Answering the call

After four years at Duke, I have become familiar with the frequent (and not always inaccurate) perception of the University administration as operating with a heavy-handed, top-down approach. Often, new policies and programs seem to spring from thin air with minimal, and sometimes no, consultation with students.

The Campus Culture Initiative is different. The University administration has no silver bullet in its effort to define the future of the Duke undergraduate experience. For many of the most important choices, decision-makers must rely on the insight that only we, as students, are able to provide. Absent this critical feedback, the University will struggle to promote a cohesive plan, shaping it largely on assumptions about what in their undergraduate experience students would find both attractive and rewarding.

While the fruits of this uninformed labor may, indeed, produce some improvements, the more likely result is a suboptimal outcome for which neither the administration nor future classes of Duke students would hope. Therefore, it is imperative that we, as students, commit ourselves to participating in the process to ensure that whatever direction the University takes is informed and supported by the undergraduate student body. The administration is looking actively for advice, and it's up to us to provide it.

There are several ways that undergraduate input can filter up to the top levels of the University administration. The first is direct communication through channels specifically designed for collecting such thoughts. Currently, the task of providing student input to the CCI has fallen mainly on the shoulders of a small, select group of students, supplemented by anonymous comments provided through the CCI's website. While the efforts of these students have been laudable, it is clear that we, the broader student body, must take a more active role in both the formation and implementation of any initiatives the University wishes to pursue. We must talk to the students on the committees, meet with involved faculty and submit our own proposals.

Two student-driven projects also have been launched with the goal of providing further avenues for undergraduates to share their thoughts. The Student CCI, originally organized by leaders of Duke's largest cultural organizations, seeks to have students answer the questions, "I love Duke because." and "I love Duke, but." The aim is to produce a set of concrete recommendations. Simultaneously, DSG's Duke Story Project hopes to collect students' perceptions of the ideal Duke experience in narrative form and merge their collective desires into a series of broad themes.

Another means of sending a message to the administration is the organic action of students who turn their hopes for improvement into direct change. Already, a number of entrepreneurial students have risen to this challenge and taken matters into their own hands. Refusing to buy into polarizing characterizations of Duke's social scene, student leading DukePlays seek to give voice to the breadth of "play" that defines our social lives. Senior Ben Abram and others, desiring more informal intellectual discourse, have taken advantage of funding from President Richard Brodhead to invite speakers, including nationally recognized authors, journalists and business leaders, to dinner. The list of similar actions goes on and on.

Not everyone is so bold, and that's fine. Maybe you feel more comfortable submitting anonymous recommendations for improving the quad model or faculty student interaction. Or maybe you are up to the task of starting a new organization or leading a push to meet a previously unmet need on campus. There are tremendous resources available for ambitious students wanting to enrich our community through their efforts. No matter your preferred modus operandi, you can get it done.

It has become beyond trite to claim that we are at a turning point in the history of our University. Still our generation of Duke students has been given a unique chance: the opportunity to help shape the future of University for years, maybe decades. It is, perhaps, not since the Allen Building takeover in 1969 that students have been able to take such a direct and active role in plotting the course that Duke will take.