Both McLaughlin and Peter Roby, another former Harvard coach, remember Duncan as a dedicated, unselfish player who always put the team first—and almost never missed a free throw.

Roby says Duncan transitioned from a quiet force to a more vocal leader over his undergraduate years, noting that he could break the tension in the locker room with witty one-liners, and that he loved to listen to music.

“I think the interesting thing is that Arne liked hip-hop music, which nowadays is much more mainstream,” Webster says, with a laugh.

A REAL MORAL FORCE

Webster and Duncan became fast friends, and could often be found trekking across the river to practice—whether or not the team was scheduled to work out that day.

Sometimes a third individual would join Duncan and Webster on these walks: Duncan’s “Little Brother,” a mentee he worked with through a Phillips Brooks House Association program.

“That was a big part of his life,” Webster recalls, noting that whether in high school, college, or playing professional basketball in Australia—which Duncan did from 1987 to 1991—the future Secretary always worked with youth in a mentorship role.

Indeed, before ascending to the national arena, he worked with students in Chicago charter schools like the Ariel Community Academy.

“The students adored him not only because they were fully aware and appreciated his concerns about improving their education, but also because he made them feel special and important as individuals,” writes Kennedy School professor William J. Wilson—who knew Duncan in the 1990s—in an email to the Crimson.

His approach to working with young people resonates with the description of Duncan’s values provided by his Resident Dean in Leverett House, Thomas A. Dingman ’67, who is now the Dean of Freshmen.

“[Duncan] was a real moral force—everybody seemed to know him, and he created a real presence,” says Dingman. “He cared a lot about trying to make a more even playing field and sticking up for underrepresented groups.”

SOCIOLOGICALLY SPEAKING

Growing up as an eager scholar-athlete in Chicago’s Hyde Park, Duncan was introduced to the world of education by both his father, a professor at the University of Chicago, and his mother, who ran an after-school program at which Duncan tutored.

Sociology professor Orlando Patterson notes that in Duncan’s day, the department experienced an ideological shift away from the “prevailing wisdom” that class background was the decisive factor in a student’s educational performance.

“Arne Duncan has strongly emphasized that schools make a big difference regardless of the background of the students,” Patterson says. “I think that we, already [in the 80s], in our department were ... emphasizing that schools and neighborhoods can’t be separated and that the two were very interrelated.”