Duke University

Join us Tuesdays at 8pm in White Lecture Hall!

Duke RUF is a community of students at Duke learning together from Jesus and the Bible what it means and looks like to love God and love others. Our mission is to reach students for Christ and equip them for a lifetime of service to God and to the world. But we are also a community where you can belong before you believe. We exist for the convinced and the unconvinced, the sure and the skeptical. If you at all find yourself interested in exploring the claims of Christianity, learning about Jesus and the Bible, exploring big questions around meaning, significance, existence and God, or are just looking for a community of friends to connect with, we’d love to have you check us out!

Join Us

Large Group

Tuesdays at 8pm
White Lecture Hall

Monday Night Dinners

Mondays at 6pm
Matt’s House (927 Green Street - 7 minute walk from East Campus)

Freshmen Girls Small Group

Thursdays at 8pm
East Union 040 (Under Marketplace)

Freshmen Guys Small Group

Thursdays at 8pm
East Union 041 (Under Marketplace)

Co-ed Sophomore Small Group

Thursdays at 8pm
WU 248

Co-ed Upperclassmen Small Group

Thursday at 8pm
WU 216

Connect

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Meet Our Team

Matt Mahla

Matt Mahla

Campus Minister

Matt is a native New Englander, growing up just outside of Boston. For college he decided to try something new and headed south to attend Vanderbilt University. At Vanderbilt, Matt grew tremendously in his faith in Jesus through the presence of RUF and a strong community of Christian friends. He also met his wife, Bethany. They got married shortly after college and moved to Charlottesville, VA, where Matt served as the RUF intern at the University of Virginia and Bethany worked at a start-up pharmaceutical company. After an unexciting year in an office job for Matt, the Mahlas moved to Boston for Matt to attend Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and for Bethany to teach at an urban charter school through Teach for America. The Mahlas had Vance in 2016, and Elise followed after in 2018. Matt graduated from Gordon-Conwell with a Masters of Divinity and an MA in Counseling and worked for a year as a social worker in Boston. He became the RUF Campus Minister at Duke in 2018.

Matt’s favorite part of being the campus minister is hanging out with Duke students - he says it every week in large group! So hit him up for lunch, coffee, a run, the driving range, anything. The whole family loves to have Duke students over, so definitely head to their house for a Monday Night Dinner. When not on campus, you can find Matt exploring new places with Bethany, chasing after his kids, running, cooking, getting depressed watching Vanderbilt sports, or chipping plastic golf balls in his yard in hopes of one day actually being good at golf.

Anna Claire White

Anna Claire White

Intern

Anna Claire grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma and graduated from the University of Tulsa in 2023. There she earned her Bachelors in Exercise and Sports Science alongside studies in Spanish and Psychology. Coming into college, she had never had an intentional, Christ-pursuing family or community and found just that in RUF- it was a beautiful blessing that surrounded her with people who exemplified Christ’s love and grace, encouraging her to grow in a deeper relationship with Him. She is so thankful for RUF and can’t wait to continue serving as an intern at Duke! In her free time she loves to be with her dog daisy, read, hike, ski, and visit local coffee shops!