Campus Council members discussed questions relating to the Campus Culture Initiative with Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs, at the council's first general body meeting of the year Thursday night.
During the meeting, Moneta asked council members whether or not they think there is a dominant culture in Duke undergraduate social life.
"I hope tonight is only the start of the conversation and I hope you take it back with you to your friends and fellow students," Moneta said.
Junior Hasnain Zaidi, council facilities and service chair, said the most viable and visible social culture on campus is formed by a "significant minority" of students.
"We need to bring something of great social worth on campus for the students," Zaidi said. "Building on what we have and not taking things away."
Sophomore Victor Zhu, an at-large council member, said there needs to be more communication in order to allow students to become aware of new activities.
Many members of the group also criticized the social barriers at Duke formed by fraternities and selective living groups.
"It is much more difficult for sophomore males to be independents than affiliated," said Campus Council President Jay Ganatra, a senior, who added that living off-campus senior year has made his social life much easier.
Zaidi said more attention should be placed on the sophomore class.
"It is a hard transition from East to West," he said. "That's when identities start to form."
Senior Ashley Gray, council treasurer, said students are under a lot of pressure to find a central group.
"It was good freshman year, [the dorms were] more of a home base for us," she said. "There isn't the same sense of community on West." Members brainstormed ways to solve the restraints on group bonding caused by the setup of quadrangles.
Some suggested to eliminate the community of a quadrangle and instead form smaller groups within each house and host more mandatory activities to make students interact with others outside a circle of their closest friends.
Moneta said although it is a good idea, it would be difficult to manage 54 houses on West Campus.
"Maybe what we need is further division within the quads," he said.
Some said students experience segregation as early as orientation week.
"Many girls jumped into cliques right away and I felt like I would never be in a group," said junior Fiona O'Sullivan, council communications coordinator. "The first week of school is very important. It is the incoming freshman class that will change the campus culture," she added.
Ganatra said it was a very successful first meeting and that the group had a "solid" discussion. "It's a complex issue to think about," he added.
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