Surrounded by suit-and-tie clad students, President Richard Brodhead presented the concept of creating a courageous "culture of initiative" at his second question-and-answer session with student representatives Monday night.
"It's like I have this dream, and I'm addressing the U.N.," Brodhead joked at the start of the talk. "I feel like I'm a gladiator waiting for lions and tigers to come out at me."
In the speech before a joint meeting of the Duke Student Government and the Graduate and Professional Student Council, Brodhead spoke to three salient concerns at the University: mentoring, expense and educational and social environment.
Brodhead said that at its heart, the University's strategic plan for the next five years-due out in May-will aim to foster a culture of initiative. The concept will be achieved by increasing opportunities for intellectual creativity and cultivating a desire among students to avail themselves of these opportunities, Brodhead said.
"Something you can do a lot of at Duke is go to basketball games," he said. "But there are some things that aren't as richly developed here."
Brodhead added that the University can facilitate the realization of this vision through a number of concrete plans, such as the Financial Aid Initiative, the construction of the Nasher Museum of Art and the eventual revitalization of Central Campus, among other things.
"Building a new Central Campus isn't a strategic goal," Brodhead said. "What you want is not to throw up some buildings to contemplate, but to try to reason what kind of student community would be most advantageous."
Brodhead then proceeded to solicit questions and concerns from members of DSG and GPSC.
Issues ranging from financial aid to University food provider ARAMARK, Corp., and underrepresented factions of the University were all addressed during the conversation, which ultimately concluded as it began-with the concept of courage.
Brodhead said the University is already well on its way to achieving its ambitious $300-million financial aid push, which was announced in early December.
"It is the thing that I will always make the case for most passionately," said Brodhead, citing the fact that it is easy to sell to donors the notion of creating an opportunity for someone else.
The University has already raised more than $150 million.
Duke dining-which has been a topic of debate in recent weeks in light of DSG's vote of no confidence for ARAMARK-needs to be evaluated from a number of different angles, he noted. The concept of dining in a collegiate setting is a complicated one, Brodhead said.
"We need to take a full step back from our system at Duke," he said of the University's current dining service. "We need to rethink what we're willing to make people think."
The president answered a few questions concerning underrepresentation at the University. He said the disproportionately low number of black faculty teaching courses on the pre-medical school track is "still a problem and still needs work."
In response to a question about Harvard University President Lawrence Summer's contentious comment that there was an "innate" difference between men and women in the fields of math and science, Brodhead noted that he sympathized with critics who took issue with what was said.
"We all have an affirmative to keep increasing the odds for other people," he said. "I would enlist myself in the criticism that came down upon him."
Brodhead used the question as a jumping-off point from which he addressed the courageous outlook that allowed a small Durham school house to evolve into a top-ranked university.
"It's better to create an atmosphere where we have the confidence to say what we think and the confidence to chastise," Brodhead said.
Brodhead drew a distinction between the perception that the University is "new" and the reality that it is still being invented. It is therefore crucial to keep evolving with a courage and a culture of initiative, he said.
"A University that works well is when people want something and they accomplish it," Brodhead said after the meeting. "I find it part of my obligation and my role to have some courage on behalf of this school."
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