Although his family may wince every time they hear the Duke name, they will clap anyway.
For as public policy master's student Timothy Saintsing delivers his graduation speech, his relatives will listen to him tout not the virtues of their favorite university, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, but those of Duke.
"My dad attended [Chapel Hill, as did] my uncle, my cousin, good friends of the family," Saintsing said. "There is a picture of me as a little kid with a Carolina cap on that gets broken out whenever the family's over.... I was raised a Tar Heel, and look where it got me."
Saintsing's upbringing has brought him not only to Duke but first to Davidson College, where he completed his undergraduate degree in political science and served as president of his senior class. A Winston-Salem native, Saintsing has not decided whether he will remain in Durham to campaign for a candidate in this fall's election or move to Washington, D.C., to work in a U.S. Senate office.
Saintsing also remains undecided on his long-term plans but, despite his short-term plans, knows that he does not want to run for office himself.
"I have very little aspirations for that, but I do want to be active and involved in public policy and the public sector," Saintsing said. "I'll always be the one with the campaign sign in my yard."
Art Spengler, professor of the practice of public policy, said Saintsing's enthusiasm shows in his inquisitive nature and his commitment to public service.
"He's well-liked by virtually everybody," added Spengler, who has taught Saintsing several times and had him as a teaching assistant. "He's got strong leadership skills, and he's a strong student. He's inquisitive, interested in new ideas and new experiences.... He's a wonderful choice [as graduation speaker]."
Saintsing plans to speak on the common threads that run throughout the Duke experience, both graduate and undergraduate.
"If you take a look at one of my typical days, the only thing that's typical about it is that it's atypical," Saintsing said. "It's an opportunity for me to take advantage of all the speakers on campus, the daily ongoings that transcend the graduate world and the undergraduate world. I've done a nice job of bridging that. I've had some neat observations I'd like to share."
But before he makes his speech, Saintsing said he plans to read the work of Tom Wolfe, the renowned author who will deliver this year's keynote commencement speech just after Saintsing speaks.
"That's going to be huge. That's going to be awesome," he said. "My parents are going to be reading A Man in Full, or at least trying to read it. There are going to be some big names up there and I'm exciting to be one of them."
Commenting on his Duke memories, Saintsing cited in particular his experience at the Sanford Institute of Public Policy, where he wrote a thesis on the achievement gap between Latinos and whites in Georgia education and enjoyed one-on-one attention from his professors.
Although he values Duke way above Chapel Hill, his loyalties to Davidson are stronger still.
"[I root for Duke] except when they're playing Davidson," he said. "My money's on Duke, but my heart's on Davidson."
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