This is the first story in a three-part series profiling this year's finalists for undergraduate young trustee.
Many of Duke's finest undergraduates spend a good part of their semesters abroad in far-flung corners of the world, worrying about where they are going to get their next drinks. And so it goes with senior Brady Beecham, except that her drinking-of water-is turning into her senior thesis.
Beecham's trip last fall to Urucurea-a Brazilian rainforest village "just" six hours by boat from the nearest medium-sized town-will form the backbone of her thesis on drinking water quality in developing countries.
"No roads, no electricity, no beds-very different from the Gothic Wonderland," said the biology and environmental science and policy double major. "I slept in a hammock and cooked by candlelight. I've never been further from home than that little town."
Despite the hardships, Beecham said life abroad provided a much needed reprieve after her work as the Duke University Union president last year, as well as valuable lessons and preparation for what she hopes will be her next big project: young trustee.
"Going to Brazil was as far away as I can imagine anywhere on earth being," said Beecham, one of this year's three finalists for a spot on the University's Board of Trustees. "And it let me see that the rest of the world faces questions and limitations that are totally different from student organizations at Duke, but also that the skills you need to solve all these problems are similar."
But does a comprehensive understanding of water resources in the developing world really help prepare someone for sitting on one of Duke's most powerful and exclusive decision-making bodies? Beecham seems to think so.
"I would say I'm not an ideologue. I'm a real pragmatist. Part of that comes from being a Midwesterner, the other part comes from my scientific background," the Nebraska native said. "I think that distinguishes me from the other candidates, and I think it gives me a different perspective."
Beecham cited applied research as one of the major issues facing the Board of Trustees in the next three years, including controversial decisions on biomedical ethics, stem-cell research, pharmaceuticals and intellectual research.
Those who have worked with Beecham in the past say that it is her initiative and energy that will make her an important member of the Board and a reliable representative of Duke's undergraduate population. As Union president her junior year, Beecham worked to increase its presence on East Campus and to revitalize the West Campus social scene, while creating such Union trademarks as "Midnight Movies."
"She had a sense of fun and energy, and she successfully motivated others to become involved in the Union," said Sue Coon, who worked closely with Beecham as director of the Office of Student Activities. "She's very forthright, very energetic, and she handles herself well both with her peers and her administrators."
Coon said Beecham's aggressive personality will make her a die-hard voice for students on the Board of Trustees.
Some of the issues that will demand such representation, Beecham said, are campus security, finance and future administrative leadership in the university. "Safety-particularly safety for women-is a primary concern for me as a woman and a campus leader," Beecham wrote in an e-mail. She listed campus safety on her application for Young Trustee as one of the issues that she feels will be important to the future success of the University.
While the senior envisions spending part of the next three years as a young trustee, she said her plans for her future career and education are wide open. "I'm open to suggestions," she said. "I'm interested in working on water... but for a few years I'm interested in seeing the world and having some adventures. I feel like I did that at Duke, and why stop now?"
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