Duke University, Feb. 13, 1969. Fifty to 75 African-American students took over the Allen Building and occupied it for more than eight hours in peaceful protest of the Duke administration.
They presented a list of 13 separate demands to the administration that addressed various discriminatory policies and practices of the University. During the demonstration, the students temporarily renamed the building the "Malcolm X Liberation School."
This action was one of many that came at a time when "students demanded a greater voice on issues ranging from course offerings to residential life," according to the website of the Duke University Archives. The takeover was one event in a long series of sit-ins, protests and vigils aimed at bringing about change within the University after persistent lobbying had failed.
"WE SEIZED THE BUILDING BECAUSE WE HAVE BEEN NEGOTIATING WITH DUKE ADMINISTRATION AND FACULTY CONCERNING DIFFERENT ISSUES THAT AFFECT BLACK STUDENTS FOR 2 1/2 YEARS AND WE HAVE NO MEANINGFUL RESULTS. WE HAVE EXHAUSTED THE SO-CALLED 'PROPER' CHANNELS," wrote the students at the bottom of their list of demands.
The ensuing turmoil brought down Douglas Knight, Duke's sixth president, who resigned before facing an almost certain ouster at the hands of the Board of Trustees. Despite the upheaval, however, the late 1960s brought about many aspects of the Duke we enjoy today. Many of the demands of the students were met and changes occurred at all levels of the University-changes for the better.
One of those changes occurred at the very highest level-the Board of Trustees. As part of a movement "for greater student input into the Board of Trustees," stated a December 1977 Chronicle article, the Young Trustee position was created to make the board "more representative" of those who held a stake in Duke.
"The desire was to get younger members on the Board, who most likely would fall in the category of students/recent graduates, and whose viewpoint, close to students, would be a valuable addition to the board," wrote then-President Terry Sanford in a 1971 memo to the Associated Students of Duke University, the precursor to the Duke Student Government.
"It also occurred to us that while the Board could reach out and select students or recent graduates. it would be an additional honor for such a Trustee to be selected by the students," added Sanford.
Today, considering that administrators systematically ignore DSG and Campus Council, organizations with no inherent power of their own over University policy, it is quite amazing that undergraduate students get to select three members of the Board of Trustees. In any given year, two of those trustees have a full vote on the body that "all powers of the University [are] vested in," according to the Duke University bylaws.
While it is hard to imagine that students today would have the chutzpah to take over the Allen Building, we still benefit from the opportunity that was afforded us through the use of "improper channels" so long ago. As student freedoms are curtailed one-by-one and administrative edicts increasingly clash with the interests of the students, we still have our spots on the Board of Trustees.
And this right of ours is unique. The Board granted us the Young Trustee positions after they "rather firmly took the position that faculty members should not be on the Board of Trustees," wrote Sanford. We are the only constituency on campus who can appoint members of the board.
That's pretty cool.
And so how do we, as students, avail ourselves of this right? How do we make use of our one remaining unquestionable influence over Duke?
How do we honor the legacy of those who had the courage to bypass the "proper channels" and get what they deserved?
Most recently, the student leadership establishment elected their personal friend, DSG parliamentarian-extraordinaire Brandon Goodwin, to assume the most powerful position to which any student can be appointed.
After voting on little slips of paper from Jesse Longoria's backpack, they congratulated themselves as they perpetuated Duke's long history of spineless student representation.
One DSG senator noted that Hirsh Sandesara, a senior who received the endorsement of The Chronicle and already serves on the Board of Trustees for the medical center, left a negative impression by remembering everyone's name in committee meetings and thanking senators for their questions. Since when did intelligence and political savvy become a liability?
When the DSG tools pick the DSG tool to be Young Trustee.
Elliott Wolf is a Trinity sophomore. His column runs every Tuesday.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.