An NFL sports counselor.

A globe-trotting egg farmer.

A Las Vegas chaplain.

They couldn’t seem more diverse, but these three Walden University alumni and soon-to-be-alumni share a common goal: to make the world a better place. For Galen Duncan ’07, Ph.D. in Psychology and director of player development for the Detroit Lions, making a difference is about creating positive role models. For Ruth Ann Hendrix, a Ph.D. student whose family farm produces millions of eggs every day, public health is paramount. And for Charles Bolin, a Ph.D. in Psychology candidate and a Las Vegas chaplain, helping people of different backgrounds is a lifelong calling. What these individuals share is a mission—a social change mission—and their stories illustrate that regardless of the twists and turns in each individual journey, Walden helps guide the way to a rewarding destination.

When Galen Duncan was growing up in Southfield, Mich., his mother, a schoolteacher, expected a lot of her kids. “I got a master’s degree,” she liked to tell her son, “and you have to do one better.” But Duncan was an avid athlete who enjoyed playing baseball and basketball. He admired his father, a health educator who also coached high school basketball, and he daydreamed about receiving Most Valuable Player awards, not advanced degrees.

Duncan played college basketball at Lake Superior State, but says he never attained a level of proficiency that would justify a career as a professional athlete. Despite his limitations, his love of sports intensified. So instead of giving up the game, he decided to pursue a career in sports counseling and sports therapy.

Duncan enrolled in the Ph.D. in Psychology program at Walden in 1999 while working three jobs, including one as a college athletics counselor. Despite the challenge of balancing work and school, he persevered, concentrating his studies in Health Psychology. In 2007, he completed his dissertation, Motivation in Team Sports.

“Walden taught me to be an independent learner,” Duncan says. “At first it was difficult for me not to have a classroom.” But as the technology for online classrooms improved, he says, “It made it easier for me to be able to manage working online.” Duncan says the online environment also taught him to self-motivate, “to push myself to be a scholar. And I’m proud of myself for earning that degree.”

Now the senior director of player development for the Detroit Lions, Duncan helps players develop the very qualities that Walden nurtured in him—self-sufficiency, a level head, and the patience and perseverance to master long-term goals.

“Joining the NFL is a huge life-skills change for players,” Duncan says. “Suddenly, these guys are in a new situation with an inordinate amount of time and money. In these instances, it’s not uncommon for guys to do frivolous things, especially the younger players. My job is to offer them guidance.”

One pitfall for new players, Duncan says, is that they are vulnerable to being taken advantage of by old acquaintances. “All of a sudden people come out of the woodwork asking them for favors. I ask, ‘Was this person there for you your whole life? Or are they just using you?’ I encourage them to make strong business decisions, and to understand their rights as players and as members of society.”

Duncan says one of the most rewarding aspects of his work is being a role model for others, especially children.

“Because I’m an African American in a city where a lot of the males don’t put their best self forward, I like helping the younger population see something being done right,” he says. “And I take pride in the fact that my own kids don’t have to look outside the home for heroes.”

While most people admire the heroism and strength of NFL players, Duncan sees the side of them others don’t see—the confusion and vulnerability that can ensue when players are unprepared for high-visibility and high-stress situations. “Some of these guys think the money and the glory will last forever,” he says. “I tell my players, ‘You can use athletics, but don’t let athletics use you.’”

While other families dreamed of vacations at Disneyland or at the beach, Ruth Ann Hendrix’s family was different. Her parents had founded Rose Acre Farms, a chicken farm in Seymour, Ind., in the 1950s. Whenever they had the chance, the family would visit chicken farms around the country, even around the world.

“In the fifth grade we traveled to Mexico to visit a chicken farm there; at 13 or 14 we went to Africa,” says Hendrix. Those early experiences sparked her curiosity about how the agricultural practices of different cultures impact public health issues.

After college, Hendrix planned to enroll in the Peace Corps but felt obligated to return to Rose Acre Farms, which was expanding rapidly. She spent the next two years marketing the farm’s eggs. But public health was never far from her mind; she often visited grocery stores to ensure that the eggs were being stored and handled properly.

In 1984, she married and eventually had three children. But this didn’t slow her thirst for knowledge—she earned her Master of Public Health degree at Indiana University in Indianapolis, with a concentration in epidemiology. But when she began searching for a Ph.D. in public health program close to her home, Hendrix came up empty. That’s when she learned about Walden University. “As a working mother, of course, the idea that you could do your coursework online was very appealing,” she says.

