Community Service

C4WS Winter Shelter Dinner Service

Join other Duke London alumni to prepare and serve dinner at the C4WS Winter Shelter on Wednesday, 22 February (6:30-9pm). We need a team of five people to join the resident chef in preparing a meal for up to 16 guests, and then we'll join them at the table for dinner.

The American International Church in Tottenham Court Road has been the friendly Wednesday night host for a number of years. To join our Feb. 22nd team, or if you have any questions, email buckrobin@yahoo.com.

MoonWalk to support Walk the Walk

Duke UK Community Service and the Duke UK Women's Forum are collaborating on an upcoming event in May 2023, the 25th Anniversary MoonWalk to support Walk the Walk, the UK's largest grant making breast cancer charity in the UK. Come take on this amazing, fun challenge with a team of fellow Dukies, walking through the streets of London, raising awareness, investing in prevention, and supporting those living with breast and other cancers. You can choose to walk a half marathon plus (15.1 miles) or a full marathon (26.2 miles).

The 2020 Forever Duke award winners

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The year 2020 changed the world as we know it. These Duke alumni showed us that in the midst of unspeakable difficulty, we can lift up each other, come together, make change that has the power to change us all. The Duke Alumni Changemaker Award is a one-time award honoring individuals across schools who made a difference for their communities and the world in pandemic year 2020. 

Alumna takes on perpetrators of violence against Asian Americans

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Manjusha Kulkarni ’91, a Los Angeles community activist and attorney, knew she had to act. She met with the family of the injured student, worked with local school district officials on behalf of the family, and held a press conference to take a stand against violence against Asian Americans—a soaring statistic in 2020’s pandemic year.

The boy’s family, weighing the thought of leaving the U.S. in the face of such a personal threat, said they appreciated Kulkarni’s advocacy so much that they changed their minds.

“They felt like they belonged,” she says.

Students study political theater, then tell their own stories

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When Faulkner Fox planned her inaugural political-theater workshop for fall 2020, she didn’t predict an imminent summer of activism.

At first, she’d thought it would be an in-person class attending in-person theater, but then the coronavirus made that impossible. Months later, a second global phenomenon: The Black Lives Matter movement surged in response to murders like George Floyd’s, which Fox (and her students-to-be) experienced in real time. Fox hadn’t been anywhere. She hadn’t even been inside a grocery store, but then she was in the streets, marching for racial justice.

Parikh Selected as Inaugural Decaminada Memorial Fellow

DukeEngage independent project participant Naman Parikh ’24 was chosen as the first-ever Chelsea Decaminada Memorial DukeEngage Fellow, which recognizes a passion for international service and doing good in the world. The fellowship was established by the Decaminada family in memory of their daughter, Chelsea ’15, who was part of the 2013 DukeEngage-Kolkata (India) program. After graduating from Duke, she volunteered with the Peace Corps in Tanzania before joining the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Wesley Pritzlaff ’20 Shares How DukeEngage Redefined His Career Path

Wesley Pritzlaff’s love of teaching and empowering others–and a desire to experience a completely new culture–inspired him to apply to DukeEngage-Zhuhai in 2019. Little did he know the program would help him discover a new career path. After graduating early, Pritzlaff has been working as a physical therapy aide and will matriculate this fall at Duke’s Doctor of Physical Therapy Program as part of the Class of 2024. Learn why Wes thinks everyone should apply to DukeEngage.

Raisa Chowdhury ’15 Discovered a Passion for International Development

Like many Duke students, Raisa Chowdhury came into Duke as a premed major— until she did a DukeEngage Independent project in Chilmari, Bangladesh. Since then, she returned to Dhaka, Bangladesh and later Washington, D.C. to work on projects across a range of topics including rights of vulnerable populations, peace-building, and digital development. She’s now a master’s student focused on international development at Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs. Read more about Raisa's path.

Nasher Museum with banner by Carrie Mae Weems

Art at the Nasher in the time of COVID

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The Nasher Museum of Art staff were facing COVID reality last summer. Their Ebony Patterson exhibit, “...while the dew is still on the roses…,” a rich, complex installation with art, video, patterned walls, and more than 12,000 individually placed flowers throughout the gallery, had to come down after having been open only ten days. It was impossible to predict when the doors would reopen. “We were devastated,” says Wendy Hower, director of engagement and marketing. “The building looks like it’s asleep.”

Adam Petty ’14 on the Value of Community

Adam Petty has worn just about every DukeEngage hat that exists. He participated in the Uganda-Kaihura program in 2013 and returned as a site coordinator in 2016. He’s presented to the DukeEngage Advisory Board, volunteered at the Fortin Foundation DukeEngage Academy, and worked as a program coordinator with ACE, a DukeEngage-like program for student-athletes. Read how all these experiences helped inspire his commitment to community in the workplace.

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