Durham, NC - Duke community members have a new way to keep tabs on how the university interacts with Durham.

The Office of Durham and Regional Affairs recently launched a new online newsletter that provides information on Durham activities involving the office and Duke's community partners. Faculty and staff are able to read the bi-monthly e-mail newsletter here and can also sign up for it to be e-mailed to them.

The newsletter provides content from community members, lists of activities in the community and updates from the Doing Good in the Neighborhood campaign, which helps support more than 30 local organizations.

Phail Wynn, vice president for Durham and regional affairs, said he hopes the newsletter encourages faculty and staff to learn more about what they can do for the community at-large and help Duke become more involved in Durham.

"We wanted to provide a high level of visibility for the many wonderful outreach and engagement efforts taking place," Wynn said. "We want to make Duke employees and students aware of the many opportunities for volunteer service that exist beyond Duke's borders in the Durham community."

In the first issue on Oct. 8, Keithen Bennet, an eighth grader at Durham School of the Arts, wrote about his experiences with Student U, a six-week summertime academic program for middle school students partially funded by Doing Good in the Neighborhood. Bennet wrote about her favorite part of the summer -- a trip to Washington, D.C., organized by Student U.

"Going to DC had always been a dream of mine, and it came true because of Student U," he wrote. "I think the great experiences and the exciting classes at Student U really help students believe in their dreams."

Other features in the Oct. 8 edition highlight the Southwest Central Durham Quality of Life Project and how Duke is helping to teach children technology skills with computers and cameras.

The next edition of the newsletter will be released on Oct. 23.