Brodhead learns Duke's path

President Richard Brodhead stepped out of the anteroom to his office and looked around the second floor lobby of the Allen Building. Somehow, at lunchtime, the president had found a free moment in his schedule.

“When we get those salads, where do they come from?” he asked one of his assistants.

“The Loop,” the receptionist answered.

The president smiled and almost raised his eyebrows as he looked cautiously back at his office and the work that awaited him at his desk. “I know where that is,” he said, looking a bit proud of his geographical knowledge. He informed his staff that on this beautiful Wednesday he was going to dash to lunch at the student hangout. “I’ll be back in 15 minutes,” he said.

Much of what the campus knows about the man colleagues all describe as clever and thoughtful, energizing and directive, stems from small, spontaneous decisions made at moments like this one. Brodhead has regularly wandered about the Duke community, at football games and tailgates as well as a plethora of official meet-and-greets. But the small talk and humor are more than just schmoozing.

One hundred days after he took charge of the University, a first draft of Brodhead’s Duke is beginning to emerge from the multitude of meetings and the periodic crises that greet the president each day. He has a knack for fostering personal connections and is already a beloved part of the University. He has learned how to immediately mobilize Duke’s resources, yet he uses that power with caution. When Brodhead talks about his accomplishments and projects, he gets bashful but he doesn’t blush.

“A hundred days is to me a completely unofficial measure,” he said in a recent interview. “What does a hundred days measure? It means you can no longer say this is your first week, nor have you yet been in office a long time.”

This article—a brief look at the way new leadership is slowly advancing the school’s path—is based on interviews with Brodhead and senior University officials, as well as students, faculty and staff who live and work at the University he is helping shape. They have all heard Brodhead’s name constantly since the lifetime Yalie was named Duke’s ninth president, but they have varying impressions of what exactly he has done so far. Looking forward from this first flashpoint, though, they are all optimistic.

In a show of solidarity, he joined students in Krzyzewskiville with a bullhorn in hand, even as he resisted the blue face paint. The coach stayed, and the president refocused his attention back to the future.

“That was a little spike that happened on my first day. And I’ve gone on to other things,” he said last week. “If you like a job like this, it’s got to be part of what you like: the sheer, unpredictable incoherence. It’s like being in a batting cage where in addition to baseballs, a great variety of other shapes and sizes come flying at you.”

Brodhead has been most visible about his decision to allow the controversial Palestine Solidarity Movement to hold its annual conference on the University’s campus. Even before school began, the president issued a statement declaring the University’s commitment to academic freedom and giving student groups the authority to control their own programming, regardless of content.

Defending and explaining Duke’s decision has taken him to Jewish community groups and alumni gatherings. Despite a firestorm of criticism from both national and international communities, his argument for a university environment that allows free discourse of ideas has won him praise, or at least respect, from a variety of national Jewish organizations and leaders, in addition to the University community.

“I was glad to see that he wasn’t shirking away from discussion about a very important subject,” said David Beratan, professor of chemistry. The Academic Council, the primary faculty governing body, also echoed support and breathed a sigh of relief at his commitment to academic freedom.

Many students who have never met Brodhead define his tenure by his stance on this issue. “I know he’s allowing the PSM conference—that’s something,” sophomore Justin Sargent said. “I wouldn’t want to have to make that decision.”

When the president formally addressed the Board of Trustees last weekend, he explained that it was not an issue he would have chosen, but it was an opportunity rather than a distraction. Meanwhile, he has moved forward with the rest of his vision for the University.

 

Follow his lead

Some of that vision has taken place behind closed doors. Administrators who work closely with Brodhead said he knows how to command action and does not shy from demanding it when the need arises. In the wake of several safety incidents in September, Brodhead called together his senior staff and told them he wanted the problem to end—now. At his command, revisions that had been discussed for weeks were suddenly implemented.

“His charm is consistent, but his expectations will vary as they need to,” said Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs. “He’s the president; he’s not afraid to say if we need something tomorrow.”

Although Brodhead’s endearing leadership and attentive curiosity have invigorated discussions among administrators, most people on campus have relied on his Sept. 18 inaugural address for their impressions of his goals. In academic robes and regal posture, Brodhead joked and sheepishly smiled while he declared his commitment to developing global health, supporting financial aid and integrating community life.

What has emerged in smaller conversations is a renewed focus on the way the University interacts with the world that surrounds it. “He has directly stated that it is this University’s responsibility and enormous opportunity to translate the extraordinary level of scholarly activity and intellectual capital of Duke to solve societal problems,” said Barton Haynes, director of the Human Vaccine Institute.

Brodhead has underscored that Duke’s obligation is not just to implement programs for temporary aid but also to create an institutional fabric that will allow long-term solutions to emerge. He has also drawn every department of the University into these projects so that humanities and science departments will mutually respect each other’s contributions.

Even though Duke often seems to shift course slowly, the tangible pieces of his outward thinking are already manifest in more than just rhetoric. Brodhead has carefully articulated his long-term goal of a four-year residential experience for undergraduates that changes as students mature. He has also begun the groundwork for a campaign to radically increase the endowment for financial aid.

By the time Brodhead talks about a project, he has already made sure it is possible; there are few who doubt the president’s word.

 

Hear him talk

Brodhead’s voice is unmistakable. Deep to begin with, it rhythmically dips in tone as he emphasizes his points. He speaks quickly and stammers when talking casually. He rarely falters in public, but his voice retains colloquialisms that people scarcely notice.

Every time he gives a speech—and he’s given dozens so far—he jokes with his audience while managing to make a directed statement about the way every piece of the University fits together to advance a single goal: building a better place for useful scholarship.

“I think he was doing that from day one,” said Maryann Black, associate vice president for community affairs for Duke University Health System. “He had a sense of where he wanted to take the University. He was in a learning mode, but he was also actively working.”

For the faculty, nothing looks different quite yet—nor is it supposed to, Brodhead said. He has been committed to forging ahead on paths that are already cut.

Many faculty have not met the president beyond a handshake. (And most of them note his firm grip.) “I think he’s been refreshingly concerned with academic programs,” said Katherine Ewing, associate professor of cultural anthropology.

Faculty have particularly noted his strong commitment to research and the intellectual connection that he talks about fostering among faculty, graduate students, undergraduates and the non-academic world. Part of molding that community has already involved alumni. This week Brodhead will begin a series of speaking engagements to connect with alumni along the East Coast. “I think what people really appreciate is how he’s jumped right into Duke, and it’s obvious that he cares very deeply about Duke,” said Sterly Wilder, director of the Annual Fund.

The alumni connections will ultimately help finance some of Brodhead’s visions for the University, but as far as the president is concerned, right now he is just getting to know Duke.

“The things that are worth doing in a university don’t begin in a new administration; they’re already underway,” he said. “And the things that will happen in the next administration won’t be accomplished in a hundred days.”

But they have begun.

Emily Almas, Paul Crowley and Matt Sullivan contributed to this story.