So you spent last semester abroad and now you've had a week to get back in the swing. Notice anything different? Thought so. Sure, the Chapel is still beautiful, the BC still sucks, students are still complaining, the basketball team is good, the football team is bad, 9:10 is still a pain. Some things never change.
But some things do. We have Subway now, The Great Hall is better, the WEL is open and the construction has migrated from Edens to Main West and Science Drive. But something else has changed-something bigger. Let me help you.
Duke feels a little different because you don't recognize as many faces on campus as you did last year. The entire sophomore class is on West Campus, which has helped scatter the junior and senior classes more than in the past.
An idea behind this is to avoid self-segregation by forcing students of all races to live together for two consecutive years. This may alter the status quo, in which Central Campus has statistically more minority students than West Campus. The measuring stick of a school is not only the education it provides a student, but also the diversity surrounding that student. Duke wants to measure up.
Don't get me wrong, I recognize the many positive aspects that diversity brings to any situation. There are few on this planet who would not benefit from walking a mile in his or her neighbor's shoes. Having neighbors and peers who are different from us forces us to see different sides of every issue. It's good training for law school.
I'm just saying that there may be a little too much emphasis. After all, no matter who attends this school, we are all still students. Yes, this may seem like a simple observation, but think about whom you see every day, versus whom you see when you run errands off campus.
While there may be some racial and socioeconomic diversity on our campus, we still spend most of our on-campus life surrounded by bright young people. You may argue that we interact with University employees every day, but when was the last time you said anything more than "Chicken wrap with lettuce and honey mustard" to any of them? I don't think that should count.
If you want real diversity, check out Cameron and see our top-ranked women play some basketball. I try to do this often, as their brand of basketball is more visually appealing than that of this year's men's team.
Picture yourself in Cameron, just after halftime. Yes, a top-ranked Duke is stomping some hapless opponent, but the similarities between the men's and women's games stop there. A quick look around the stadium lets you know that it's a different crowd. For one, there's plenty of room for everyone. You can walk in at tip-off and stand at center court, provided you don't feel bad about blocking the view of the Girl Scout troop behind you.
Keep looking and you'll see that the upper level has more lesbians than anywhere else on campus. Crazy Towel Guy is up there too, but he's on the wrong side of the court. See your friends anywhere? Maybe. A few hundred students might show up, if the homework load is light for the night and there's nothing at Parizade. The Crazies are a little less crazy, but the cheers ring truer; nobody is here because their friends are.
At this point, I won't discount the canned diversity produced by the new housing plan, but I will say that it's a far cry from the real thing. People join together when they have something in common (e.g., an interest in basketball), not when they are told to like each other.
Like mom scooping Brussels sprouts onto your plate, the almighty administrators have once again disregarded the wishes of the student body, with its best interests in mind. This has happened before, a prominent example being the all-freshmen-on-East decision. I think that most current undergrads would consider that a good decision, but it met with heavy opposition at the time. While many of us (mostly upperclassmen) disagree strongly with this housing plan, it may prove its worth a few years down the road. For now, try to enjoy the game.
Tom Burney is a Pratt junior. His column appears every third Wednesday.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.