This Blue Devil embraces Tar Heel traditions
Rushing Franklin Street is just one way Robertson scholar Clark Easley is making the most of his Campus Switch semester.
Clark Easley was a two-time high school debate state champion and wants to be a lawyer.
Recently he had to defend his decision to rush Franklin Street to his Duke University friends.
Easley is a sophomore Duke Robertson scholar, meaning he primarily studies in Durham but is part of the Robertson Scholars Leadership program, a unique opportunity for undergraduate students to study at UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke while receiving a full-ride scholarship.
Easley is living at Carolina this semester as part of the program’s Campus Switch experience and taking all but one of his classes in Chapel Hill. Living at the sister institution helps scholars develop “a sense of allegiance to both universities,” the Robertson website reads.
With a “when in Rome” mindset, Easley is taking that idea to the extreme. After Carolina beat Duke in men’s basketball last month, he partook in the tradition of rushing Franklin, joining the party and celebrating alongside thousands of Tar Heels.
“People have been like, ‘Oh, my God, I can’t believe you did that,’” Easley said.
He also fended off teasing from his fellow Blue Devils when he posted a video on Instagram (in the style of LeBron James’ “The Decision” special) about coming to Chapel Hill on the first day of classes.
“I’m a Duke fan. I love Duke, and I love Duke athletics, but I’m at UNC this semester, so I feel like I get the best of both worlds,” he said. “How many people can say that they are able to be a Duke and a UNC fan?”
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A less controversial opinion Easley has: The Robertson Scholars program enables students like himself to benefit from two world-class institutions located roughly nine miles apart.
He’s certainly proof of that. Easley is a public policy major at Duke and pursuing a philosophy, politics and economics minor at Carolina.
Born in Charlotte, Easley lived in Kernersville, North Carolina, until he was 9, when his family moved to the Chicago area. In making a college decision, he prioritized studying at a smaller university, hence his Duke interest. (Further complicating things, his father is a Wake Forest University alumnus.)
But as a Roberston scholar, Easley is taking advantage of the opportunities of a large school like Carolina.
“This school feels like 15 different Dukes,” Easley said. “I’ve been able to find myself in so many different places and arenas, which I’ve really liked.”
He’s captivated by his POLI 203: Race, Innocence and the Decline of the Death Penalty course and said the public policy class on natural disasters he’s taking with assistant professor Cassandra Davis is “the most interesting course I’ve ever taken.”
Easley envisions a law career in which he protects those “lacking in their ability to advocate for themselves.”
“The courses I’m taking at UNC have highlighted that even more,” said Easley, who spent last summer in Mississippi teaching sixth-graders English and public speaking through a Robertson program. This summer he’s headed to South Africa with other Robertson scholars to do research on apartheid and sport.
Right now he’s enjoying dorm life at Morrison Residence Hall, taking the spot of a fellow Robertson scholar currently living at Duke. Easley also attends events with the Carolina chapter of his fraternity, Omega Psi Phi.
When the semester wraps up, it’s back to Duke. But Easley’s excited because he knows additional opportunities in Chapel Hill await him as his Robertson journey continues.
Rushing Franklin isn’t the only Tar Heel bucket list item he’s checked off, either.
“I’ve done the first sip” at the Old Well, Easley said. “I actually wasn’t expecting there to be a line, so that was an experience in and of itself.”
“This is such a unique Robertson experience to be like, “I go to Duke, and I’m rushing Franklin because I have friends at UNC — and I also technically go to UNC,” Easley said. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)
