NYT/AP: Duke University Releases Report on Campus Culture

[DeepModem Mom]

Duke Releases Report on Campus Culture
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: February 28, 2007

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Duke University needs to become more diverse, inclusive and engaged, a committee concluded Tuesday in its evaluation of campus culture following rape allegations involving the lacrosse team.

The committee called for a new course requirement for undergraduates focusing on racial and class differences in the United States, and increasing admission standards at the elite, private university in Durham.

A university official hesitated to commit to any of the proposals.

''I don't think any of the recommendations should be considered anything but starting points for conversations,'' Provost Peter Lange said.

The report barely mentions the March 13 party thrown by the school's lacrosse team, where a women hired to perform as a stripper told police she was attacked by three men in a bathroom. The local district attorney dropped rape charges against three indicted players late last year, and later turned over the case to state prosecutors after he was charged by the state bar with several ethics violations.

The players, who have steadfastly maintained their innocence, still face charges of sexual offense and kidnapping. The new prosecutors have not said whether they plan to bring the case to trial....

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/sports/AP-Duke-Lacrosse-Campus.html

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

1. not a bad idea...

The committee called for a new course requirement for undergraduates focusing on racial and class differences in the United States,

That isn't a bad idea in and of itself, but the odds of that being done in a way that will anything but offend everybody or be considered a joke are pretty low, and were that to serve as some sort of introductory to the arts and social sciences, it would alienate alot of students from those areas.

[Silver Gaia]

2. That's a general ed requirement for graduation here

in the CSU system. It's really not treated any differently than the foreign language requirement. There are lots of different ways to satisfy it, from sociology classes to lit classes to film classes and so on. There's even one in puppetry in the theater department that works to satisfy the requirement (very popular, too!). The soc class I took to fulfill the requirement was great. It covered race, gender, ethnicity, class... very comprehensive and conducted with sensitivity. Of course, this is California, where we already live with a lot of cultural diversity all around us--hell, going to the grocery store can be an exercise in diversity around here!--and that is not quite the same as in NC, I suppose. (To head it off at the pass: I'm not criticizing the South. I'm actually a transplanted Southerner myself. Just stating an observation, having lived both places.) Bottom line: I think it's a good idea. Anywhere.

ETA: The class I took was an online one, too, which added quite a lot, I think. We posted in a forum, just like we do here. Since we couldn't see each other, we didn't know what race/gender/class etc. other students might be (unless they told us). I think it helped to make the students feel more free to express their thoughts without fear of being judged, and of course, the prof made sure we adhered to strict netiquette rules (no flames allowed). It ended up being a really interesting class.

[Triana]

3. There you go...

Just personally, I think such a course ought to be part of not ONLY college undergrad curriculum, but High School as well, as well as classes on good interpersonal communication (vs bad, verbal abuse, etc.).

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

4. when I went through it,

I suppose my jaded feeling is those who are tollerent were raised that way, those who aren't won't have it endoctrinated into them and will probably become worse for the attempt. Angry white men being what they are.

I went to a pretty small school so the courses were limited, but the course I went through was dubbed "White Guilt 101", I would have to check my transcript but I think the offical title was "Topics in Contemporary American Culture" white students found it irritating, ethnic minorities found it patronizing and every possible sexual sub group complained for not being specifically addressed and usually just wound up fighting amongst themselves.

[erpowers]

5. Mandatory Community Service

I think the real solution to the problem at Duke is to make it mandatory to perform a certain amount of community service before graduation. I think this will allow the students to see that there is another world beyond their school. I was not a bad person before I went to college, but the college I went to had a mandatory community service requirement for graduation. I went from being a kid who thought community service was a good thing, but had never really done it aside from community service for NJROTC to a person who wanted to give back to society. I wanted to make the world a better place. I think many of the kids who go to Duke may just be caught up in their own world. They may not have had the opportunity to see how other poor people live and cope with their situation. Allowing these kids to see that their are people in the world that did not have the opportunities they had may make these kids want to engage in the community and give by to the community.