The office of the University president has been in the Allen Building for decades. And now, as President Nan Keohane--and all the other faculty, students and staff--enter the building every day, they will be greeted by a bust of William Preston Few, the president who guided Trinity College through its transformation into Duke University.
Members of the Few family joined University and community leaders Monday afternoon for a ceremony unveiling the bas relief, which was mounted prominently in the lobby of the Allen Building, and commemorating Few's legacy and his role in the University's inception.
"[The University] would not be what it is... without this extraordinary leader, the last president of Trinity College and the first president of Duke University," said President Nan Keohane in her opening remarks. "It's time for him to enter the Allen Building."
After becoming dean of Trinity College in 1902 and ascending to the presidency eight years later, Few pitched the idea of incorporating Trinity into a major national university to Durham tobacco tycoon and philanthropist James B. Duke in 1921. His vision, inspired by the members of the prestigious Association of American Universities, was to build an institution that elevated research to the same status as undergraduate education, said Robert Durden, professor emeritus of history.
"He sold that dream to James B. Duke," he said. "Exactly how much of that idea James B. Duke understood, I don't know... but he trusted Few, and he liked the idea of doing something big."
While many members of the University community may think of the incorporation as a glorified name change, Durden added, Few's guiding principle was really the creation of an entirely new institution organized around an old college. His dream was realized in 1938--the year the football team's Iron Dukes had their undefeated regular season--when the AAU invited Duke University to become their first privately supported member university in the South. Mary Semans, vice chair of the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, which co-funded the artwork, noted that Few's leadership of the University was marked by the personal relationships he forged with students--including Semans, who graduated from the Women's College in 1939. "It was clear that he wanted this to be an institution of the South, but he pushed for this to be a great place in the nation," she said. "One aspect of Dr. Few's absolute genius was his tenacity, and so we're gathered here to thank this inspired gentleman." The highlight of the program, however, was Randolph Few, the former president's son. Few shared memories of his childhood, living practically on campus and watching as his father helped the University form its new identity. "On behalf of my family--and I think there are more Fews right now than have been assembled in the last 100 years--we are all very grateful," he said. "This will be a memory we'll all carry for the rest of our lives." Local artist Steven Smith, who also designed the statue of Benjamin N. Duke on East Campus and other artwork around the University, immortalized Few in bas relief. The Biddle Foundation and The Duke Endowment provided funding, and the inspiration came from University archivist emeritus William King.
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