It seems that if you ask any Duke students about their first experiences of arriving on campus freshman year, they will recall the positive spirit and unwavering energy of their FACs. The first interactions new students have with upperclassmen is with their first-year advisory counselors who assist the freshmen by unloading their cars, carrying their belongings to their new dorm rooms, and making move-in-day as exciting as possible. However, the counselors and their leaders, the FAC Board, do so much more beyond this. The FAC Program works to make the first-years’ adjustment to college life as smooth as possible through an unrivaled passion for Duke and a strong will to impact the future of this campus. This year’s co-chairs of the FAC Board, Sarah Haas and Lizete Dos Santos, are eager to do just that.
The enthusiasm Sarah and Lizete display when discussing the FAC Program is truly inspiring. Their genuine love for Duke translates to their goals and visions as FAC Board co-chairs. They recognize the value of the FAC Program as an organization that is “transformational for this campus,” and these two motivated young women understand that the FAC Program is “affecting future generations at Duke.”
“It’s a group on campus where I can see the direct impact that it’s making for students and the possibilities of the future impact it can make,” Sarah explained.
Lizete echoed this conviction and noted that “the FAC Board is a chance to impact Duke culture at its very inception, when a freshman first walks onto this campus.”
Both Sarah and Lizete espouse an enthusiastic passion for Duke and hope to convey those passions to future classes of Duke students.
By sharing how much you love Duke, you can inspire the first-years to find their own passions at Duke, Lizete said, emphasizing the FAC Program’s goal to inspire the students “to find that own love for themselves.”
Sarah added that the combination of a love of Duke and a love of the people here can be channeled into an “empowering group” but also one that is “fun and exciting.”
The unique variety of people on Duke’s campus provides an opportunity for the first-years to find mentors with whom they can relate. In order to accomplish this, the FAC Board co-chairs work to organize a FAC program that is representative of the diverse and versatile students at Duke.
Sarah explained that in order “for this program to be successful and effective on campus, it starts with the Board.” The co-chairs envision that “the Board mirrors the community that we want to see at Duke.” The FAC Board is comprised of students who come from “all walks of campus life… It is a group of people who may have never met each other if it weren’t for FAC Board.” Nevertheless, though the members of the Board come from diverse backgrounds and bring varied perspectives to the group, they all “revolve around a shared passion for Duke and this program,” Sarah explained with enthusiasm.
Lizete feels the same way about her experiences with the FAC Program and the FAC Board. “The people that you meet are so multi-faceted. I’m just constantly impressed…by the range of activities they’re involved in and the unique perspectives they bring to the program and to the school. The interaction between us is what makes Duke, Duke. You can have these incredible experiences with people who come from a totally different walk of life than you but share the same love of this campus.”
Sarah and Lizete recognize the challenges of their role as co-chairs of the FAC Board, but they are eager and excited to take them on.
They realize that the FAC program plays a crucial part in the first-years’ transition to a “new stage of life”, which tends to be “a very vulnerable time” for incoming freshmen. However, the FAC program provides mentors who truly care about the first-year students.
It can be incredibly challenging for first-years to adjust to the rigorous demands of college, realizing the difficulty of college life after the excitement of being accepted wears off. Lizete noted that the FAC Program seeks “to make sure first-years still know they are valued and they are special. We want them to feel like part of this community.”
“The FAC Program is very much the face of the university. They are the first people students and parents see. It’s important that people come here and feel that they’re valued, they’re wanted, they’re needed,” Sarah said.
Lizete and Sarah are chairs of the FAC Board, overseeing an organization of 250 people. The challenge comes in assuring “that each and every single person of those 250 represents Duke, loves Duke, and is really going to help to transition the first-years into the Duke community,” Lizete resolved.
As a result, they envision an organization that can “put the university’s best foot forward” and by increasing conversation within the program, continue to help it grow. Both Sarah and Lizete seek to expand the scope of the organization and continually move it forward. Their vision centers on facilitating a supportive community. The FAC Board constantly strives to develop a community, ensuring that the sense of community translates to the FACs who can consequently communicate that to the first-years.
They also explained that the process of selecting the organization’s members is “incredibly intentional” as they seek to find the right fit to a puzzle. “No piece looks the same and no piece is more important than another, but they all fit together to make this one beautiful image,” the girls described.
It is evident that Sarah and Lizete take great pride in the goals and accomplishments of the FAC Program and that they are visionaries who will work to facilitate its future growth and development. Their passion for the program and for the people and opportunities at Duke keeps the excitement and novelty of move-in-day alive and present throughout the entire four years of college.
If you’re interested in becoming involved with such an influential organization on campus, look out for the FAC applications in the spring!