Dear Duke students,
The past several months and life amid the pandemic have challenged us in ways we could never have imagined. We remain struck by the myriad ways in which you—the Duke student community—continue to care for one another, your families, and your communities. Some of you have asked how you might take additional steps to support your fellow students. Today we are writing to share such an opportunity—a new, student-initiated way for you to help support your fellow Duke students.
Blue Devil Buddies is a one-on-one mentorship program that matches incoming students with current Duke students based on similar hobbies, interests, and/or personality characteristics. The program—designed by the Duke Student Government—aims to help students navigate their transition to Duke by fostering a connection with a student who can provide support and advice for the fall semester. Think back to your transition to Duke—perhaps you wondered about the rigor of your classes, what your social life would entail, or which clubs you’d join; our incoming students face these same decisions under drastically different circumstances. Whether picking classes or adjusting to the college environment, new students could use support from a mentor on a wide range of topics.
We strongly encourage you to join this student-run program and serve as a mentor for an incoming student.
The time commitment will be very flexible and is completely up to you. If you choose to participate, you will be paired with an incoming student based on a Qualtrics survey and asked to watch a short introductory video to guide you through how you can connect with your mentee. Importantly, as this is a student-run program, your survey responses will be reviewed by your peers, not administrators or staff; the questions are simply to facilitate the most effective pairing.
Please sign up to be a mentor using this form. The Qualtrics survey will close in two weeks—on Sunday, June 14—with matches released in the coming weeks. Again, you can find the form here: https://bit.ly/DukeMentors. We thank you for your willingness to help the Class of 2024 during this most crucial time of transition. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to the Blue Devil Buddies team with any questions or concerns at BlueDevilBuddies@duke.edu.
Sincerely,
Gary G. Bennett
Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education
Mary Pat McMahon
Vice Provost for Student Affairs
