Toward the end of each semester, when I log into ACES, I'm met with the same message: "You have a hold on your account! Must clear overdue balance with the Bursar's Office." This message has been a part of my life for a while now, so it no longer comes as a surprise. In fact, each semester as registration approaches, I expect it.
I often wonder how those 50 to 75 black students who participated in the 1969 Allen Building takeover would respond to this nagging reminder of the expense of education. I wonder what they think about the status of black students at Duke today. I'm even more curious to know how they feel about the fact that the majority of the demands they submitted to the administration have not been met in the more than 35 years since their protests. Of the 11 requests the students presented to the administration in 1969, three are pertinent to today's discussions on race at Duke: admissions, recruitment and financial aid for black students.
Demand three states: "Since Duke claims to be representative of the Southeast, and since the percentage of blacks in the area is 29%, we want the black student population to reach that number by the fall of 1973." Interestingly enough, the Class of 2011 is 28-percent Asian and only 9-percent black. Even though the label "Asian" encompasses many different cultural groups, as does the term "black," it is clear that the Allen Building request has not been satisfied for blacks.
Though the University may now seek to represent the nation at large rather than the region, it's hard to imagine Duke ever becoming 30-percent black. The structure of financial aid and admissions at Duke combine to hinder black enrollment.
This leads to the fourth Allen Building demand: "We want financial reassurance for black students. Decreased scholarships threaten to limit the number of returning black students." The block on my registration each semester has become an ongoing joke between my parents and me. For some students in more dire financial circumstances, the message could signal the end of their Duke careers.
But obviously that message can only apply to students who have already made the choice to attend Duke. Many prospective black students don't even have the chance to receive the message because after one glance at the price tag, their parents toss the application in the dumpster. While there are some scholarships designed to increase black enrollment, there simply are not enough. If financial aid can convince black students of lower socioeconomic backgrounds that it is possible for them to finance a Duke education, then Duke must make it easier for them once they arrive. This certainly doesn't mean blocking their registration each semester because of a relatively insignificant $1,000 balance.
Finances aside, it is generally accepted that wild inequities exist in school systems across America. The eighth demand from the Allen Building takeover addresses this problem.
"We want academic achievement in high school [rather than standardized test scores] to be the criterion for black students for admission to the University. We believe the criteria for entering black students are oriented toward white middle class students, and therefore are inadequate for determining academic potential," students said.
Research about how standardized tests do not necessarily predict the academic potential of black students abounds. The SAT is a good predicter of education level and social environment, but it does not necessarily indicate intelligence or aptitude. Standardized test scores aren't capable of factoring in a student's socioeconomic background or school. It stands that the test scores of students who go to underprivileged schools (disproportionately black and other disadvantaged minority students) will reflect that fact. I am in agreement with the students of the Allen Building takeover that overall academic performance, not test scores, must be the main factor in admissions decisions and in predicting what a student's academic prowess will be in the future. If admissions implements this new standard, the number of black students who are admitted to Duke will increase and enrollment will skyrocket.
I tutor my fourth-grade friend, Malik, twice a week at his school near East Campus. Sometimes I'm saddened because it's unlikely that he'll have the educational advantages I've been afforded. The students at his school are excited because for the first year, the bathrooms in their school have mirrors and the stalls have doors. Who will be the one to tell Malik that because he comes from a low- to middle-class background, he can't become a Blue Devil?
Aria Branch is a Trinity junior. Her column runs every other Tuesday.
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