Hawken grad travels with Duke University president

A Duke University dean looked at Geoff Bass `04 and, out of probably thousands of students, saw something special. The North Carolina school was in the process of interviewing student candidates for a new public event series "A Duke Conversation," and Geoff, a junior, was recommended by the dean to be a part of the new program. The selection committee of administrators and staff agreed with the recommendation and chose Geoff to be one of two students who traveled to Cleveland with University President Richard Brodhead when "A Duke Conversation" made its only Ohio stop on Thursday, November 9 at Severance Hall. Thursday`s \"conversation\" was the university`s attempt to, according to ADukeConversation.com, \"engage in a dialogue with alumni, parents, and friends...around the country about the many contributions Duke is making to the world.\" Geoff, who`s majoring in history with a minor in English and chemistry, spent his portion of the event speaking about how he`s working to make a difference. As a co-chair of the First-Year Advisory Program at Duke, he helps oversee and develop yearlong orientation programming for first-year students while working with a budget of over $250,000. He`s also involved in the Duke University Emergency Medical Services, a student-run, state-and-county recognized, 911-activated emergency services provider. Last year he was a founding member of "Fix," a color photography publication. While the successes of one individual are usually the result of a collection of influences in their life, Geoff acknowledges that Hawken played a significant role in his triumphs today. "While the rigorous academics at Hawken have undoubtedly enabled me to succeed at such a challenging institution, I feel that my years at Hawken cannot simply be limited to my time in the classroom," he said. \"Rather, Hawken, its ethos, faculty, staff, and coaches, helped equip me to be a capable and effective leader able to approach challenges with success.\"