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The Chronicle

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The independent news organization at Duke University

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2020

ONLINE DAILY AT DUKECHRONICLE.COM

ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEENTH YEAR, ISSUE 16

BLUE DEVIL SUCCESS STORIES First class of Rubenstein Scholars graduates By Chris Kuo Features Managing Editor

To be in the first class of Rubenstein Scholars was to embrace contradiction. It was saying yes to a full-ride scholarship, but also to a struggle to belong. It was receiving a letter in the mail that was so preposterous you wondered if it was a scam, thinking scholarships from big-name colleges went to students from preparatory schools, not to people like you. It was traveling to places you never thought you’d go and making the best memories with friends. It was being sent home because of the coronavirus and having to juggle school and work and family. It was graduating in a pandemic. It was knowing you were a merit scholar but feeling at times like a financial aid recipient. “You kind of feel like you walk around with a mark on yourself,” said Andie Marie Adkins, Trinity ‘20, a member of that first class. The David M. Rubenstein Scholars Program is a meritbased scholarship for first-generation, low-income students. The first 30 Rubenstein Scholars graduated in May, after four years inhabiting a University where many students come from families with six-figure incomes. Courtesy of Andie Marie Adkins Andie Marie Adkins, Trinity ‘20, was a member of the first graduating class of Rubenstein Scholars.

‘Somebody to go back to’

When Cameron King, Trinity ‘20, received his scholarship letter in 2016, his mother warned him it could be a scam. There was no separate application for what was then called

the Washington Duke Scholars program, and King had already received an acceptance letter from Duke announcing his financial aid package. “It was funny because it was the first year that we started, so I really had no idea what it was,” King said. Like King, Adkins was caught off guard by the single-page letter that arrived in her inbox one day in May. “Congratulations, you’re a Washington Duke scholar,” it read. “Call this number if you have questions.” It was “surreal,” she said, chuckling. “I remember thinking it wasn’t real at all.” The first Rubenstein Scholars entered a university that is overwhelmingly wealthy. In 2017, The New York Times reported that nearly 70% of Duke’s student body came from the top 20% income bracket, while only about 4% of students were from the bottom 20% income bracket. The median family income was $186,700, which was fifth-highest among Ivy League schools and other elite colleges. According to class profiles released by the University, firstgeneration students made up 12% of the Class of 2021, 9% of the Class of 2022 and 8% of Class of 2023. In 2016, the University created the Washington Duke Scholars program to “attract more first-generation, limited-income students and add to the socio-economic diversity of the student body,” Sachelle Ford, the director of the Rubenstein Scholars and of Duke LIFE (Low-Income, First-Generation Engagement) wrote See SCHOLARS on Page 3

Alum takes off with Blue Angels Grad student does Ironman, By Maria Morrison Managing Editor

Just over a decade after graduating from Duke, Navy Lt. Commander Cary Rickoff, Trinity ‘09, was zooming across the skies as the #6 pilot for the Blue Angels. From Blue Devil to Blue Angel, Rickoff has always pursued whatever life path brought him the most joy, but he hasn’t shied away from hard work to get there. “I grew up watching the Blue Angels, but never thought in a million years I’d be flying one,” Rickoff said. Rickoff had a fun four years at the University, living life as what he called a “normal college student.” His academics were supplemented with classes and training through the Navy Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. For fun, his fraternity brothers were always there to tailgate with him at football games, or cheer alongside him in Cameron Indoor Stadium. “It was a regular college life with military traditions and customs intertwined,” Rickoff said. For the Atlanta native, Duke was close to home but out of Georgia, which met all of Rickoff’s requirements when applying to college. During the school year, he worked toward a degree in biological anthropology and anatomy, now called evolutionary anthropology. His summers were spent on a month of Naval

training, and much of Rickoff’s free time was filled with flying. Rickoff ’s passion for aviation began early, and he earned his private pilot’s certificate in high school. This is also around the time that he learned of the ROTC program, and he decided to try it his first year as a “trial run.” He said that he doesn’t mind trying new things, testing them out and adapting as he goes. “Don’t look too far into the future,” he said. “Look right in front of you, see what you’re enjoying doing and keep going with that.” Rickoff has done his best to follow his own advice. He’s always had big goals in mind but has striven to live in the moment and not try to set the future in stone. Rickoff joined the Blue Angels in September 2018, after going through a process of interviews that he likened to a fraternity rush, along with several written applications. Since being promoted to lieutenant commander in September 2019, Rickoff has accumulated more than 1,400 hours of flight time and 180 landings on an aircraft carrier. He has been decorated with a Strike Flight Air Medal and three Achievement Medals from the Navy and Marine Corps, along with other personal awards. See BLUE ANGELS on Page 3

raises $78k to fight cancer Gracie Blackburn Contributing Reporter

At 26 years old, Daniel Cox has accomplished more than most. A Barr-Spach Medicine and Engineering scholar studying both medicine and engineering at Duke, Cox is a triathlete who recently finished his first full Ironman triathlon and raised tens of thousands for cancer donor matching. Cox was a senior in high school when he first heard about Be The Match, an organization that pairs bone-marrow

donors with cancer patients in need of a transplant. After writing a speech on Be The Match for a school assignment, he took his interest a step further and signed up to be on the donor registry. At 19, Cox found out he had been matched to a potential transplant recipient. Eager to help, he volunteered to give a peripheral blood stem cell donation. Cox said there are a lot of misconceptions about bone marrow transplants and described the process as “really easy.” See IRONMAN on Page 2

6INSIDE

Fall photos As fall classes end, campus is resplendent in orange and gold. PAGE 2

‘Freaky’ a lesson in self-confidence Director Christopher Landon combines humor and horror in this twist of the classic body-switching story. PAGE 6

Voting for privacy Courtesy of Daniel Cox Daniel Cox completed an Ironman race to raise money for cancer donor matching.

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