Undergraduate Young Trustee finalist Jax Nalley hopes to leverage his love of and extensive involvement with Duke in order to strengthen the University’s capacity to impact more students and navigate current tensions in higher education.
A senior from Springdale, Arkansas, Nalley is majoring in public policy and romance studies. He is also a Robertson Scholar and dual-enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After graduation, Nalley plans to attend law school with the goal of becoming a civil rights lawyer focused on issues of economic justice in the South. He described coming to Duke as a “fairytale” and credits the University with shaping him into the person that he is today.
Amid federal attacks on higher education, Nalley hopes his upbringing in a rural area of the South where “elite education was never a given” will allow him to contribute an underrepresented perspective to the Board of Trustees.
“I think that Duke is considered among a pool of universities that a lot of people just don't trust,” he said, noting a “disconnect” between institutions like Duke and “certain segments of the population.”
If selected as a Young Trustee, Nalley hopes to help Duke navigate these tensions by reinforcing its core mission and values while making the University more accessible and welcoming to those who feel alienated from it.
In addition to his commitment to accessibility, Nalley aims to prioritize expanding Duke’s community impact and centering the University’s civic mission, particularly in the South. He believes Duke is uniquely situated among peer universities with opportunities to serve the region, pointing to the University’s recent Initiative for Students from the Carolinas as an example.
During his time at Duke, Nalley has been an advocate for the student body, establishing the Karsh Student Advisory Board to provide student perspectives on financial aid decisions. Through the board, students were able to push for the creation of Duke’s supplemental food point initiative — in which eligible students received $600 additional food points in the 2022-23 academic year to help cover rising food prices on campus.
Junior Tara Singh pointed to this work as a testament of Nalley’s ability to create “policy that endures, build relationships and make meaningful change at Duke.”
Nalley has also been involved with Duke Student Government for all four years and currently serves as chief of staff. He had a key role in spearheading several campus initiatives, including a program offering students free shuttles to Raleigh-Durham Airport.
Singh, who currently serves as DSG’s vice president of campus life, worked with Nalley on the shuttle program and recalled his thoughtfulness throughout the process.
“We spent hours in Gothic Grill, literally hand-matching people into buses and managing everyone's timeframes,” she said. “I think that that project was really a testament to his hard work and the incredible dedication he has to the Duke community.”
Singh also described Nalley as “an incredible person to collaborate with, to work with, to talk with” and a remarkable mentor.
Nalley has worked as an intern in the White House, served on the Trinity Board of Visitors and the Duke Board of Trustees Undergraduate Education Committee and advocated for people facing homelessness and financial hardship in Durham.
Even as much of his campus involvement has revolved around student advocacy, Nalley sees the Young Trustee position as a different kind of role.
“It's a fiduciary responsibility, meaning it's much less about having an agenda, and it's much more about synthesizing solutions in a way that works for the whole of Duke, seeing things at a global, universal scale,” Nalley said.
He credits his Duke education and the opportunities it has provided with expanding his worldview and helping him think about the bigger picture. Nalley spent a semester studying at UNC-Chapel Hill, a semester studying theology abroad at Oxford University in England, a summer studying in Provence, France, and a summer working with New Orleans Public Defenders through the Robertson Scholars Leadership Program.
Deborah Reisinger, professor of the practice of romance studies and dean of undergraduate education in Trinity College, taught Nalley in one of her courses and worked with him on the Trinity Board of Visitors. She was also in Provence with Nalley as the director of the Duke in Provence program.
“What sets Jax apart is his deep investment in Duke — not just as a student, but as a citizen of the institution,” she wrote in an email to The Chronicle, emphasizing Nalley’s thoughtfulness, humility and drive. “In my opinion, he embodies the very best of Duke: a commitment to excellence, a generous spirit and a future-oriented mindset grounded in integrity and care.
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Holly Keegan is a Trinity junior and a senior editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.