Most students don't expect to reverse roles with their professors. But at one of the Round Table living group's student-faculty teas, Trinity senior Rebecca Thomas found herself in that situation.
"A statistics professor even asked me to read a paper he was going to submit because he wanted undergraduate input," Thomas said.
The Round Table living group seeks to promote faculty-student interaction by providing activities such as their fifth annual student-faculty tea, held last Friday afternoon at the West Campus living group's commons room. Other undergraduate student organizations and majors sponsor faculty-student meetings from time to time, but Round Table's is the longest existing annual event of its kind on campus that is promoted to the general student body.
"Round Table was founded by a group of students who wanted to focus on community interaction," said Trinity senior Matthew Thomas, who organized this semester's tea. "We wanted to set up an event where students could get to know professors outside of the classroom setting."
Although many professors found the experience somewhat reminiscent of their own college years, the tea is something of a novelty on Duke's campus.
"I went to a much smaller school and we had faculty-student wine and cheese parties followed by dinner in the dining halls each week," said Mary Nijhout, associate dean of Trinity college and a graduate of Wells College in Aurora, NY.
Many professors were enthusiastic about the effort made to promote interaction and the turnout. Round Table tried a new technique to increase turnout this semester by placing extra invitations in random mailboxes.
Fred Nijhout, professor of zoology, joined his wife for the event.
"Round Table is one of the more interesting student groups on campus," he said. "It's a great way for professors to see students in a different environment than we normally do."
Round Table served tea, coffee, juices and muffins in the commons room, which was filled with Halloween decorations. "The tea allows students to meet professors from different departments and areas and lets students get to know their own professors better in an informal setting," said Trinity senior Charles Thomas, co-coordinator of Round Table.
Why tea? "It's around tea time and it connotes intellectual and philosophical discussion instead of faculty hangout time," said Rebecca Thomas, Round Table's faculty-student coordinator. No formal speakers are scheduled for student faculty teas because the goal is to increase informal interaction in a relaxed setting.
However, despite the teatime atmosphere, students and faculty were casually dressed and Trinity senior Chris Lewis was even wearing his black leather pants and suspenders. Neither students nor faculty seemed intimidated by the old British tradition and spoke freely on a wide variety of issues ranging from conversations about expected course selection to debates on health care and plans for family vacations.
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