Americans.

As we navigate these challenges, we remain deeply grateful for the critically important work you do at Duke, and we will continue to take all steps required to sustain the excellence of our research mission.

Vincent E. Price
President

Alec Gallimore
Provost

Mary Klotman
Executive Vice President for Health Affairs
Dean, Duke University School of Medicine

Craig Albanese
CEO, Duke University Health System

Thank You

By Matthew Carter

On November 26, 2024

In News, Speeches & Writings

To the Duke Community,

Throughout this year’s Centennial celebration, we’ve been reminded that the common thread running through all that Duke has achieved in the past—and all that we will achieve in the future—is our people.

And as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, I’d like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude for the many ways you are advancing Duke’s mission through your work and studies.

While many of us will enjoy a break in our schedules later this week, others will continue working around the clock, caring for our patients and supporting essential operations throughout the Duke campus and health system.

Whether you are working or taking a break, and whether you are staying close by or traveling a long distance this Thanksgiving, I thank you for being part of this extraordinary Duke community. I hope you will have the opportunity to enjoy moments of reflection and gratitude in the coming days.

Cheers,

Vince

2024 Voting Resources

By Matthew Carter

On October 17, 2024

In News, Speeches & Writings

To the Duke Community,

Today is the first day of early voting in North Carolina for the 2024 general election. I encourage eligible voters to cast your ballot either here in North Carolina, or wherever you call home, during the early voting period or on Election Day on November 5.

Beginning today and through November 2, early voting locations throughout the state are open, including in Durham, Wake and Orange counties, where the majority of Duke students, faculty and staff live.

If you are eligible to vote in Durham County, you can do so at the early voting site at the Karsh Alumni and Visitors Center, 2080 Duke University Road. I am grateful to the Duke Votes team and the Durham Board of Elections for making our campus a key early voting site for members of the Duke community and our neighbors in Durham.

Before heading to the polls, make sure to bring an acceptable form of photo identification, which can include a North Carolina driver’s license, an approved Duke ID card (students only), and others. Duke Votes is an excellent resource for non-partisan voting information and resources for voting here in North Carolina or in your home state if you are not a North Carolina resident.

In order to allow Duke employees flexibility in casting their vote, Duke University and Duke Health encourage supervisors to cancel nonessential meetings on November 5 and be flexible with scheduling to enable staff members who are unable to vote outside normal work hours to do so before, during, or after their assigned shifts. On Election Day, Karsh will not be a polling location, so you will need to cast a ballot at your assigned polling place.

Thank you for participating in our democracy.

Centennial Founders’ Day and Homecoming celebrations

By Matthew Carter

On September 23, 2024

In News, Speeches & Writings

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.

Welcome to the New Academic Year

By Laura Brinn

On August 26, 2024

In Speeches & Writings

Hello, Blue Devils. I’d like to welcome our Duke students, and my faculty and staff colleagues, to the new academic year.

I hope that over the summer, you had an opportunity to step away from your work and studies and enjoy some rest and relaxation.

While some of you have been on campus all summer, others have just arrived here for the first time, and may still be learning your way around Duke and Durham.

I’m very pleased that you are all part of our Duke community, especially as we celebrate our Centennial year.

As we mark the one hundred years since Trinity College became Duke University, we’re celebrating the many achievements of the people who have called this place home over the past century.

At the same time, our Centennial is also an opportunity to look ahead, together, to the tremendous promise of our second century.

This university was founded to make a positive difference in our region, and I’d say that our mission to advance discovery, and educate the leaders and changemakers of tomorrow, is even more critical now than ever before.

Especially in this moment, when differences in our life experiences, perspectives and beliefs are all too easily used to sow division, I hope you will join me instead in committing to make our campus a place that welcomes and appreciates diverse viewpoints, and fosters scholarly discourse and engagement.

A place where we can discuss and debate ideas from a position of respect and intellectual curiosity.

A place where we listen with the goal of truly understanding each other’s perspectives, especially when we don’t share those perspectives.

And a place where it’s OK to allow your position on an issue to evolve over time.

Above all, Duke should be a place where we advance knowledge not to prove that our ideas are correct, but for the benefit of humankind.

As I told our newest undergraduates during Convocation yesterday, Duke is a community of learners and scholars who support and uplift one another, and propel each other to greater success than any of us would be capable of alone.

I’m proud to be part of this community, and I look forward to all that we will achieve together in the coming year.