Two MPA Cohorts Come Together for a Week of Learning, Connection and Public Service

For one group of Duke executive Master of Public Affairs students, last week’s residency was a first: their first time gathering on Duke’s campus and their first chance to get to know the Sanford School community in person.

For another, it marked an important milestone. The remaining members of the program’s inaugural 2025 cohort returned to Durham for their final residency before they graduate in December.

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The Fall 2026 residency brought those two moments together. Across five days in Durham, students took part in coursework, met with public-sector leaders, explored the city and gathered for a keynote dinner featuring former U.S. Rep. David Price, whose 34 years in Congress followed an earlier career as a Sanford faculty member.

The executive MPA is designed for experienced professionals who are continuing their careers while earning a graduate degree. The hybrid program combines online coursework with in-person residencies throughout the year, giving students the opportunity to build skills in policy analysis, leadership, management, ethics and technology policy without leaving their jobs or communities.

That structure also makes time together especially valuable. For the 2025 cohort, this residency was a chance to reconnect and welcome the students who will follow them. For the 2026 cohort, it was an introduction to the faculty, campus and city that will be part of their MPA experience in the months ahead.

Learning in Durham, Together

The week began with orientation, a campus tour and an introduction to fall coursework. New students met faculty members, learned more about career services and joined students from across Sanford’s graduate programs for lunch in Fleishman Commons.

Classes throughout the residency reflected the breadth of the MPA curriculum. Students engaged in sessions on ethics, values and public affairs; organizational culture and performance; nonprofit management and strategy; public budgeting and financial management; navigating the information environment; and cybersecurity policy and practice.

The new cohort also took its learning beyond campus during an offsite day at Durham City Hall. Mayor Leonardo Williams welcomed students before they heard from City Manager Bo Ferguson, Sanford alumna Mary Grace Stoneking and other city leaders about the work of local government.

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Through case studies on city-government reorganization and housing affordability, students considered how public officials work through complex challenges with limited resources and competing community needs. A downtown walking tour added further context about the city students will return to throughout the program.

Later in the week, the 2025 cohort joined the new students for elective coursework and opportunities to connect across cohorts. The shared time offered the newer students a chance to learn from classmates who are further along in the program, while the inaugural class could reflect on the community it has built since the MPA welcomed its first students in 2025.

Asher Hildebrand, professor of the practice and director of graduate studies for the executive MPA, told students that those relationships are among the most lasting parts of the experience.

“Spending the last few days with our students has reminded me just how valuable and precious this time together is for the bonds that will sustain you through your time in the program and, we hope, for many years to come,” Hildebrand said. He noted that students have already shown up for one another through milestones, celebrations and difficult moments outside the classroom.

A Conversation Rooted in Public Service

The MPA keynote dinner brought both cohorts, faculty and staff together at the Brodhead Center for a conversation with Price. He first came to Duke in 1973, when Sanford founding director Joel Fleishman recruited him to help develop the new program’s public-policy curriculum. Price taught political science and public policy before beginning the congressional career that would take him to Washington for 17 terms. Following his retirement from Congress, he returned to Sanford as a professor emeritus.

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Hildebrand’s connection to Price made the evening especially personal. He began his own Capitol Hill career as an intern in Price’s office and introduced the former congressman as “a boss, a mentor, a friend, and now a colleague.”

Sanford Dean J.R. DeShazo opened the dinner by welcoming the new cohort and recognizing the 2025 students for helping build the program from its earliest days. He also thanked students for investing in themselves in the middle of demanding careers.

“Programs like the executive MPA will play an important role” in Sanford’s future, DeShazo said. “A hybrid program extends Sanford’s reach. It allows experienced professionals like you to continue serving your organizations and communities while developing new skills.”

Students also bring their own experience into the classroom, he added. “That exchange strengthens everyone.”

Price’s own career offered a living example of that exchange between scholarship and practice. In conversation with Hildebrand, he reflected on the value of bringing historical knowledge, ethical grounding and time for reflection to the work of public service.

“When you’re in the middle of a public service role, you often don’t have much of a chance to reflect and to gain perspective,” Price said. “You’re kind of caught up day to day. … I think that kind of thinking and reflection is extremely valuable.”

He spoke about his path from teaching Congress to serving in it, the institutional responsibilities of elected officials and the importance of remaining committed to public service even in difficult political moments. Asked whether he would still choose to run for office if he were beginning his career today, Price’s answer was clear.

“I just think there’s a special calling to public service,” he said. “And in a democracy, if we believe in the importance of making our government work and our society work, then people have to be willing to serve.”

For the 2025 cohort, the message came at the start of a final semester. For the 2026 cohort, it offered a fitting introduction to the work ahead. Together, the students left Durham with new coursework underway, stronger connections across the program and a reminder that public affairs is ultimately about using knowledge, experience and judgment in service of others.