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Blue Devils Honored with ACC Top Six for Service Awards
7/19/2024 12:10:00 PM | Field Hockey, Football, Rowing, Women's Lacrosse, Volleyball, Athletics
DURHAM, N.C. - Six Duke student-athletes were honored by the ACC with the league's Top Six for Service Award. The accolade is presented annually to six members of the Duke Athletics community from each conference institution who demonstrate outstanding dedication to community service and outreach programs.
This year's Duke honorees were Christina Barrow (volleyball), Shelby Bumgarner (field hockey), Brandon Hersh (football), Ryleigh Katstra (rowing), Sydney Smith (women's lacrosse) and Carter Wyatt (football).
Barrow is a trailblazer of her own. She has given tours to our Iron Duke Donors, has spoken on panels representing the athletic department as well as women in sports and she met with and gave an intensive tour to a local private middle school doing a project on sports and social justice. She will be serving as a Digital Archive Student Ambassador for the HistoryMakers, an archive of over 3,500 oral histories with prominent African Americans. Student ambassadors work to make their campuses more aware of HistoryMakers and its remarkable archive, which includes lengthy, detailed interviews with politicians, movie stars, musicians, style icons, and more.
Bumgarner is constantly looking for a way to serve and serves as the outreach chair for her team and serves as the community service director of the field hockey team. In this role she constantly seeks opportunities to not only share with her teammates but is also very hands on when it comes to outreach opportunities. She gives back during our athletics week of service, has been on panels to help young student athletes navigate sport and leadership and is a constant presence in our public elementary schools in Durham.
Hersh has participated in several service opportunities. He is involved in Duke's Sustainable Athletics Group, he volunteers to help serve and read at local schools and he gives his time to serve at local food banks. He has been a football representative on SAAC, where he has helped plan and lead service opportunities and has been heavily involved in Duke's annual Week of Service. Additionally, he has spent significant time at Durham Academy, volunteering his time as part of a Q&A panel for the DA athletic leadership team.
Katstra has been instrumental in maintaining and growing our partnership with Team Impact. She dove headfirst into Team Impact and has carried the event further. After being honored as Campus of the Year for Team Impact in 2022/2023, Katstra represented Team Impact as a campus ambassador in a big way. Not only has Team Impact's presence grown on Duke's campus, Katstra has been a valuable member in pushing for the matches to not only bond with the sport they are matched with, but with each other as well. She organized a media day for the matches, a first ever on campus with Team Impact. She has advocated for the families at Duke Children's Hospital and has seen our teams paired with Team Impact grow to new heights as well as implement new, fun ideas for our teams and Team Impact to do. She is the epitome of the saying "leave a place better than you found it"
Smith has also had her hand in several things. She's been on panels advocating for student-athletes and the student-athlete experience, she's heavily involved with our United Black Athletes organization and their outreach campaign, and she's found time to tutor kids in our local public schools. This past year, Smith was one of our student athletes that gave a riveting speech during our Athletics Martin Luther King Jr. Unity Rally. She usually never says no when asked to do something outside of her sport and that is a big reason why and how she has her hands in so many outreach programs.
Wyatt is constantly looking for ways to not only help out in the community, but also on campus and is a guy his teammates know they can call upon. He has a heart of giving. When there's an opportunity for him to volunteer you can count on one of two things happening: Wyatt finding a teammate (or two) to go in his place or he himself will be there with the help and support of teammates that he brought along with him. Wyatt spends a day in a local elementary school what seems like once a month. He volunteers at food banks as well as anything else he can squeeze into his days. Not only does he do a great job of volunteering his time, he is also influential in getting his teammates to join him.
Duke Centennial
In 2024, Duke celebrates its Centennial, marking one hundred years since Trinity College became Duke University. Duke will use this historic milestone to deepen the understanding of its history, inspire pride and strengthen bonds and partnerships, and prepare for a second century of continued excellence and impactful leadership. To learn more, visit 100.duke.edu
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Players Mentioned
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