Sitting on the Chapel steps, Ramón Valencia tells me I shouldn’t miss Alejandro Escovedo, a rock ‘n’ roll musician from California, in concert this November on campus. I don’t really know of the singer, but Valencia told me, “I’ve seen him twice already, and I really like his music. You should check him out.”

Originally from Mexico, Valencia has been working at Duke as a driver for three years, and has been in the United States for more than 20. Although he now drives the C-1 during the day, he once had the night weekend shift, which he really liked. Valencia said the shift was initially shocking because he wasn’t used to the intense partying atmosphere that takes place here at Duke. He said he really likes his current day shifts, especially because he feels students truly appreciate his work.

As a member of the Duke community, Ramón takes full advantage of all the resources the University offers him—and the rest of us. From the great performances brought to campus to the library services, Ramón’s Duke ID is constantly in use. In his free time he often goes to Perkins Library to check his e-mail or finish the book he has been writing for four years now. “It’s for my son, his birthday present,” Valencia said. “I want him to know and understand my story and to be aware of how lucky he is to live in this country.”

As I Googled Alejandro Escovedo’s songs and listened to his music for the first time–which I must say has a cool beat to it—I thought of how Valencia’s story is a great example of integration into the Duke community. Being one of the very few Latin American drivers, Valencia has made good friends among his co-workers and has fully assimilated into the American life. Not only that, but his impressive sense of the University’s resources and opportunities available to him make me wonder about the role of Duke, and really of any university, to be a force of integration and social mobility.

Duke takes diversity seriously at least in writing, as can be seen by President Richard Brodhead’s message on the Web site for Diversity at Duke . Whether true diversity exists here or not, or whether it will, is another story. But it’s impressive that the University devotes so much time and money to build “a place where students, employees and scholars come together from different continents and states.... [A place] where diversity is not measured in numbers only but in the inclusive, welcoming, stimulating climate we all experience as members of this community,” as Brodhead’s message states. On the surface the message sounds a little naive, but many of the actual initiatives seem promising.

And Ramón knows it. When I ask if he is planning on eventually going back to Mexico, he gives me a look of uncertainty. As much as he would like to have a house by the beach there one day, he really likes it here.

And there is a major force that will certainly keep him around for a while: his son, who is now 13 years old. “When I first came, I heard about the educational benefits our children may receive as employees of the University, and that is something that really motivates me to stay,” he told me.

Certainly, it should be a major motivation. Through the Children’s Tuition Grant program employees who are eligible can apply for a grant—up to 75 percent of the weighted average of Duke tuition—for their children to pursue their undergraduate studies in any accredited college or university. There are, of course, several other conditions and requirements, but in general these benefits are an exceptional opportunity for staff members and are ultimately a positive force of social mobility.

By encouraging the children of all employees (from professors to kitchen staff) to go to college, Duke is allowing among many others, first generation children of immigrants who work here to have access to higher education, as well as children of American parents who might not be able to afford it. And that’s a remarkable way of supporting the kind of diversity and integration that children like Valencia’s son, and hopefully many more, will be able to experience.

Andrea Patiño is a Trinity sophomore. Her column runs every other Tuesday.