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Climbing for a Cause

Matt Murphy ’05 reaches summit of tallest mountain in the Americas -- Aconcagua -- and does it with a mission in mind

Matt Murphy

Ask Matt Murphy '05 why he climbs mountains, and he will tell you it’s because he likes the space that it gives him to go "literally off the grid."

"My managing director likes to joke that these are the only types of vacations I ever take," says Murphy, a senior director at sports marketing firm Wasserman Media Group in Raleigh, N.C.

But trek along his path a little more closely, and you’ll see that climbing has a purpose that goes beyond a vacation.

In January Murphy reached the summit of Aconcagua, South America’s highest mountain rising 22,837 feet amid the sweeping Andes mountain range in Argentina, to raise awareness for educational scholarships for children in Zambia through a friend's non-profit, the Kucetekela Foundation (KF). Kucetekela means “hope” in one of Zambia’s major languages, Bemba.

"KF raises money to help send dedicated, hard-working children in Zambia to high school, which is not government-funded there like it is here and is, therefore, unaffordable for many families," Murphy says.

Through donations from friends and family members from all over the world, Murphy raised more than $5,100 -- the total cost to send one student to high school for a year in Zambia.

This isn't the first time Murphy has climbed for a cause.

In 2006, Murphy climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to raise awareness for educational scholarships. He says he caught the mountain-climbing bug there.

In the years proceeding Murphy has climbed Mt. Rainier in Washington and the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in Peru.

The experiences have taught Murphy, who has lived on four different continents and visited more than 20 countries, to be open to experiences and to try to be helpful to the people who cross his path. 

"I don't think I'd consider myself a ‘champion’ of one thing or another. If there's a particular platform that's important to a friend and that person asks me for support, then I'll do what I can to contribute to his or her cause," Murphy says. "I feel that those of us who have been fortunate enough to go to places like Duke and reap its benefits should be mindful that there are people out there who can, in turn, benefit from what we've gained -- whether that's mentoring members of a younger generation, contributing monetarily to a group or groups in need, or performing some other service."