Daniel Blue, JD '73

Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, N.C. General Assembly; attorney

"At Duke, I had a sort of epiphany of what the world was about."

Dan Blue grew up during segregation and Sputnik on a farm in rural Robeson County, North Carolina. He became the first African-American since the Reconstruction era to be elected Speaker of the House in a Southern state. His father worked at a textile mill to make ends meet for his family of seven. "We always had enough to eat, but my parents couldn't set aside money for college," says Blue, who graduated from historically black N.C. Central University with a math degree. Inspired by Bobby Kennedy, Blue decided to work for civil rights by pursuing a law degree at Duke, which gave him the necessary financial aid.

"I felt I'd been sheltered long enough and thought I had the ability to compete on a broader stage," says Blue, who was one of only four black students in the law school. Today Blue is a Duke trustee and helps strengthen the university's financial aid programs. "It was an incredible experience being at Duke with law students, undergraduates, med students and divinity students whose views covered the spectrum politically and philosophically."