The Duke Alumni Association’s announcement last week that it was canceling “Beer Trucks” during graduation weekend aroused significant student backlash. Almost immediately, students and recent alumni began clamoring for the reinstatement of this cherished tradition for seniors’ last night on campus before graduation.
It now appears that Duke Student Government and Duke University Union will collaborate to ensure that a Beer Trucks event or something similar takes place. While the specifics are still being ironed out, the principle elements of funding and function are set and will likely be implemented.
We commend this collaboration as a necessary and valuable stopgap measure. We anticipate this year’s event will provide valuable feedback toward establishing a memorable and sustainable festivity for students to enjoy with their parents and families on the eve of commencement.
Many students were undoubtedly counting on this event to occur, and the timing of the DAA announcement made alacrity of student response pivotal. Next year, we would expect the DAA to announce their intentions in a more timely fashion to allow students a more appropriate time frame to plan and execute graduation week activities.
Seniors and students in general have enjoyed the Beer Trucks event for more than two decades due to its ability to foster community during undergraduates’ final night on campus.
It is important that the University maintain a central and cohesive event for the night before commencement rather than force students to attend fractured, disjointed gatherings. Students should have the opportunity to attend an on-campus, inclusive event to celebrate their sense of unity and school pride as undergraduates before they leave campus.
We anticipate that this occasion will serve to showcase a new era of collaboration between DSG and DUU. In light of the DSG-Campus Council merger, these groups are the two remaining bastions of student representation and programming. This event can and should serve as a valuable trial run for their cooperation in executing student events going forward.
We appreciate DSG’s quick response to what was a late-term announcement by the DAA. Recognizing the elevated degree of student concern, the student government appears to have acted quickly in conjunction with DUU to find funding for an event students cared about.
The Duke Alumni Association’s initial reaction should not have been to outright cancel the event. While we understand the budget concerns and agree that the price tag became exorbitantly high, we hope the DAA will reach out to DSG and DUU about sponsoring this event or contributing to it in some form in the future.
As seniors prepare to embark on the first steps of their journeys as alumni, the DAA should capitalize on the opportunity to send them off with a positive, memorable celebration. In deciding to entirely forgo any association with seniors during potentially their last communal experience as students before commencement, the DAA is choosing to miss out on a beneficial opportunity.
In the short term, we appreciate the student efforts that have created this sensible and responsive solution. We look forward to an effective system of review that will establish an equally enjoyable and more financially sustainable model for this tradition going forward.
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