After confirming the university’s accreditation, she took a closer look at Walden’s program and liked what she saw. So she signed up and went to a residency. “We epidemiologists are evidence-based people by nature,” she laughs. “I had to go and meet people in order to judge it, and I have been so pleased with the program.”

Hendrix enjoys taking advantage of networking opportunities with fellow students. “Most of my fellow students have had real-world experience. Some have worked in the pharmaceutical industry; others are in food safety. I can learn from them, and they are eager to know more about what I do and what I can teach them.”

As the corporate secretary of Rose Acre Farms, Hendrix applies her Walden coursework to real-world situations every day. With 14 locations in six states, Rose Acre Farms has about 20 million laying hens, each one producing several hundred eggs per year. For Hendrix, the health of the chickens and their products is paramount.

As a member of the American Egg Board, a national organization that promotes eggs, performs research, and investigates egg safety issues, Hendrix also has the opportunity to cast her influence beyond her family farm. “Walden taught me to be rigorous and ask the deeper questions,” she says. “That’s so important when you’re dealing with agriculture and public health.

“Americans consume an average of five eggs a week, but the Japanese consume even more—one a day,” she says. “And yet the Japanese have a much lower rate of cardiovascular disease than we do. I think now people are learning the importance of eating less processed foods, eating foods lower on the food chain. We’ve come full circle on the food issue. And that’s part of what [Walden faculty member] Dr. [Hadi] Danawi taught us. What does the latest scientific research show in relation to the big picture? How is that relevant to daily life?”

When most people think of the infamous Las Vegas Strip, they imagine stories and characters straight out of a Hollywood screenplay: teenage runaways, high-stepping showgirls, fortunes made and broken in a single night, greed, desperation—all the extremes of human experience.

According to Chaplain Charles Bolin, those stereotypes are not far removed from the truth. In his 14 years working on the Strip as chaplain at the Riviera Hotel and Casino, he heard innumerable stories filled with all the drama of a classic film noir. “I helped a lot of people through distressing times,” he says.

Because of his own turbulent adolescence, the California native recognized how important it is for teens to have caring adults in their lives. Bolin first thought of becoming a chaplain after he read The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson, a story about a country preacher who ministered to juvenile delinquents on the mean streets of New York in the 1960s. “But I didn’t want to work in a church,” he says. “I prefer pastoral counseling and crisis intervention. I think it’s a great way to make a difference in people’s lives, to reach out to them when they are at their harshest crisis point and need help the most.”

After graduating from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, Calif., Bolin moved to Las Vegas. He had been enlisted by the Church On The Strip to provide backstage Bible study courses for dancers and stagehands.

Bolin also became a chaplain with the Air Force Reserve, and had a chance to travel to Honduras. “I saw guys who were devastated emotionally and spiritually from what they experienced in the military,” he says, “and I knew I needed to find a way to help them.” Wanting to practice military chaplaincy on a higher level, Bolin took courses in traumatic stress through the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, then decided to pursue an advanced degree in counseling at Walden University. “After 9/11, I began to see how many people were using religion and spirituality to cope with traumatic events like terrorism, and I realized we need to bring theology and psychology together,” he says. “I already had a master’s degree in divinity, but wanted a ‘secular’ degree, to have credibility in the mental health community as well as the theological community. So in 2003, I enrolled in the doctoral specialization in Health Psychology at Walden.”

Bolin says that Dr. Wayne Lever, the chair for his dissertation, was especially helpful. “He offered courses dealing with medical crisis counseling and grief therapy,” Bolin says. “That was right up my alley, and the courses were so powerful.”

Bolin completed his coursework in December 2007 and is working on his dissertation, Spiritual and Religious Coping for Traumatic Stress. Pointing out that 59 percent of people will turn to a faith-based resource when faced with a traumatic life event, Bolin says it’s especially important that chaplains are adequately trained.

“One of the things I’m excited about for the future is trying to get approval from the Pentagon to create a task force to develop a comprehensive program looking at what chaplains do for people in traumatic and stressful situations,” he says. “As chaplains, we are on the front lines. Is what we do really helping? And if so, how? Walden has provided the ability to ask these questions and to find the answers.”

NextRising Above the Credential Gap