The Chronicle
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T H E I N D E P E N D E N T D A I LY AT D U K E U N I V E R S I T Y
MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 2019 DUKECHRONICLE.COM
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEENTH YEAR, ISSUE 4
‘Your true competitor is yourself’ By Mona Tong Local and National News Editor
Team USA fencer and Olympic medalist Ibtihaj Muhammad, Trinity ‘07, encouraged the Class of 2023 to make confident decisions based on their personal beliefs, regardless of other people’s actions or opinions. Muhammad spoke to first-year students as the closing speaker for Orientation Week in a conversation facilitated by Mary Pat McMahon, the new vice provost/vice president for student affairs. As the first female MuslimAmerican athlete to medal at the Olympics and the first athlete to compete in a hijab for Team USA, Muhammad shared lessons and wisdom she gained from her time with the sport and at Duke. Having graduated within the lifetime of the Class of 2023, Muhammad related to her audience by describing her favorite memories, professors, classes and study spaces, among other Duke experiences. “It felt like being at Duke was an opportunity to discover myself, who I was, what my beliefs were at the time, who I wanted to become as an individual,” Muhammad said. “It just gave me a really good foundation and chance to spread my wings in understanding what growth meant.” By discussing the adversities she faced in her athletic career as both a religious and racial minority, Muhammad also inspired the Class of 2023 to trust and believe in themselves and their enormous capabilities. Bre Bradham | Associate Photography Editor Ibtihaj Muhammed implored the Class of 2023 to believe in themselves, find motivation within themselves and explore new things at Duke in her talk.
See COMPETITOR on Page 13
Morocco to Duke: The journey of the faculty advancement chief By Bre Bradham Investigations Editor
Abbas Benmamoun grew up in a small Moroccan town in the Rif Mountains, dotted by olive groves and abutting the ruins of a Roman colonial town. He was one in a family of eight who enjoyed playing soccer with his friends. Benmamoun went to elementary school and middle school there, but since the semi-rural area did not have a high school, he headed to boarding school. He studied in Morocco’s capital, Rabat, before traveling to London for a master’s program. There, a professor suggested he pursue a doctorate in the United States. “I remember I didn’t have enough money to apply to schools, so I applied to one—University of Southern California at Los Angeles—because there was someone there I wanted to work
got jazz?
with,” Benmamoun said. “I applied there and got admitted— that’s how I ended up coming to the United States.” After a 20-year stint at the University of Illinois, Benmamoun came to Duke in 2017 as a professor and the University’s first vice provost for faculty advancement. “It was kind of a long journey,” he said with a laugh in his Allen Building office—4,000 miles away from his Moroccan hometown. Now, Benmamoun is entering his third year at the helm of the Office of Faculty Advancement, where he and his team provide leadership development for department chairs, assist with hiring to ensure inclusivity and help bring in diverse faculty and offer skill development programs for faculty, among a variety of other initiatives. The goal? To help faculty succeed and be productive, and to create a more inclusive Duke community. “I feel that education really is a gift that we need to treasure
and make sure we share with others,” Benmamoun said.
‘We should be willing to embrace those challenges’ In November 2015, Provost Sally Kornbluth announced at a community forum that the University was searching for a vice provost for faculty advancement. The announcement came after a series of racist and homophobic incidents on campus and a few months following the release of a lengthy report that noted the percentage of black faculty on campus was 4.4% and Hispanic faculty was 2.6%. The 2015 report suggested more diversity in faculty searches and increased attention on creating an inclusive community to aid retention. In July 2019, Kornbluth said that the office came about as See BENMAMOUN on Page 14
For info on courses and auditions contact Professor John V. Brown, Director jbrown@duke.edu / 919-660-3385 or check us out at music.duke.edu/ensembles/jazzprogram