The 14 members of the Duke Summer Reading program selection committee reached a unanimous decision Wednesday, choosing "The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South" by Osha Gray Davidson for the Class of 2011 to read next August.
"This is the quintessential Duke summer reading book," said junior Bronwyn Lewis, First-year Advisory Council co-chair and member of the selection committee. "For one thing, it has a local color and a local flavor that previous summer reading books have not had. It will give incoming freshmen what the historical context of their next four years is coming to."
The non-fiction book examines the evolution of race relations in Durham, when black rights activist Ann Atwater and former Ku Klux Klansman C.P. Ellis became friends after working together at city meetings on school desegregation.
"Duke sends a very strong message, particularly to incoming students, by the book it chooses. 'Best of Enemies' will provide a much-needed exposure to the early history of Durham and Duke's unique position as the only top-10 research university in the American South," Marie Lynn Miranda, Gabel associate professor of the practice in environmental ethics and sustainable environmental management, wrote in an e-mail. "Picking a book set in Durham enables faculty-and all students-to feel they have a particular perspective worth considering regarding the book."
Although the 1996 book had been considered by the selection committee before, it had not been selected previously because the book is out of print.
"Before, we just quickly wrote it off, because, as bad as it is, you have to consider the logistics-could we possibly get 2,000 copies of this?" said Ryan Lombardi, associate dean of students and director of orientation.
To overcome this obstacle, the selection committee has negotiated with the University of North Carolina Press to arrange a custom reprinting, complete with an inset letter from President Richard Brodhead, Lombardi said.
UNC Press had already been planning a reprint for next year when it was contacted by the committee about making copies immediately available. Lombardi said upperclassmen should be able to purchase the book when the next edition is issued.
Lombardi said feedback-and an interest in a book with local considerations-had significant impact on the committee's decision.
"['Best of Enemies'] was indeed a popular choice-it was nominated five times by five different people," he said.
This is only the second year the committee has utilized an online survey process to solicit feedback on the final four books in addition to the nominating opportunity. Around 150 people offered comments on the selections, Lombardi said.
"We don't look at numbers, per se, but it was clear from the comments that all of the final four selections were quite strong," he said. "The same reasons and same connections that the committee was considering were what people were writing online."
Lombardi said that the local connections of the book have also introduced a number of programming possibilities for orientation and beyond.
"There are a lot of interesting ties. Locally, Ann, one of the main characters, is still around, living in Durham-she was even on campus for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day," Lombardi said. "Professor Marie Lynn Miranda was also working on a mapping project with her class-something we weren't even aware of at the time of the selection-to map out this story, which was another natural tie-in."
Miranda said her mapping application, which will be accessible via the Internet, highlights some of the locations mentioned in the book.
"We envision providing poster-sized prints of much more detailed and more developed maps to be hung in all the first-year dorms," Miranda said. "These maps could serve as visual aids in the book discussion groups."
In addition to the discussions currently planned for the 2007 orientation week, Lombardi said he has also been in contact with Davidson to arrange a possible campus visit, and is considering other ways to incorporate the book's issues, which committee members said were particularly relevant now.
"It would have been a huge opportunity missed if we didn't do it this year," Lewis said. "Especially in a moment when we are reflecting so much on campus culture, this book was a fantastic choice. It has the potential to remain at the forefront of Duke conversation for a lot longer than previous summer reading books."
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