Danica Bajaj seeks to bridge diverse communities at Duke University

A second-generation immigrant, the undergraduate Young Trustee finalist wants to make Duke’s social scene more accessible across backgrounds

By Arun Kumar

Danica Bajaj, an Indian American undergraduate Young Trustee finalist at Duke University, hopes to promote institutional equity and accessibility, driven by her passion to build connections with people from diverse backgrounds.

“[As a second-generation immigrant], I didn’t see many more people like me in the scene that I was in, and I wondered if bringing social life back to campus could make a change to that,” Bajaj told the Duke Chronicle.

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Bajaj, a senior majoring in computer science with a minor in philosophy and a Robertson Scholar, has been motivated to “[step foot] into many … different pools of Duke” throughout the past four years, the student journal says.

Her commitment to bridge diverse communities is further reflected in her extensive involvement on campus, according to the Chronicle. In particular, she is invested in reforming Duke’s social scene to be more accessible to those across different backgrounds.

In a collaborative effort between Bajaj and Student Affairs, Bajaj helped organize the Central Campus tent, where student groups can host large-scale social events without concerns over safety and access to health and safety resources. The initiative came amid uncertainties regarding the future development plans of Central Campus, which has been abandoned by the University since 2019.

In a summer project funded by the Robertson Scholars Leadership Program, Bajaj explored the psychological and social aspects of wellness across workplaces. To engage fellow undergraduates on the science and practice of gratitude, she founded and currently teaches the house course The Gratitude Equation: Adding Joy to Life at Duke.

The course encourages students to cultivate gratitude in their everyday lives. To Bajaj, gratitude means “seeing the abundance that we have in our lives is more than enough.”

She is also a strong advocate for the University’s goals of climate action and sustainability through the Climate Commitment. She aims to support the Duke Hospital system in taking steps to achieve carbon neutrality while making health resources and services more inclusive and accessible.

For Bajaj, serving on the Board of Trustees would offer her the opportunity to “return the favor to Duke in any way that [she] can.” She envisions Duke as “a place that people feel so proud to attend that long after they leave, they still want to be involved.”

“The amazing thing is that anyone involved with Duke has an incredible personality, and they’ll be willing to work with you,” Bajaj said. “Go in and be bold and trust yourself, and you’ll be amazed by the results you can achieve.”