On Friday, an event of extraordinary and undeniable significance will take place at Duke. Although that event will forever change the perception of our public policy department, it will, for the most part, be mischaracterized by the University and misunderstood by the Duke community as a whole.
Let me explain.
On Friday, the new 46,000-square foot addition to the Sanford Institute of Public Policy will be dedicated as Rubenstein Hall. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell will headline the event (for an undisclosed but likely exorbitant speaking fee) and a series of parties, speeches and discussion panels are scheduled to take place throughout the day.
The namesake of Rubenstein Hall is newly-installed Duke trustee David Rubenstein, Class of 1970 and co-founder of the Carlyle Group-a private equity firm that currently manages about $30.9 billion in assets and also has maintained numerous ties to Middle Eastern oil and the family of Osama Bin Laden. Much of Carlyle's public perception has been shaped by its sensationalized portrayal in Michael Moore's 2004 documentary Fahrenheit 911.
But Michael Moore is not a journalist by any stretch of the imagination and Carlyle's malignancy has been far from objectively established.
Only one thing about Rubenstein is absolutely clear: As the head of Carlyle, he's been very good at making money. Now he's given some of that money to Duke, and for that reason, our first reaction must be "thank you." So as both a grateful student and a proud political independent, I am not going to unilaterally condemn him.
Despite his generosity, however, I would still like to at least attempt to understand who he is and what his professional life has entailed. Duke, which has committed itself "to advance learning in all lines of truth," should oblige that desire-especially when such a public figure is concerned.
In public statements about the dedication of Rubenstein Hall and Rubenstein himself, Duke has inexcusably glossed over all controversial questions surrounding Rubenstein's career. This belies our mission as a university. News releases mentioning him have not qualified his name and organization with more than one to two sentences and have always portrayed him in the most positive light. Regardless of one's political inclinations, the prevailing description of David Rubenstein as the head of "one of the world's largest private equity firms" is grossly inadequate in the context of Carlyle's vast holdings, contacts and influence.
And indications are that Friday Duke will present a similarly trite, one-sided and deficient description of Rubenstein that ignores the issues surrounding him.
But regardless of our political persuasion, if we are to take this man's money and associate his name with Duke's, we should not shy away from his history and his public image by dressing them up in a manner worthy of the Politburo. Our acceptance of his support is inextricably linked to our willingness to at least acknowledge his career and his public image. Doing so does not amount to political or personal endorsement but a basic recognition of who we're dealing with.
I am not suggesting that we refuse Rubenstein's support, just that Duke is trying to have its cake and eat it too. It should either honestly, accurately and fully portray Rubenstein or not accept his support. There can be no middle ground because entering it compromises our duty as an educational institution to remain objective and prevent our institutional goals from influencing our intellectual pursuits.
While Duke has not lied about Rubenstein or Carlyle, the omissions and suspiciously short descriptions about him do represent egregious oversimplifications. Duke doesn't have to oblige Rubenstein's sensationalist critics on the left, but it does have an obligation to describe Carlyle with more than the phrase "global private equity firm." As a university that is now linked to Rubenstein and Carlyle, we should understand what that means.
Fully exploring Rubenstein and his organization is something that can't be done in the space of a single column. Given Duke's ample resources, however, it is within anyone's means to look beyond Friday's P.R.-bonanza and at least try to see for himself.
But the lenses of Duke News Service and the Alumni Association have unfortunately become simply too thick to discern anything through them. I expect more from my university than self-serving spin but am bracing for it. I hope I'm proved wrong Friday.
Elliott Wolf is a Trinity sophomore. His column runs every other Tuesday.
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