Adventure comes easy to commencement speaker

For 75 years, the Duke environment has challenged students to learn about their world and about themselves.

Holly Cooper, a graduating senior from Raleigh and commencement speaker for the Class of 2000, loves such a challenge, and her undergraduate years have been filled with academics and adventure.

An honors student in public policy studies, Cooper pursued her longtime goal of a career in government during two Washington, D.C., internships, one in the Capitol Hill offices of U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, the other at FBI headquarters. She immersed herself in Greek history, language and culture in Athens and the Aegean islands. Other travels included Cyprus, Egypt, Israel and the Caribbean.

In Durham, she and her Kappa Alpha Theta sorority sisters worked on behalf of a children's legal advocacy group. She was a four-year member of the Dukes and Duchesses student ambassador program. Rock-climbing, hiking, marathon training and club tennis provided plenty of physical challenge. A six-week stay in Krzyzewskiville fired her passion for Duke basketball.

When Taylor Smith, sorority sister and fellow Class of 2000 graduate, thinks of her friend, she thinks of "challenge- daring- carpe diem. Holly never passes up a chance to experience something new, to challenge herself to learn, to be more adventurous than expected."

Classmate Edward Dixon, who met Cooper six summers ago at the North Carolina Governor's School, agrees. "Holly craves the thrill of adventure. One day, we decided to rollerblade down some steep hills. We successfully navigated one hill, but Holly wasn't so fortunate on the second; she plowed into the concrete, losing almost half the skin on her leg. Despite the severe pain, the last thing she wanted was sympathy. That's Holly -- the tough girl."

Frederick Mayer, associate professor of public policy and political science, saw ample evidence of Cooperís tenacity while serving as her senior honors thesis adviser. Her paper analyzed the failures of U.S. foreign policy in Colombia and recommended changes in future policy.

"It was a tough project," Mayer said. "It was difficult to obtain a lot of the government information and data. Sometimes Holly would get frustrated, but she persevered."

He was also impressed that Cooper did not jump to any conclusions during her research: "She let the evidence direct her to a conclusion, instead of coming in with her mind made up."

"We've made things worse for the Colombians and the farmers we should be helping," Cooper concluded. "Instead of helping them achieve the political stability they need to combat the narcotics problem, we've funneled in all this money without any clear, coherent strategy."

In Mayer's seminar, "Challenges in American Foreign Policy," Cooper's political views often diverged from those of her classmates. "Holly was always willing to listen to other ideas, but confident enough to state her opinions," said Mayer. "During a Campaign 2000 foreign policy debate, Holly had to play the role of a Gore policy adviser. It wasn't easy for her, but she was a good sport and a highly effective debater."

As class speaker, she'll display her public-speaking skills this Sunday during commencement exercises. A committee comprised of students, faculty and administrators selected her speech, "Free Thought and the Pursuit of Truth," from 20 entries submitted this spring.

To Sue Wasiolek, assistant vice president for student affairs and chair of the selection committee, two things stood out about Cooper's speech. "It's relevant to a broad audience, not just graduating seniors, but their friends and families," she said. "And throughout her speech, Holly touches on Duke's history and tradition, a good fit with the university's 75th birthday commemoration."

As graduation approaches, Cooper is preparing for her next challenge. Like many others of her generation, she's been drawn to the allure of the new "dot-com" economy. This summer she'll head for San Francisco to work for AllAdvantage.com, a company that pays Internet users to look at online ads while they surf the Web. One of the Bay area's hottest start-ups, AllAdvantage.com has grown to 600 employees since its founding barely a year ago.

AllAdvantage.com is an "infomediary" site, enhancing the exchange of information between consumers and advertisers. It's a brilliant marketing concept, but failure to protect individual privacy rights could spell disaster. Part of Cooper's responsibilities will be to help AllAdvantage.com safeguard user security and comply with privacy policies. She calls it her ideal job - one that combines personal risk-taking with public service.

"I've learned a lot about myself at Duke," she said. "If a new opportunity excites me, I'll jump at the chance to do it. I'm not the sort of person who says, 'In 20 years I want to be doing this or that.' And I don't want to look back in 20 years and have to say, 'I wish I'd done that.'"

Reprinted with permission from The Dialogue.