BEKAH PEA: ENGAGED IN DURHAM
SUPPORTING DUKEENGAGE
EVEN THOUGH she grew up in
the Durham area, Bekah Pea
T’ 13 didn’t feel like she knew it
very well. That was one reason
she chose to participate in a
Durham-based DukeEngage
project—the most popular of
DukeEngage’s programs. Bekah
volunteered at Urban Ministries
of Durham (UMD), a shelter
and service provider for the
homeless, where she designed
and implemented a medication
management program, tutored
adults in the recovery program,
and assisted clients applying for
disability benefits.
“After my experience in
DukeEngage, I feel much better
acquainted with the Durham
community,” says Bekah, who
is interested in social work and
counseling. “And I realized
how much I love working
with people and serving them
in tangible ways.” This fall, she’s taking two
courses on psychological disorders so she can
better understand some of the root causes of
homelessness. And while most students in her
Education Psychology class will be spending a
LAS T YEAR, almost as many prospective
Duke students mentioned our signature
service-learning program in their applications as mentioned basketball. No surprise
that the DukeEngage goal of applying
knowledge for the good of society has
resonated strongly with the university’s
boosters as well.
Among them are BILL AND
CORY REARDON (T’80)
LAVERACK, who established the
Laverack Family DukeEngage Fund to
help meet student demand for the popular
program, which has received more
applicants than there are spaces for
every year since its 2007 launch.
“This is a program that really defines
the Duke undergraduate experience in a
transformative way,” Cory says.
few hours each week tutoring at local elementary
schools, Bekah’s hoping to tutor adults instead.
“The experience at UMD helped me realize that
all teaching does not have to necessarily be done
with children,” she says.
An appreciation of the program’s impact
on both its participants and on the
communities around the globe where
students serve is what motivated
MARC T’83 AND DONNA
KOZIN to create a fund to honor
their daughter, Jen T’ 10, who participated in DukeEngage in Peru. “It’s
a truly unique opportunity for students
to challenge themselves and make a
positive difference,” Marc says.
INVESTING IN PROGRAMMING WITH AN EDGE
HOWARD SMITH B’09 was in London for business
in 2006 when he saw a Financial Times article
highlighting Fuqua’s Global Executive MBA
program. Intrigued by an MBA program that
would “take [him]
around the world,”
Howard, then in
his early 50s and
the chief financial
officer of GT Solar
International,
decided to apply
and enroll. In
2011, Howard, now the chief financial officer
of California Ethanol & Power, set up a $1.5
million bequest to create two endowment funds
for Fuqua. One fund will provide students in the
school’s executive MBA programs with financial
aid. The other will provide funding to the
Center for Energy, Development and the Global
Environment (EDGE), which produces research
and educational and outreach programming
related to global energy demand and corporate
sustainability. “I hope the EDGE gift will not
only support research, but also help transform it
into commercially viable solutions,” he says.
How students prepare for DukeEngage
and how students integrate their experience into their academic and personal
lives upon their return to campus is
the focus of a $190,000 grant from the
ARTHUR VINING DAVIS
FOUNDATIONS. The grant will
be used to bolster pre- and-post-DukeEngage programming to help students make the most of the opportunity.
