The percentage of black and Asian or Asian-American students living on West Campus increased predictably since last year, the Office of Residential Life and Housing Services reported in annual housing statistics released this month.
About 54 percent of black students live on West this year, an increase from 33.2 percent since fall 2001. Meanwhile, the black presence on Central Campus dropped by 10 percent.
Additionally, 74.8 percent of students of Asian/Pacific descent reside on West this year, an increase from 64.6 percent in 2001.
Bill Burig, assistant dean of residential life, attributed the demographic changes to the new residential life system that placed all sophomores on West--and sophomores' subsequent ineligibility to live on Central or in Trent Drive Hall.
William Chafe, dean of the faculty of arts and sciences and vice provost for undergraduate education, said additional diversity was one of the major objectives of the new residential life system, much of which was based on a vision for West Campus that Chafe helped develop.
"Creating a new sense of community among all students was a primary goal, and that would automatically make West a more diverse campus," he said.
"Sophomores are [now] in close relation to services that are available on campus," Burig said. "[Greater diversity] was an outcome we knew would happen simply by looking at overall statistics."
Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs, agreed that diversity is only one element of the broader long-term objective to create a more inclusive sense of community.
But Moneta added that the greater question is whether students spend more time with students with those who share common identities or interests with them.
"Students [from different backgrounds] are going to see each other in hallways and see each other in bathrooms and see each other in common rooms," Burig said. "[But] I don't think it's a prescription for interaction. It might help the possibility for there to be interaction."
Even if students are exposed to different cultures on West, they may not necessarily feel comfortable living with other groups--especially if they have chosen with whom they want to socialize freshman year.
"I feel that if people aren't willing to open themselves up before and expand themselves culturally, they are not going to now," said Akosua Kankam, Black Student Alliance vice president of community affairs. "If you're black, you still live with black students."
Administrators agreed that genuine interaction and true diversity extend beyond numbers, and that a more difficult transition lies ahead.
"The numbers simply prove the statistical context for working toward a greater sense of community," Chafe said, adding that the impetus for interaction must come from students themselves. "[The stats] don't do it by themselves."
Thaniyyah Ahmad, Duke Student Government vice president for community interaction, said students living near each other could foster friendships but not necessarily community. "There needs to be something that builds more than just specific individuals' [relationships]."
Moneta said he has seen more interaction at the student group level this year, which he said was more significant than the report's numbers.
"Whatever the numbers, there's the beginning of community interaction in quads," Moneta said. "I'm more interested in who people are spending time with than who's living there.... It's not just the total numbers but the distribution of numbers."
Sophomore Bryant Harris said he has seen more interaction among separate races this year, but that it is ultimately up to students to facilitate more interaction.
"I see a lot more blacks and Asians associating themselves with people outside their races than last year because West was dominated by white fraternities," Harris said.
"[The administration] can try all they want to put things out there for multicultural events... that can unite Duke, but it'll take time for people to actually want to go out and do that," he explained.
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