May is a time of growth and excitement, from magnolia blooms and longer, warmer days to the celebrations popping up around campus. Along with the inherent optimism of spring on Duke’s campus, it feels that we are starting to sense what life in a more stable peri-Covid world will look like. For many, getting together in person to celebrate events and achievements, or even just to brainstorm in the same room, is a salve after these past two years. Graduation and summer opportunities provide a blank canvas for new experiences and adventures for students. This year’s graduating class spent much of their time at Duke in conditions altered by the pandemic, and yet most of the ones that I have worked with have not let that hinder their ambition or achievements. Their resilience, flexibility and grace will serve them well. In fact, the confluence of the pandemic and the national reckoning with race and racism that has so profoundly impacted their college tenure has inspired many of them to dig deeper into the impact of race, class and other socioeconomic factors on health and opportunities in the US and globally. Nowhere is that more evident than in reproductive health, at all levels—globally, nationally and locally—and current and former students are spreading the CGRH impact through this work in various sectors. Some are doing this through academic pursuits, while others are looking to go directly into jobs that have an impact. In this newsletter, we highlight some of the plans our current SRT students are working on, the experience of the Big Data for Reproductive Health Bass Connections group using novel analytic tools and methods to look at reproductive health topics, and some of the scholarship on gender, race, and health disparities at Duke. It’s exciting to see how the next generation is working to make their impact on the world in myriad ways.
