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My name is Dakota Douglas, and I’m honored to be a Graduate Young Trustee finalist. As a proud North Carolinian and “double Dukie,” Duke has shaped my legacy in ways both personal and profound.
Growing up in a home deeply impacted by disability—my brother is on the autism spectrum, and my grandmother has congenital blindness— I witnessed how unequal access to resources creates disparate outcomes.. Understanding disparity comes with a duty to act. My name, from the Lakota Sioux, means friend—a role I embrace in every community I serve.
My family’s connection to Duke reinforces this truth. My grandmother, an Eastern North Carolina native and disabled child tobacco sharecropper, relied on Duke as a patient receiving care at Duke Hospital and a person sharecropping to support the American Tobacco Company and her family. Her experiences inform my understanding of institutional impact and allyship, and why community experiences are the backbone of Duke’s institutional identity and a centennial of development. My history drives my involvement at Duke—fostering belonging as an RA, conducting community health research, and developing my graduate thesis with the Duke-NCCU Bridge Office.
Duke is more than an institution; it is home and a force for transformation. As a Young Trustee, I will remain a steadfast friend to the Duke community, leveraging community partnerships to advance our strategic vision. As Duke shapes my path, I will shape its future, unifying policy and practice to create a home that will shape generations of Blue Devils through this century and beyond.