The F-Word

The summer before freshman year, I got my housing package from Duke. Immediately, a CD-ROM stuffed into the packet caught my eye. I popped that bad boy into my computer, and voilà! A nice little interactive menu appeared. I looked through the various choices, and finally clicked on the option labeled “DukeCard.” At once, I was assaulted by an entourage of enthusiastic Duke students saying scripted phrases like “I can’t live without my DukeCard!” “DukeCard for life!” and “My DukeCard rules every aspect of my life… I am its slave!” I rolled my eyes and made fun of the video clips with my dad. Little did I know, however, that I would soon be echoing the same sentiments about this enigmatic card… especially that last one.

Although the DukeCard may not literally rule our lives, it sure helps us go through our daily routines. As a student, I would find it hard to do laundry, harder to eat, and next to impossible to live anywhere on campus without a DukeCard. One thing, however, that many students do not realize is that the DukeCard allows for the Administration to watch our every move on campus. They see where we last swiped, where we go and where we were all day. Now, this brings up an ethical question: does the University have the right to invade our privacy? To be a proverbial Big Brother and watch our every move? According to Campus Council, video cameras are a breach of privacy. But what about our DukeCards?

I’m going to keep this discussion local (so no Patriot Act tangent). In any case, we pay a great yearly sum to attend Duke. Where does this money go? Well, statistically, a certain percentage goes towards tuition, a portion to quad dues, etc. But more importantly, while some of the money goes towards education, some also goes towards insuring our safety (“Safety,” you say… “How about police in Edens?” But that’s beside the point). So the question then transforms into “Yes, we pay for our security and safety, but do we pay to give up some of our freedom?” Oh, no, not the F-word. Anything but the F-word. No, no, no. But yes, we do lose freedom by willingly entering into the University’s social contract. Sounds like Locke. Well, I guess he was right about some things.

So does Duke have a right to take away some of our freedom in the name of safety? Inevitably, yes. They have the right. Duke is not a democracy. It’s not a dictatorship either, but it’s still not a democracy. The administration decides what is best for us. Think about it: without an administration, without rules and laws, without obligations or oversight, what would Duke look like? Kegs on the quad, toking up in the open, Beirut everywhere… and what about grades? If we could assign our own grades, how many of us would simply give ourselves A’s and never go to class? I would, at least for some of my classes. So much for higher education’s purpose of learning and expanding the mind. In essence, we give up part of our autonomy to allow Duke to make decisions for us. And yet we fight these decisions. We pick out certain administrators to hate because they’re “taking away freedom.” And yet no one complains about privacy. But we want privacy, we demand our freedom. We’re still young, though, we still don’t know what’s best for us. Duke does. At least that’s what they think. But they’re wiser, more erudite… They’ve devoted lives to learning, academia. We shouldn’t argue. They’re right.

So what can we say to this? We need to realize Duke’s role in our life. We’re not free, but it’s better this way. As Rousseau says, we’re free but everywhere we’re in chains. We can’t see our freedom; all we see are our restrictions. Larry Moneta is doing good things for us, but we can’t see past the fog of resentment. He’s “restricting our fun.” Nan had great policies, but there’s still bitterness. No kegs on the quad? Bah!

Alas, if only we could see the higher authority, the more objective reasoning, maybe then we could empathize and understand. Maybe then we could see the true Gothic Wonderland.

Matt Dearborn is a Trinity sophomore.