Dear students,
We hope you are enjoying summer and taking full advantage of your time away before returning to Duke. As we begin to welcome the Class of 2026, we are writing to encourage your participation in the Blue Devil Buddies initiative.
Blue Devil Buddies is a one-on-one mentorship program that matches incoming students with current students based on similar hobbies, interests, and/or personalities. This program seeks to aid incoming students' transition to Duke by enabling them to foster a strong relationship with a current student before the fall semester and throughout their first year at Duke. Whether it’s choosing courses or adjusting to the college environment, they can receive support from current students on a wide array of topics. We hope this program—now in its third year—answers incoming students' questions, provide them with an insight into Duke, and significantly eases their transition, both before and after arriving on campus.
Pairing will be based on similarities entered within a Qualtrics survey, which can be found below. Importantly, as this is a student-run program, your survey responses will be reviewed by your peers to guarantee the most effective pairings. However, we assure you that Duke administrators or staff will not receive access to your responses.
If interested, please sign up for Blue Devil Buddies using THIS LINK. The Qualtrics survey will close in nine days on Friday, June 24th. We anticipate matches to be released prior to first-year registration for courses. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to reach out to the Blue Devil Buddies team with any questions you may have at BlueDevilBuddies@duke.edu.
Go Duke,
Mary Pat McMahon, Vice Provost/Vice President of Student Affairs
Gary Bennett, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education
