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Ten miles still separate Duke University and Carolina, but a
soon-to-be-launched bus service is expected to -- symbolically and otherwise --
help bring the two schools closer together.
The bus service, scheduled to run every 30 minutes between the two campuses,
will be available to students, faculty and employees of both universities. The
service is fully funded by the new Robertson Scholars Program, a collaborative
academic program between Duke and Carolina that will begin this fall with 30
first-year undergraduate students.
The unique program calls for the Robertson Scholars -- 15 will matriculate at
the University each year and an equal number will matriculate at Duke -- to
take classes at both campuses and to spend a semester living on the other
campus.
The bus service, to begin Aug. 21, will be officially launched with a ceremony
Aug. 31 that will involve Carolina Chancellor James Moeser, Duke President
Nannerl O. Keohane and others boarding the bus on the Duke campus in front of
Duke Chapel and riding the 10.7-mile route to the Morehead Planetarium lot on
the Carolina campus.
"We fully expect this remarkable academic program to build on the many
collaborative relationships that already exist between our two fine
institutions and to promote interaction between our student bodies," Keohane
said. "The bus service is a vital part of making this happen."
Moeser agreed. "The buses will help foster stronger bonds between both of our
campus communities and represent another exciting milestone for the Robertson
Scholars Program."
Even though the $340,000 cost of the bus service is being picked up by the
Robertson Scholars Program, program director Eric Mlyn said the service is
available to all university community members who have proper identification.
"I have heard from many people on both campuses who have expressed their
excitement and support for this service, and who look forward to using it in
order to have access to the best that is available on both campuses," Mlyn
said. "We welcome them on the buses."
The Robertson Scholars Program was launched last year through a $24 million
gift to the two universities by New York investment manager Julian H. Robertson
Jr. and his wife Josie. Julian Robertson, who grew up in Salisbury, is a 1955
business administration graduate from Carolina, and Josie Robertson is a member
of Carolina's Board of Visitors.
One of their three sons, Julian Spencer Robertson, graduated in 1998 from Duke
and is now a teacher in New York public schools. Another son, Alexander Tucker
Robertson, graduated from Carolina in the spring.
The program will provide full tuition, room and living stipends at the
University and full tuition at Duke. It also will provide laptop computers to
all students in the program, special seminars in the scholars' freshman and
senior years to be taught by faculty from both campuses, access to service
learning opportunities, a pre-enrollment retreat and bi-weekly dinners during
the fall semester to encourage acclimation to the cultures of both campuses and
three summers of support for service, travel and research. Each student also
will have access to the institutions' complementary programs as well courses
that are not available on their home campus.
The first group of Robertson Scholars was chosen from 84 recruited finalists
who spent a weekend at both schools last spring. Eventually, there will be 120
Robertson Scholars on the two campuses.
The bus service, which can accommodate handicapped passengers, is initially set
to run from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday; from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on
Saturdays and from noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays. The buses, to be operated by Duke
Transit, can hold approximately 50 passengers.
Mlyn said the new bus service will serve as an important link between the two
schools. "The Duke/UNC Express Bus is a pivotal element in the fulfillment of
the vision of Julian Robertson to build bridges between Duke University and the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill," Mlyn said.
"By providing convenient reliable and free transportation for all members of
the UNC and Duke communities, we are confident that students, faculty and staff
will be able to take full advantage of the academic and cultural offerings on
both campuses."
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