Bill Hoye
Bill Hoye: New Dean of Admissions Helps Build Duke Law Community
We learn better in environments where we are working with people who have viewpoints and experiences different from our own
- Bill Hoye
Bill Hoye, the Law School’s new associate dean for Admissions and Financial Aid, arrived at Duke in late November, just as winter came to Durham and admissions season was ramping up. Hoye, a lifelong Californian, took it all in stride — beefing up his winter wardrobe and embarking on an ambitious admissions plan that includes helping the School “be the very best it can be.”
A graduate of the University of California at Santa Cruz, Hoye comes to the Law School with more than 21 years experience in admissions, having spent a decade in undergraduate admissions at the University of California before becoming dean of admissions at the University of Southern California Law School. Hoye says he particularly enjoyed getting to know the students he recruited to USC, and looks forward to continuing that involvement at Duke.
“You lose track of undergraduates when they become students–it’s hard to maintain any kind of a relationship. The law school is much smaller, so you are able to watch students progress over time and develop and grow, and do really extraordinary things both in terms of service and scholarship. It becomes very rewarding as an admissions officer to not only have brought them in, but also to have remained connected to the students while they are here, to be of service and able to support them in reaching their goals.”
Hoye’s responsibilities at USC included oversight of financial aid, registration, and records; as a result he was very involved in the delivery of student services. He says that integration of duties and constant communication with colleagues and students helped him build a successful class each year.
“One reason for my success at USC was the opportunity to be very connected to the day-to-day happenings of the law school. I was able to understand what kinds of students worked really well there and what sorts of situations created issues for our community.”
Duke’s size and location are particular strengths from an admissions perspective, says Hoye.
“Here we have the advantage of being a smaller community where both faculty and students tend to see the school as the center of their personal and professional lives. That sense of community happens less, perhaps, in a very busy urban environment, so it’s an important aspect of the experience to highlight to prospective students.” He wants to make sure that admitted students visit the campus, sit in on classes, and personally connect with students and faculty, to ensure they get a full sense of the “Duke Law experience.”
Hoye says he looks forward to bringing together an ever more “diverse community of scholars” at Duke.
“We learn better in environments where we are working with people who have viewpoints and experiences different from our own. It’s easy to become complacent or to feel like you have achieved your goal because some number tells you that. Diversity goes well beyond numbers and checkboxes. It needs to be a constant theme if it’s going to be successful. There’s always room to grow, while preserving what we have that has been so successful for so long.” He also stresses the importance of maintaining integrity in the review process for prospective students.
“In our country now, we tend to define merit based on a number, or a three-digit standardized test score, or a ranking,” Hoye says. “While I don’t underestimate the value of those things, they don’t tell the whole story. It is really important to evaluate the whole person in the admissions process. And that means taking the time to read thoroughly and carefully every application more than once and getting different viewpoints from different readers in order to come to some decisions that make sense for us as a community.”
Hoye says he simply loves his work. “Over the years, I have found continual satisfaction in finding candidates with extraordinary academic records, but also from time-to-time, individuals who may not have had the most promising record on paper, but who had other very compelling aspects of their background that convinced me that they had unusual potential, and after admitting them seeing those students thrive in law school, and as lawyers. It’s just an extraordinary opportunity to bring top students to this kind of institution and for us to really benefit from their contributions.”