Get to Know Labin Duke
While visiting Nashotah House for Alumni and Commencement Week last May, I sat down with the then newly appointed Vice President for Institutional Advancement, Labin Duke, and asked, “What inspired you to come here from a school so many times our size?”
As an invested Nashotah House alum, I was curious about who we’d brought on at this critical time—it was a bit of a loaded question. I knew, of course, that he had the credentials for his new role, but during our conversations it soon became clear that Labin actually got it—a deep appreciation for Nashotah House’s mission and the formation that takes place here. And in the months since his arrival, Labin’s heart for this seminary, its history, and its mission have only grown and become more evident. Recognizing the fruit of “Real Presence and Real Preparation,” Labin maintains that Nashotah House is the place to form the next generation of Christian leaders for the mission of the church.
Like so many of us who join this community, Labin and his wife Mallory listened to God's call and the encouragement of his priest and left everything behind to bring their family of eight here to join in the great adventure that is Nashotah House. Arriving from Texas at the end of February 2019—in time for their six children to enjoy their first-ever snowstorms—they hit the ground running. In just his first months on campus, Labin’s enthusiasm for Nashotah House, leveraged alongside his vast experience gained while working at larger academic institutions, has yielded a fruitful year for the House’s advancement efforts—marking our highest fundraising year on record.
Underpinning that financial milestone is Labin’s commitment to building and nurturing relationships with our longtime supporters and inviting others to join our network of partners. For Labin, the work of fundraising begins with gratitude for those who have invested in the House, whether as first-time givers or decades-long faithful donors. As one expression of that gratitude, last November Labin instituted Thanksgiving Tuesday, when—for the first time in memory—board members, administrators, and staff contacted each of our donors to offer a personal “thank you.” Also in an effort to facilitate and improve ongoing communication with the House’s network of friends and donors, Labin spearheaded the transition to a new donor database—a move that not only saved thousands of dollars but streamlines internal operations and allows us to better recognize and serve our constituents moving forward.
Meanwhile, over the past year Labin has also led the charge to expand the Nashotah House community by offering on-campus winter and summer courses to newcomers for free, thereby eliminating a financial barrier that might otherwise prevent prospective students from testing the waters on continuing their education. We see this as a way to extend Nashotah House’s mission of empowering the church for the spread of the Gospel, while also inviting more people to benefit from our course offerings and experience life on campus.
Surprise! We got you on camera. At Nashotah House, everyone takes a turn tidying up in the kitchen.
Beyond these initiatives, in an ongoing desire to maintain and strengthen connections among alumni and tether them to the wider, global Nashotah House community of friends and supporters, we’re about to launch the Nashotah Chapter. A new online resource that builds off the “chapter” tradition here on campus, where students and faculty gather after Evening Prayer to share announcements and updates at the end of the day, the vision behind Nashotah Chapter is to provide alumni and supporters a forum for announcements as well as an opportunity to hold virtual theological discussions on a range of topics related to ministry life.
It’s been a busy year in our Advancement department. When you meet Labin, it is obvious that he is all in on answering God’s call for him and his family. His gifts are truly and squarely rooted in the administration and advancement of the House, and his heart is for the formation of those who will go and make disciples. As an alum, and now a member of Labin’s team, I’m delighted to be a part of this work.
Watching Labin and his family join with the rest of the Nashotah House community in worship or at community meals, you get a real sense of how God is preparing the next generation for the mission to which he has called every believer to be a part. A vignette that illustrates this formation for ministry occurred as I was transitioning to my new role at Nashotah House last fall, splitting my time between Wisconsin and Tennessee. Labin and his family invited me to stay with them while I was in town, and I was graciously welcomed by the entire Duke family, welcomed despite their already full house (remember, six kids?), and welcomed with warm and cheerful hearts. During one of my stays, the Duke family invited me to join them for Evening Prayer in their living room; at that moment, I knew I was surrounded by a family with a love for the things of God. I also knew that Nashotah House had been firmly placed in the hands of someone who first and foremost loves God and the church and saw for myself a man and his family with a heart for Nashotah House.