Duke’s icons are the people everyone knows — for their kindness, passion, talent or intellect. They are the people who make your cross-campus commutes possible or who you see plastered across the television in Krafthouse.

The icons on this year’s Chron15 list are beloved by the University community for spreading joy, knowledge and Blue Devil pride.

What can you say about Cooper Flagg that hasn’t already been said?

Entering his freshman season at Duke, Flagg was hyped up as one of the greatest basketball prospects of his generation. Before he even logged a minute on the court in Durham, Flagg became the first NCAA men’s basketball player to sign an NIL deal with Gatorade. 

It goes without saying that the Newport, Me., native lived up to the hype and then some. He became the ninth player in Blue Devil history to win multiple national player of the year honors. His play was nothing short of a tour de force, featuring powerful dunks, outstanding playmaking and lockdown defense. Flagg set the Duke and ACC freshman record for points in a game and led Duke in every major statistical category — points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks. He led the No. 1-seed Blue Devils to the NCAA Final Four, where the season met its end against Houston despite a brilliant performance by Flagg.

“The thing about [Flagg] that you love is he’s unselfish, so he’s always trying to make the right play,” head coach Jon Scheyer said. “I just trust his competitiveness and his spirit and his intuition during a game to know what it takes to win.”

Luis Alonso Juárez is the beloved driver of the C1 “party bus” — students across campus know of the loud pop melodies that deliver them from West to East and back. Juárez has driven the C1 for six years, becoming a familiar face on campus through his mood-boosting bus rides. However, his life in the United States began 30 years ago, when he immigrated from Honduras. He began working for a construction company, but then transitioned to Duke housekeeping and eventually to bus driving after obtaining his commercial drivers license. 

Juárez plays a range of music genres on the bus to connect him to his passengers, and he says that he alternates between playing genres he thinks they’ll enjoy and songs that may be more unfamiliar during his daily rides between East and West Campus.

For Juárez, driving the C1 offers an outlet for creativity. He has made it his mission to create a fun environment for students, putting music on because, in his own words, “students enjoy themselves, and they’re young, and they like the music.” With long shifts being a regular part of the job, the music also helps Juárez keep his energy up on the road.

Now, he is pursuing his GED through evening classes offered at Duke and teaching English to other English language-learners — but he’s still brightening all of our days on the party bus.

– Chronicle Staff Reports

Few performances from the fall semester were more unforgettable than Ed Sheeran’s headlining of the Centennial Founders’ Day Celebration and Concert on Sept. 26. Sheeran brought his personal, stripped-down style to the stage at Wallace Wade, performing with just a guitar and a Loop Station. He crafted all of his backing tracks live, including for hits like “Castle on the Hill” and “Shape of You,” layering guitar riffs and vocals to create a one-of-a-kind concert experience.

More than just a concert, Sheeran’s presence transformed the rainy night in Durham into a magical centennial moment. From a surprise proposal in section 24 of the crowd during “Perfect” to an electrifying encore of “Bad Habits,” the rainy night was a core memory for Duke students, alumni and faculty alike. His presence elevated the entire weekend, which included a win over UNC football, fostering joy, celebration, and unity on campus. It was absolutely, as Ed would say, perfect.

– Chronicle Staff Reports

When news broke of Mike Elko’s midnight flight to College Station, it would’ve been easy to imagine him taking the magic out of Wallace Wade, but that’s exactly what Nina King didn’t do.

Enter Manny Diaz.

Diaz arrived with a chip on his shoulder after unceremonious departures from Texas in 2013 and Miami in 2021, eager to prove that he was capable of leading a Power 4 team to success. The task wasn't easy, as Diaz faced a depleted roster due to transfers and graduations. Yet, in the biggest portal haul in school history, Diaz showed his recruiting wizardry bringing in 22 players, including star Texas QB Maalik Murphy, who would go on to break Duke records.

He instilled a sense of determination and grit into the team that produced some of the most iconic moments of the year. But perhaps the most iconic moment came against UNC, when Coach Diaz gave the team a rallying half-time speech that gave them the confidence to pull off one of the most stunning comebacks of the college football season, coming back from down 20-0 in just under 20 minutes — Duke’s first win against the Tar Heels since 2018. What made the win so much sweeter was Diaz finally defeating Mack Brown, the man who fired him all those years ago at Texas.

Diaz continued this momentum, leading Duke to its biggest bowl game in over a decade and capping an incredible season. Beyond the field, Diaz immersed himself in Duke’s community, attending more Duke sporting events than even the most dedicated students. His shouts resonated from Cameron Indoor to San Antonio and the Final Four.

Long gone are the days of an empty Wallace Wade Stadium — Manny Diaz truly bleeds blue.

– Arya Korrapati, Trinity ‘27

Senior resident Dr. Rebekah Boyd is a blend of surgical proficiency, global humanitarianism and academic leadership. She graduated from Columbia University’s medical school and is a former emergency department and Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit nurse.

At Duke, Dr. Boyd leads a Global Health Bass Connections project. Her project unites students from across many disciplines and personal backgrounds to solve the world disparities of pediatric cardiac care. Under her leadership, the team is working on the logistical, political, and ethical aspects of providing greater access to congenital heart disease procedures to children from conflict zones. Currently, she is leading Bass Connections research titled “The Impact of Conflict on Gazan Children with Heart Disease.”

Her commitment to service transcends the classroom and hospital. Driven by a genuine passion for global health, she has participated in surgical missions abroad, including performing pediatric heart surgeries for underserved communities in Guyana. While these experiences have a priceless impact on lives abroad, they also carry lessons that Dr. Boyd passes on to students as they prepare to take on the world themselves — and find their own place in it.

Dr. Boyd currently serves as Director of Research for the Global Thoracic Surgery Residents’ Association. Her awards include the Academic Achievement Award for outstanding performance on in-training exams, and she has co-authored research comparing global disparities in surgical education. Dr. Boyd represents the very best of Duke's mission. 

– Fiza Khan, Trinity ‘27