You have to remember that we grew up in a pre-civil rights era. Our experience was one of segregation: segregated communities, segregated churches, segregated schools. We remember separate water fountains. We remember sitting in the back of the bus. It was American apartheid and we grew up learning rules of behavior and conduct around that reality.
I never considered leaving Duke because there was a pioneering spirit among us. You weren’t just doing it for yourself; you were doing it for your parents, your school teachers, and for your community. Back home we were celebrities; we were doing something new and revolutionary.
William C. Turner, Jr. T ’70, M.Div. ’74, Ph.D. ‘84
Professor of the practice of homiletics
Duke Divinity School