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Movie Lover Knows to ‘Never Say Die’

Kyle Fox loves the 80s classic "The Goonies"

Kyle Fox and his wife, Valerie, pose at Cannon Beach in Oregon. Kyle is a huge fan of the movie “The Goonies” and visited locations in Oregon where the 1985 film was shot. Photo courtesy of Kyle Fox.
Kyle Fox and his wife, Valerie, pose at Cannon Beach in Oregon. Kyle is a huge fan of the movie “The Goonies” and visited locations in Oregon where the 1985 film was shot. Photo courtesy of Kyle Fox.

Name: Kyle FoxPosition: Associate director, University Center Activities and EventsYears at Duke: 8

What I do at Duke: I work with student organizations and individual students who want to start a group or have an event on campus. My office helps them get through the process. A big part of our team is helping groups get recognized for financing. I also work with a variety of groups in Student Affairs like Duke Innovative Design Agency, Duke University Union and others.

If I had $5 million, I would: Travel and start my own business. I'd love to hop around the world to see Greece, Turkey, lots of Europe and travel through Africa. Hitting every continent would be a goal. I'd love to start a business of my own, too. I'm constantly walking into places and thinking, "what would I do if I owned the restaurant or ran a movie theater?"

My first ever job: I worked at a mini-golf place called Adventure Island in Henderson, North Carolina. I did everything, but I primarily ran bumper boats and wore mascot suits for a giant crocodile or parrot. I was in high school, and it was my summer job. When it was super hot, we had to wear icepack vests to stay cool. You could safely be in a suit for 30 minutes, which is enough to do birthday parties and walk around a little

fox-tattoo
Fox has an arm "sleeve" tattoo that includes images from The Goonies, Gremlins and Ghostbusters. Photo courtesy of Kyle Fox.

My dream job: Owning a theater venue like the Alamo Drafthouse. I'm such a huge movie nerd. I love seeing new movies, but I also get excited when Carolina Theatre has older movies that I've seen 10,000 times, but it's exciting to see them with a crowd.

If someone wanted to start a conversation with me they should ask me about: Movies or food. I'm a huge proponent of Durham's restaurants. When new people move here, I love to overwhelm them with places they have to eat.

What I love about Duke: Even if it's a cliche answer, it's the students. They challenge me to do my job better every day.

When I'm not at work, I like to: Eat and go to the movies. I love going to the Carolina Theatre for their Retrofantasma series.

If I could have one superpower, it would be: Hulk strength. I've always thought the Hulk was really cool and having that kind of strength would make home improvement projects easier and carrying groceries would be easy, too. It's very practical because something like flying could get dangerous.

Something most people don't know about me: People know me know I like Star Wars a lot, but I usually don't let on that I know way more about Star Wars than the average person. I have a tattoo as homage to "The Goonies" on my arm. It's a full nautical scene inspired by the movie. When I was a kid, I could pop that movie into the VCR and watch over and over again.