Through collaboration, creativity and a shared vision, Duke Kunshan University built a thriving recreation department with help from Duke University.
When Duke Kunshan University (DKU) welcomed its first undergraduate students in 2018, there was no gym, no sports complex and no established recreation center — just a small, hotel-sized fitness center and a vision. For founding athletic director Zarko Krkeljas, this blank slate was both a challenge and an opportunity to build something meaningful for a new generation of global students.
DKU was established in September 2013 as a partnership between Duke University in the U.S. and Wuhan University in China. Krkeljas drew on his experiences in both the U.S. and other countries around the world — and from Duke University’s well-established recreation department — to lay the groundwork for what would become a thriving department.
“We had a blank slate on how to approach the athletics and recreation program,” said Krkeljas. “On the other hand, we didn’t have students or history. We had no idea what students would want.”
Early on, Krkeljas reached out to Felicia Tittle, the executive director of Recreation and Physical Education at Duke, to learn how to adapt their culture to DKU. This initial guidance turned into a long-term collaboration. Both teams now meet about once a month over Zoom to discuss new developments in each department and inspire new ideas.
Their collaboration has spanned facility design, physical education requirements and cultural adaptation. For example, DKU students are required by the Chinese Ministry of Education to complete 144 hours of physical education classes and pass an annual fitness test — a stark contrast to U.S. universities where participation is largely optional. But Krkeljas saw this as an opportunity to blend structure with community.
“One of the biggest challenges for me was getting community buy-in,” explained Krkeljas. “We wanted to show this wasn’t just about PE classes — we want to create a community based on holistic education and development.”
This vision culminated in DKU Athletics’ move into a new sports complex in 2023 — which includes a fitness center, swimming pool, dance and yoga studios, a climbing wall, a running track and a soccer field. The department also offers a variety of fitness and wellness classes including dance, Zumba, rowing and yoga.
Krkeljas still recalls one of the most practical pieces of advice from Tittle’s team, which assisted in their new facility. When they were designing the sports complex, Tittle stressed the importance of having adequate storage space, so Krkeljas made sure the facility had ample room. “It may seem like a small thing, but there are so many valuable things you don’t consider that can make a big difference,” he said.
Even beyond infrastructure, both universities have found deeper value in how the collaboration has impacted students. DKU students have the chance to spend at least one semester at Duke, where they experience the vibrant recreational culture firsthand.
“As a DKU graduate and a newly enrolled Duke student, I’ve witnessed the growth of the partnership between DKU and Duke Athletics,” said Jingyi Wang, a graduate student at Duke. “This collaboration tightens the bond among DKU students, enhances the connection between different universities and helps students enjoy themselves in recreation.”
Although each university has a different approach to recreation, they share a common mission: holistic education both with fitness and wellness is essential to student development at both Duke and DKU.
“Sport is a language everybody speaks no matter where you come from,” said Tittle. “The more we’re able to establish that connection and as our relationships grow stronger through these collaborations, the impact can be much stronger. Collaboration is bigger than the sum of our individual impacts in our local communities, and we can show that international connection.”
