This year’s freshman orientation features more than inflatable toys on the quad, an improv show and Student Health’s infamous “Party Boy Chad.”
In addition to traditional events designed to help students comfortably transition to Duke life, administrators, off-East Campus neighbors and First-Year Advisory Counselors have collaborated to add new programs this year that introduce freshmen to Durham—their home for the next four years.
As part of this year’s new focus, freshmen attended a Durham Bulls game and enjoyed free food at the newly renovated American Tobacco Complex Thursday night.
Seniors Beth Harper and Sarah Shapiro, co-chairs of the FAC program, said the events were designed to give new students a glimpse of what Durham has to offer.
“We are really excited about [the new events], and we think it’s a great way to introduce the freshmen to the Durham community,” Harper said. “We are happy to expose the first-years to that right away.”
With the Duke-Durham relationship now under the stress of controversial off-East parties, administrators and neighbors are hoping to shine a positive light on Durham for the Class of 2009. Josh Parker, a former resident of the Trinity Park neighborhood near East who has been active in enhancing town-gown efforts in recent years, thinks these new efforts are a step in the right direction.
“I went to freshman orientation last year and there was absolutely no information about Durham shared,” he said. “There is a lot that needs to be done. [Freshmen] are coming to a much larger community than just Duke.”
Some students said they thought that the orientation efforts were well-intentioned, but others noted that selling Durham as full of fun and opportunities is somewhat misleading.
“I think Duke students think Durham has very little to offer,” sophomore FAC Mike Harris said. “I come from a big city, and for someone to tell me that Durham has as much to offer as Philadelphia... that would be a blatant lie.”
Parker tried to organize volunteers who live off East Campus to help freshmen move in this week. Many neighbors thought it was a good idea to introduce themselves to the new students, but the move-in project never got off the ground. Many neighbors said they liked the idea but found it hard to fit volunteer work into their Wednesday morning schedules.
In another effort to increase interaction between students and neighbors, community activists and administrators are working to provide freshmen with an opportunity to have dinner with an off-East neighbor in the coming months.
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