TWC director Ducree seeks to help the underprivileged

Nestled in the row of stately mansions on Prospect Street one finds the unlikely Third World Center, soon to be renamed the Carl A. Fields Center for Equality and Cultural Understanding.

Despite its remove from the center of the campus, its mission is central — to promote cultural diversity — and its director, Heddye Ducree, works to ensure that always remains the center's aim.

As director, Ducree works toward her vision of the center as "a viable, vibrant place for campus engagement and collaboration as we explore the issues of diversity, equity and cultural pluralism."

She added that the center seeks to provide a setting and space "where all students will feel comfortable addressing collective and individual identities, and also societal and campus concerns and challenges."

Ducree hopes to create several programs to facilitate the attainment of her goals.

Currently, she is working collaboratively with colleagues for monthly faculty/student lunches, alumni lecture series, diversity workshops and social justice leadership seminars.

Ducree also serves in a variety of administrative positions, including that of "dean-on-call" for approximately a month per the year in order to respond to emergency student situations.

She works with both the administration and students to provide and gain perspective on student diversity at Prince-ton.

Ducree works with the Dean of the Office of Under-graduate Students and the TWC Governance Board in order to plan cultural, social, and support programs.

She meets regularly with student groups in order to keep herself up to date on current student issues.

"I have an open-door policy and encourage students to drop in . . . I am happiest when connecting with and making a difference in the lives of students."

Kathleen Deignan, Dean of the Office of the Dean of Undergraduates, described Ducree as "an outstanding director of the TWC. She has been a support and a mentor . . . Many students have flourished in leadership positions at the center and in student organizations that work closely with the center because of Heddye's strong, compassionate and ethical approach to work."

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Taufiq Rahim '04, current chair of the TWC committee, considers Ducree "an asset to the Princeton University community. Her function as the Director of the Third World Center only highlights a small portion of her impact on campus. She is the administrator striving for cultural vibrancy and the principles of equality and tolerance on this campus."

Ducree's career as a voice for the underprivileged started before she set foot on Princeton's ivy grounds.

She worked for 10 years as the director of Gateway East Health Services in East St. Louis.

She came to Princeton in 1992 to serve as both director of Community House and interim director of the TWC, of which she became the official director of in 1995.

"I was deeply impacted by the despair, hopelessness and the deaths of too many bright young people in marginalized, fragile, underserved communities. Community House, and later the Third World Center, provided an opportunity to look afresh at research, programs and innovative strategies to strengthen and empower communities of color," she said.

In addition to directing TWC, Ducree volunteers for the Trenton program Kids With Wings, acts as a mentor, is active in several community groups, and attends the Shiloh Baptist Church of Trenton. She also said she enjoys hosting parties, interior decorating, gardening and roller-skating.

Ducree said she never forgets the plight of the downtrodden.

"For those of us on Princeton's campus . . . in the midst of immense wealth and privilege, we cannot afford to forget those who remain in fragile, underserved communities locally, nationally and globally where oppression and exploitation are daily experiences."