In his 10 months at Duke, President Richard Brodhead has come to understand what it means to be a student here—he gets what’s right with Duke, what’s wrong with Duke and how everything, from academics to social life, fits together to create Duke’s unique campus environment.
Brodhead shared his perspective with a packed house yesterday afternoon. He sees a Duke where students can do anything they want, transcend the often mundane daily homework assignments and create opportunities where education is put into practice.
But there is a gap between classrooms and careers, and our president knows that it is up to students to bridge this gap. He shared stories about students who have had an “ah-ha” moment during a class and have extended that enthusiasm to the real world. Students working on the SMART house, a student studying cross-ethnic communities in Bosnia-Herzegovina, student interns on plays such as Little Women and Purgatorio and students working at the West End Community Center—all of these are examples of students doing, not just thinking or learning.
It is this type of practical application instead of pure devotion to things theoretical that Brodhead sees in the undergraduate population, and it is also the area in which Brodhead sees an opportunity for Duke to excel and set itself apart. In his speech, Brodhead said, “It is my dream that Duke could become known for producing a special and highly desirable kind of person, a person of trained intelligence highly knowledgeable about the world and with a strong desire to use their intelligence to solve the world’s problems.”
The onus, however, is on you—you students.
If Brodhead is going to devote more money to funding undergraduate research and if the University is going to create a website detailing the opportunities for academic enrichment, students must take advantage of it. Brodhead spoke of moments of transcendence—those times when there is a “burst of interest” fueled by intelligence, curiosity and ambition—but he cannot force those moments upon students. Students must take what Brodhead spoke about yesterday to heart and truly engage themselves in their education. Students are Duke have an unparalleled array of opportunities, but as Brodhead aptly stated, “given the opportunities available here, you have an obligation to avail yourselves of these rare chances.”
Students are the ones responsible for building an intellectual community, and this happens in every aspect of life at Duke—academically, socially, residentially.
Identify the moments in class that spark your interest and then, once you find them, use them. Get excited about something you learn and allow that excitement to bubble over. Learning is infectious, allow yourself to be infectious. Talk about the things that intrigue you, and then take it a step further and make something happen.
Brodhead sees the potential for this practical education everywhere are Duke—from the classroom to the dorms—and now it is up to the students to fulfill Brodhead’s vision. Think, learn and, most importantly, do.
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