The Lacrosse scandal. Everyone attributes it to that event that may or may not have occurred last spring. That's why all these new student organizations for this or that cultural group are cropping up, some DSG senators speculated. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that has encouraged some groups to come forward, but by no means is this influx of culture-related groups anything new.
In the last two weeks of DSG fun, much time has been spent discussing the recognition of new student groups that focus on some particular country or culture. Several senators have questioned the necessity for such groups-and rightly so. If every specific cultural group tried to create its own student organization, well, that would be a great way to keep the campus as separate and segregated as possible as well as put a nice strain on funding, right?
The last two meetings saw the recognition of four specific groups that I would put into this category: the Duke University Lithuanian Club, the Cuban Student Association, the Haitian Student Association and the Society for Hispanic Professional Engineers. Each of these groups welcomes most anyone, although their names may suggest otherwise.
DSG senators went through the usual process of listening to Student Organization Finance Committee Chair Alex Crable, a sophomore, explain the groups' purposes and the concerns SOFC may have had regarding each group. After proper discussion and deliberation, all were recognized.
Many questioned whether or not approval of such groups would put a strain on SOFC funding. Crable assured DSG that SOFC is far from reaching the maximum number of groups it can handle. He also noted that a precedent has been set for such specific groups; many have stepped forward in previous years, prior to all the recent talk about campus divides.
At the Oct. 25 DSG meeting, Robert Thompson, dean of Trinity College and vice provost for undergraduate education, gave a special presentation. He just so happens to be the Campus Culture Initiative chair as well. His presentation addressed many of CCI's findings, but what was most striking to me in his entire presentation was that he referred to Duke as "a campus of divides. polarized, fractionated."
So what does this have to do with anything? As Executive Vice President Joe Fore pointed out, Duke needs to find the appropriate balance between these small groups DSG has recognized and finding ways to collaborate as one larger community.
According to a letter posted on the CCI website (which I highly encourage everyone to take a look at. back off of Facebook.com for one afternoon), two main CCI goals are to "seek to find specific and constructive ways to promote respect and responsibility and to lessen campus divides." Overall, it says that CCI's "shared goal is a stronger and more inclusive community."
With the support of DSG, Duke is well on its way to this goal, and as evidenced by the activity of such small groups in the past, it has been. Although these small groups give the appearance of dividing the community, they have a much greater purpose. Within these groups, members learn about and celebrate their respective cultures, and if the members happen to have no immediate ties to the culture (which is more common than you might think), they gain a much deeper understanding of other cultures.
This deeper understanding, regardless of who is acquiring it, helps to eliminate the ignorance that is so often the cause of clashing cultures. Whether they realize it or not, the members of these small groups may have a dynamic and beneficial effect on the Duke community as a whole: They may lay the foundations for understanding the profound differences between cultures and the ways people can overcome these differences.
DSG and CCI together have done a fine job of addressing these issues, although there is always more work to be done. They need to not only recognize and encourage these cultural groups, but they must also challenge these groups to take a greater stand in addressing campus culture. In such a mammoth task of identifying the problems with Duke's culture, why not work from the bottom up and get to the root of cultural disparities? Best of luck to the new groups DSG recognized and to all the other cultural groups out there; it is time your seemingly small groups make a big impact on campus.
Allie Vergotz is a Trinity freshman. Her column runs every other Friday.
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