The year was 1969 and members of the Duke Afro-American Society had occupied portions of the first floor of the Allen Building.
William Griffith, who was assistant dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the time, came to work early that day to find the group barricading themselves inside. “They saw me and said, “Dean, this is just something we have to do,” Griffith recalled in a 2013 interview.
Griffith began his career in 1950 in admissions. He spent the next 40 years in various leadership roles, including dean of student affairs and then vice president of student affairs before retiring in 1991. However, his legacy lives on.
In 2009, Griffith and his wife, Carol Topham Griffith, were honored for their long-standing support of the university during a ceremony to unveil the newly renovated Griffith Board Room, a student meeting space in the Bryan Center that was originally dedicated in 1982. The occasion highlighted the William J. and Carol T. Griffith Endowment and the student programs that the endowment supported.
Griffith was instrumental in the formation of the Duke Student Union and helped to make it a national model for cultivating student leadership. Griffith also had a hand in numerous other projects, including Duke Student Government; Project WILD, a student-led program focusing on outdoor activities; the Community Service Center; the Women’s Center; the Black Student Alliance; the Career Development Center; Counseling and Psychological Services; and the Publications Board.
In 1992, an award was renamed the William J. Griffith University Service Award. It recognizes graduating students whose contributions have had a significant impact on the university. He also founded and chaired Duke University Retiree Outreach, an organization that engages retirees with local service activities.
