Six Honored at Cook Society Ceremony Tuesday

Six members of the Duke and local community where honored
with "Sammie" Awards for their civic engagement Tuesday night at the
15th annual dinner of the Samuel DuBois Cook Society.

Cook, the first African-American faculty member at Duke for
whom the award is named, told attendees "satisfaction is destruction"
and urged them to "reach for higher possibilities."

Distinguished service award winner Dr. Evelyn Schmidt, the
retired director of Lincoln Community Center in Durham, echoed Cook when she
spoke of Durham's ever-changing community. "When we see change it keeps us
on our toes," Schmidt said. "Those who know me know I've been
critical as well as positive. I am never satisfied."

She said Durham's diversity has made it a "cosmopolitan
community" and that the many doctors, nurses and nurse practitioners will
have to learn a new language to be effective in a diverse environment.

President Richard Brodhead gave introductory remarks and said
the "extraordinary diversity and talent" in the room would not have
been possible before integration. Next year marks the 50th
anniversary of the admission of the first African-American undergraduates at
Duke.

Other award winners included William J. Griffith, Duke's
vice president for student affairs emeritus; Allison Curseen, a doctoral
candidate at Duke who has co-instructed a literature seminar at Orange County
Correctional Center in Hillsborough; student Alexandra Swain, Duke Student Government's
vice president of Durham and regional affairs; Chandra Guinn, director of Duke's
Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture; and Rev. William C. Turner Jr., a
professor of the practice of homiletics and the pastor of Mt. Level Baptist
Church in Durham.

For more information on the award winners, click here.