Elliot Johnson: An Ambassador for Duke

Graduating senior
Elliot Johnson is young and exuberant. He walks into a room with confidence and
enthusiasm, and when first meeting him, it's clear there is little he could find
daunting. The young native of Huntsville, Ala., likes a challenge.

That's one reason why
his work with Common Ground will leave a lasting impression with him and at
Duke. Of his various extra-curricular activities at Duke, and there are many, this
program that encourages Duke students of many backgrounds to share stories and
perspectives is one Johnson is particularly proud of.

"[Common Ground]
gives you an intimate chance to talk about race and gender and sexuality and
socioeconomic status," he said. 
The talk is not just in an abstract way, "but how does it affect
what we do at Duke?"

These conversations
take place during biannual retreats with 75 students; both students and administrators say its influence extends far beyond the participants.

"It helps people
understand another point of view," he said. "It pushes you out of
your comfort zone. Not only are you talking to people you wouldn't normally
talk to at Duke, but you're giving your opinion and your ideas about these issues
that make you uncomfortable.

"I do not like
to use the word change, because it implies everyone involved was affected in a
similar way," Johnson said. "The number of participants each semester
is small, but there is a conscious effort to ensure they are diverse (in every
sense of the word) representatives of the entire Duke undergraduate community.
Therefore, the impact can be seen through the way the participants share their
experiences with their friends and expand their perspectives, even if it is in
a small or minute way."

In addition to Common
Ground, Johnson was active with the Duke University Union, where he served as
vice president for internal affairs his senior year and was selected by his
peers as the "most valuable player."

This record and
personality made Johnson an ideal ambassador for Duke, his role as a member of
the "Dukes and Duchesses," who assist Duke officials at special
events.  He's also welcomed
hundreds of Duke freshmen to campus: For three years he has helped organize
Orientation Week as a member of the First-Year Advisory Counselor board.

During his four years
at Duke, he also kept busy as a teaching assistant for a class on the
anthropology of race taught by Lee D. Baker, Trinity College dean of academic
affairs; as a student assistant with Duke Athletics Sports Marketing & Promotions; as a member of
the Undergraduate Conduct Board, the Senior Gift Committee, the Last
Day of Classes Committee, and the 2011 Final Honors Committee; and as a
volunteer with Duke Habitat for Humanity and the Black Student Alliance. Even
with all this, he also sang with the United Praise gospel choir.

Johnson credits both
of his parents with "pushing me and my brother out of our comfort zones,
challenging us to not just do what everyone else was doing and not to take the
easy way out."

The next step for him
will be a job in merchandising with Abercrombie & Fitch. He starts in
August, and coincidentally his brother Christian, who is a year older and has a
degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, will start
working there the beginning of 2012.

The two brothers will
be reunited once again, this time at Abercrombie & Fitch's headquarters in
Columbus, Ohio. Johnson, who majored in English with a minor in cultural
anthropology, is looking forward to the challenge of living in a new city and
meeting new people, and this time he'll be equipped with all he's learned both in
and outside of the classroom at Duke.

"When it comes
right down to it, this place and the relationships I've made (here) have
literally changed my life," he said. "Four years later I'm realizing
it's not always about me. It's about other people and developing those
relationships and being able to get out of your comfort zone."