Since last April, the letters "CCI" have grown familiar to many-but certainly not all-members of the Duke community.
The Campus Culture Initiative is on track to complete its written report and recommendations this spring, as an update published today by the CCI confirms. Many students, however, said they are unaware of or indifferent to the progress of the initiative.
Some students said they have heard of the CCI but have given it little attention.
"I'm too busy to care about [the CCI], unless it affects me," said junior Lara Jones.
Others said they doubt the efficacy of changing campus culture through the top-down construction of policy recommendations, which President Richard Brodhead charged the CCI with developing.
"I haven't heard too much about it," said sophomore Jeff Ditzler. "I think it might change some things, but I'd be surprised if anything really drastic changed."
On the other hand, Robert Thompson, chair of the initiative and vice provost for undergraduate education, said students, as stakeholders, should be interested in the CCI.
"This initiative has as its heart the idea of how we can improve our culture to the benefit of each and every one of us," Thompson said.
Sophomore Anders Campbell, however, said changing campus culture would be difficult, in part because the problems the CCI aims to address extend beyond the University's boundaries.
"A lot of the things they want to change seem to be less of a Duke culture thing than an American culture thing," Campbell said.
Several students were more blunt, simply saying they knew absolutely nothing about the CCI or refusing to comment on the record.
"I think it's bulls---," said junior Mike Tikili.
After the CCI publishes its recommendations, determining which changes to make and how to make them will be the responsibility of administrators and established campus bodies, Thompson explained.
"We're not the deciders, and we're not the implementors," he said.
Completing the report earlier than the original May 1 deadline will allow more time to put changes into effect, said Thompson, who is also dean of Trinity College.
"We're not going to hurry it. We're not going to drag it out," he said.
For now, the 25 members of the CCI Steering Committee continue their work. Both Thompson and Larry Moneta, co-chair of the CCI and vice president for student affairs, praised the members' dedication.
"Even when traveling, members have been electronically connected and persistent in staying involved," Moneta wrote in an e-mail.
Audrey Ellerbee, a fifth-year graduate student in biomedical engineering and the only graduate student on the committee, said she usually puts in about one and a half hours of work each week. She noted that membership is a "regular time commitment."
Ellerbee, who is also president of the Graduate and Professional Student Council, said the committee considered seriously the opinions of all members, but not everyone's views would be equally reflected in the final report and recommendations.
"I think I've been a very vocal member of the committee," she said.
Thompson said Wednesday morning that the membership of the committee has been consistent and productive since its formation.
"It's very gratifying, the amount of time and effort that people have put in," he added. "I couldn't be happier."
Later in the day, members of the committee confirmed that Karla Holloway, William R. Kenan Professor of English, had announced her intention to resign as chair of the CCI's race subcommittee by e-mail about a week ago.
David Graham contributed to this story.
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