Hidden between the platitudes we have come to expect from commentators on campus culture (sex and alcohol, oh my!), there was a brief moment of genius in the Campus Culture Initiative report. Though it made no attempt to substantiate what is, I believe, a radically new distinction to this debate, the report did suggest that the "actual norm" might not in fact be the "purported norm."
For those reading The Chronicle for the first time, the "purported norm" of Duke social life runs something along the following lines: All Duke students are gifted, independent, self-motivated individuals. Each weekend, they have no choice but to go, sheep-like, to fraternity parties. At these parties, they again have no choice but to consume vast quantities of cheap alcohol.
At this point, gender difference rears its ugly head. Men wait for women to throw themselves at them, at which point they "hook up," orgasm and fall asleep. Women, meanwhile, again have no choice but to throw themselves at men, whose sexual desires they service until the men have had their orgasm, at which point they too fall asleep.
Of course there is a kernel of truth to this narrative. Some Duke students are indeed gifted, independent or self-motivated. Duke is, after all, a selective institution.
Many do go to fraternity parties on weekends. The reason should be obvious: fraternities give away alcohol to complete strangers. For free. I'm a beer snob, and have only very rarely attended frat parties (Busch Light?), but this doesn't prevent me from understanding the many Duke students who, over the years, have returned from a frat party with four cans of beer in their coats to put in the fridge.
Again, many binge drink, but this particular instantiation of the problem is designed by the American drinking laws and compounded by the dormitory residential environment. When drinking in your bedroom becomes the norm, it's no wonder so many college students are at risk of alcoholism.
And there are certainly students who participate in the hook-up culture. That's right: Teenagers are having sex. To this new, terrifying and bizarre phenomenon I can offer no explanation.
The absurd shell to the kernel of truth in the purported norm, though, is made up of the notions of necessity and of totality. Yes, many Duke students participate in this lifestyle, more or less frequently. However, none are so obligated, and certainly many choose not to participate at all.
I only know two people at Duke who have participated with any sort of regularity in the "Duke hook-up culture." One of them, though, has done so within a social network completely separate from greek life, and the other hasn't participated in it at all since the fall of freshman year.
There are, in fact, many alternatives to the greek-centered social world. Part of the reason they slip under the radar is that they are not quite so big, nor so visible. Many people make friends as freshmen in their dorms, their Bible studies, their extracurricular activities and still more make friends in their classes.
Blocking is not only used by off-campus fraternities and sororities as a way of enforcing group cohesion. Many people use it as a way of living near their friends and, remarkably, find ways of socializing with them. Central Campus is the center of dozens of micro-communities.
The fact that these parties aren't advertised, open or large enough to alert the entire quad to their presence in no way diminishes the fact that they exist.
In fact, I have a rather subversive belief that there is no norm at Duke, no Campus Culture, just many different people living many different lives. There are people who think that all there is at Duke is what they've sought and found and, if they're happy, more power to them!
For those who are not happy, though, I would suggest to keep looking. Just stop pretending the rest of us don't exist.
David Rademeyer is a Trinity junior. His column runs every other Tuesday.
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