A Front Door to Community-Engaged Research That Benefits Durham and Duke

Setting up an activity board at the launching event for the Community Engagement Center.
Setting up an activity board at the launching event for the Community Engagement Center. Photo by Bill Snead/University Communications and Marketing.

Duke President Vincent Price and Durham Mayor Leonardo Williams touted the launch of Duke University’s Center for Community Engagement Wednesday as a way to bolster purposeful partnerships with the city, region and the nation.

The two leaders agreed: Working together to improve the quality of life in one of the nation’s strongest economic and educational centers offers an opportunity to alleviate a historical “legacy of distrust” between the Bull City and the Blue Devils.

Several hundred people, split fairly evenly between Duke and community members, attended the event at the Durham Convention Center. The centerpiece was a morning fireside chat, “Building Bridges for Tomorrow,” with Price and Williams, moderated by John Simpkins, a Duke alumnus who now serves as CEO of MDC, a Durham organization that supports community partnerships.

The center represents a new chapter of community-based scholarship at Duke, Price said. He said it will serve as an “interdisciplinary hub” to facilitate “collaborative scholarship between community partners and Duke faculty, staff and students to address pressing societal challenges.”

One goal of the center is to remove administrative barriers to community-engaged scholarship, from challenges in drawing up contracts for partnerships to logistical barriers such as transportation to and from campus.

This work is not new. Price said one of the things that attracted him to Duke was its history of exploring ways to “mobilize education and resources across the whole region and do it in a way that’s integrated and collaborative” with community partners. 

In creating the center, Price said Duke will amplify that existing community work. Central to the center is the idea that community groups will be full partners in identifying critical areas of research. Duke teams will listen and work with the community groups in developing the project, then turn the data over to them to implement solutions.

“The solutions must be community solutions,” Price said.

Duke President Vincent Price converses with moderator John Simpkins and Durham Mayor Leonardo Williams.
Duke President Vincent Price talks with moderator John Simpkins and Durham Mayor Leonardo Williams.
During the program's closing fireside chat, Durham Tech President J.B. Buxton, Durham Public Schools Superintendent Anthony Lewis and Duke’s Stelfanie Willams addressed collaboration by local institutions.
During the program’s closing fireside chat, Durham Tech President J.B. Buxton, Durham Public Schools Superintendent Anthony Lewis and Duke’s Stelfanie Willams addressed collaboration by local institutions.

Williams said he is regularly surprised to learn about the extent of Duke research and service in the community but understood the university’s reluctance to advertise the effort. However, he added that silence “can create a void.”

The city and university have now “started telling that story together,” Williams said. “And so, here we are. The center is going to take this to the next phase of that trust.”

Several community members at the event said they were there out of curiosity and wanted to learn more about it. Eric Guckian, CEO/President of Greater Triangle United Way, left the event saying he hoped the organization would be able to engage with the center.

“We wake up every day at United Way thinking about how we can drive community-driven solutions and that is exactly what this center is here to do,” Guckian said. “Folks who are working just to survive and make ends meet -- that is exhausting. You get a little bit above that line and then you can start to really enjoy your work. We want everybody in Durham above that line.”

Goldstein Named to Lead New Center

After a national search, Deborah (Debbie) Goldstein has been selected as the new associate vice president/associate vice provost for community-engaged scholarship. Goldstein joined Duke in 2020 as the executive director of the North Carolina Leadership Forum and became the senior director for community engagement in 2024.
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Presentations throughout the day included spotlighting three successful long-term collaborations: “Ready, Set, Resilience,” a project in Carteret County that translates lessons from nature’s resilience into better support for educators and kids; “Mental Health and the Justice System in Durham County”; and the Southeast Regional Coalition for University-Assisted Community Schools.

The center will be a collaboration of Duke Community Affairs and Duke’s Office of Interdisciplinary Studies. Debbie Goldstein will direct the project as associate vice president/associate vice provost for community-engaged scholarship, and Mina Silberberg, professor of family and community medicine, will serve as faculty director.

Several hundred people attended the day-long event and engaged with speakers on community issues. Photos by Bill Snead/University Communications and Marketing
Several hundred people attended the day-long event and engaged with speakers on community issues.
Vice President of Community Affairs Stelfanie Williams.
Vice President of Community Affairs Stelfanie Williams
Vice Provost for interdisciplinary Studies Ed Balleisen
Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies Ed Balleisen
Provost Alec Gallimore
Provost Alec Gallimore

“I can’t emphasize enough how important this center is to Duke’s academic mission,” said Provost Alec D. Gallimore.

“Duke physicians, social scientists, engineers and many others on our faculty have been doing community-engaged research in Durham and the region for years. The launch of this new center puts a new level of investment and commitment behind that idea. It signals that we are in this for the long term. We are committed to being good partners with our community, recognizing that our challenges are the same, and we are all in this together.”

Stelfanie Williams, vice president of Duke community affairs, said the center’s far-reaching goal is to foster “sustained and enduring relationships and partnerships” while finding ways “to adapt together while maintaining our character and resilience. 

“This will require information-oriented problem solving, active listening, giving grace and looking for the best in each other,” she added.

Edward Balleisen, vice provost for interdisciplinary studies, said the work starts with improving “our ability to listen to and work with community partners.” It will be a mutually beneficial effort, he added, bringing faculty expertise and the talents of Duke students to community organizations “while improving students’ understanding of the world around them and helping them think more carefully and reflectively about their roles.”