Rooted in Service: Alexis Mosu Reflects on Community, Identity, and the Power of Saying Yes
Alexis Mosu (left) with fellow Root Causes volunteers at an outreach event. As Volunteer Coordinator, Alexis helps connect Duke students with opportunities to address food insecurity through culturally responsive service. “You see people take what they’re good at and turn it right back around to help the community,” she says.
As a Durham native, Alexis Mosu arrived at Duke already carrying a deep connection to the place—but it wasn’t until she took a service-learning course that she truly found a way to give back to her community.
“I’ve been in Durham since 2008,” she says, “but I’ve never been able to serve the community the way I have now that I’m at Duke.”
A biology major with minors in global health and Spanish, Alexis discovered service-learning in her first year through Spanish 306: Health in the Latine Community. The course, taught by Professor Joan Clifford, connected students with community-based health initiatives, including the student-led nonprofit Root Causes. It was a moment of alignment Alexis hadn’t anticipated.
She continued with Root Causes well beyond the semester, eventually becoming its Volunteer Coordinator while also serving for five semesters as a Service-Learning Assistant (SLA) for Duke’s community-engaged Spanish courses. She’s known for her ability to welcome and mentor new students—many of whom are stepping into community-based work for the first time.
“Every semester, I see students realize they can make a difference. It’s a powerful thing to witness.”
That impact is multiplied during semester-end reflection events, where students and community partners from across sectors—libraries, food pantries, bilingual classrooms—gather to share their experiences. “You’ve got pre-med students and folks working on digital literacy and bilingual education—everyone’s all in one room having these conversations,” she says. “You see people take what they’re good at and turn it right back around to help the community.”
At Root Causes, Alexis has worked closely with the organization’s “walk-up table” program, which redistributes food and hygiene items from local stores to anyone in need. That face-to-face interaction, she says, was life changing.
“I’ve learned what real need looks like,” she says. “But I’ve also realized how important it is to serve in culturally competent ways—not just handing out food but making sure it reflects the cultural backgrounds and specific needs of the people we’re serving.”
That kind of reflection has shifted how Alexis sees her path in medicine. While she came to Duke planning to be a doctor, service-learning reframed what that role could mean.
As the 2025 recipient of the Betsy Alden Award for Outstanding Student in Service-Learning, Alexis has been recognized for her thoughtful facilitation, her deep roots in Durham, and her leadership in shaping a more justice-centered model of engagement.
When asked what advice she’d give to other students, she doesn’t hesitate:
“Say yes. When you get the opportunity to meet new people, try something new, or put yourself in a space where folks are coming from different places, different languages, different backgrounds—say yes. You’ll gain a better perspective on how to serve.”