A pair of Duke alums made Politico's top-50 list for ideas driving politics—for ideas from different sides of the aisle.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, Trinity '88, and William Barber II, M.Div. '89, made Politico Magazine's list of 50 ideas driving politics and the people behind them. As president of the Susan B. Anthony List, Dannenfelser, ranked 37th, has spearheaded an anti-abortion movement that has gained traction with the Trump administration. Coming in 46th on the list, Barber was recognized alongside the other co-director of the Poor People's Campaign.
Dannenfelser did not always have her pro-life views. According to an article from the Washington Post, she was named the Duke College Republicans' "pro-choice chair" in an attempt to increase membership in the organization.
"When you become a woman, come back and talk to me," Dannenfelser said, according to the article.
However, her views on abortion flipped after her first year at Duke. She spent the summer as part of an Heritage Foundation internship, and after many debates and reflections on her pro-choice stance, Dannenfelser returned and started a chapter of Students for Life at Duke.
As president of the Susan B. Anthony List—a conservative group that supports pro-life candidates and issues—she has raised campaign funds to support pro-life political candidates, especially those who are women. Her group has lobbied for restricting abortion, banning foreign aid to global health organizations that support abortions and supporting the Supreme Court nominations of Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.
Barber, president of the North Carolina NAACP, became famous for his weekly Moral Monday protests in North Carolina.
These experiences segued into his current work as the founder and leader of the Poor People's Campaign, which aims to inspire all Americans to embrace an encompassing agenda helping poor people.
Barber's vision for the Poor People's Campaign is to bring religious morality into the Democratic Party. Barber wants to raise a moral agenda that speaks to Southerners on a range of issues from universal health care to living wages.
Last year, Barber spoke at an event in Duke Chapel named "The Enduring Challenge of a Moral Economy" in commemoration of the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s death. Speaking with Bernie Sanders, Barber discussed the irony of a nation so rooted with religious values that's dismissive of the less fortunate in its policy considerations.
“We have to change our domestic policy agenda or stop lying,” Barber said at the event. “We can’t have it both ways.”
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Stefanie Pousoulides is The Chronicle's Investigations Editor. A senior from Akron, Ohio, Stefanie is double majoring in political science and international comparative studies and serves as a Senior Editor of The Muse Magazine, Duke's feminist magazine. She is also a former co-Editor-in-Chief of The Muse Magazine and a former reporting intern at PolitiFact in Washington, D.C.