Student body president commits to ‘elevating the student experience’

Devin Duncan shares how his summer internship will influence his leadership and what most excites him about the new year.

This story was originally published on unc.edu.

Like many of his fellow students, Student Body President Devin Duncan ’28 is eager to get started with a new semester at Carolina. The junior from Cincinnati, Ohio, is double-majoring in public policy in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences and media and journalism at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media. He spoke with The Well about his summer and the year ahead.

What did you do this summer?

Through Morehead-Cain’s Civic Collaboration program, I spent part of the summer in Jacksonville, Florida, working as a consultant with the Jacksonville Civic Council. Much of my work focused on examining workforce development efforts across the region and identifying opportunities to strengthen the systems that connect people to education, training and employment.

Will this experience shape how you approach your SBP role?

A lot of my summer internship was based on looking at what’s going right, what’s going wrong, what people need, what people want and what’s already happening — then synthesizing that information into a solution to solve a community question.

In Jacksonville, the question was “How do you create a program that gets people connected to opportunities that help them grow?” At Carolina, I’m using that same ethos to ask, “How do you continue to elevate the student experience so that everyone has the ability to thrive?”

How do you plan to answer that question?

I want to help create a student experience that’s first in excellence.

College students are living extraordinarily complex lives — from artificial intelligence, mental health challenges, financial burdens and much more. When looking at how Carolina can navigate this, I think we need to look at our standing as the nation’s first public university not only as a historical statement but also as a directional one.

Being first should compel us to keep asking what’s next. I think that means continuing to showcase why public education is important. And there’s a framework to do that with our world-class faculty, our billion-dollar research enterprise and our more than 1,000 student organizations.

How important are your fellow students’ voices in your work?

Extremely important. I will continue to be radically transparent about what’s happening at our university, and I recognize that I act as a steward for my peers in rooms they’re not typically in. I’m a big believer that students shouldn’t just be affected by decisions; they should help shape them.

That belief is one reason creating a Student Experience Council was one of my top priorities. That effort was made possible thanks to the support of Senior Vice Provost for Student Success James Orr and Chancellor Roberts, who had a similar idea that was fast-tracked with a great deal of momentum.

What are you most looking forward to as a new school year begins?

There’s a wonderful evolution happening at Carolina. It excites me that I’m going to be able to see a lot of this evolution up close, from Carolina North’s development to incredible research.

Mostly, though, I’m excited to serve students. That’s my entire commitment, and I look forward to what we’ll be able to accomplish.

How do you balance your own academic responsibilities with your SBP duties?

To be honest, I’m a college student navigating the same challenges as my peers. It can be a lot some days, but I’ve learned a lot about time management over the past several months. I take my academics very seriously because Carolina offers some of the best courses in the world, so I try not to get caught up in everything that’s happening outside of that.

I’m a student first, and one who’s just so happy to have the opportunity to help shape a better campus for everyone.