Campus Culture. It's catchy. It's alliterative. And most of us agree that it's less than perfect. There are problems, we've been told, for nearly every segment of Duke society. But as we go about our daily, slightly self-absorbed lives, the status quo doesn't always seem that bad. It is-you just have to pay attention.
Imagine you're at a party. Notice how a lot of girls look skeptically at prepoured beers-date-rape can never be far from their minds. Count the number of times you hear words like "slut" or "ho." Are some girls laughing just so guys will accept them as easygoing and chill? Is that the same reason they'll hook up without expecting a call the next morning? Keep in mind that Nan Keohane's Women's Initiative report showed that girls leave Duke with much less self-confidence than they had when they entered.
At that same party, count the number of people who are a different race than you. Given that there are probably so few, do you really think they can speak up when they feel uncomfortable with a racially-charged "joke"? Count the number of people who are openly gay, and then consider that nearly 10 percent of the population is gay. How many people at that party could be in the closet? How do you think they feel when someone yells "this song is so gay!" Do we even realize how we're hurting our friends?
The CCI has provoked many proposals for sweeping structural changes at Duke-including the recent discussion on who should receive housing. These are important issues, but they tend to give the impression that our campus culture is an institutional problem. Just make a few adjustments here or there and we'll all get along and sing "Kum Ba Yah" around the post-UNC-game bonfire. What the CCI fails to acknowledge is that campus culture is in the details.
We, the students, make the campus culture what it is. We're the ones who are keeping the races segregated, the women quiet and the gays in the closet. This is hard to accept, however, because Duke students are amazing people. For the most part, we're not racist, sexist homophobes-I honestly believe that we just don't understand the effects of our small words and actions on others who are not like us.
Perhaps we don't understand because no one ever talks openly about these little issues. We have an amazingly diverse student body, but the lack of communication between groups is stunning. As a personal example, I am from a very homogenous region and was excited about meeting students from different backgrounds. As a freshman, I was so ignorant about issues of race (and so intimidated by the reports of awful racial problems at Duke), that I never approached a friend on the "Black Bench" because I actually believed I'd get weird looks. I was afraid of doing something that was socially unacceptable or not politically correct. As a result of this feeling, my friend group is still pretty homogenous. As a senior, I realize that those thoughts were ridiculous.
As Duke students we generally care a lot about each other and would never say half the things we do if we realized how much we were hurting our peers. However, we'll never know how much our actions harm others if issues like race, gender and sexuality are not discussed openly and comfortably. These dialogues need to begin as soon as students arrive at Duke, but many freshmen are incredibly unfamiliar with and nervous about these issues. I know I was.
Duke currently has a complex matrix of graduation requirements that try to ensure that every Dukie explores different academic disciplines at college. It is at least as important that no student leaves Duke without having explored issues surrounding race, gender and sexuality that will affect us every day for the rest of our lives whether we are cognizant of it or not.
The CCI report acknowledges that and includes a recommendation one of each student's Cross Cultural Inquiry courses focuses principally on issues of race, gender, sexual preference, ethnicity and class in the United States. This is a great start, but discussing issues like these in an abstract, academic fashion is not as powerful as putting a face to these topics. Duke students are diverse and engaging; let us learn from each other's experiences.
Lucky for Duke, there is already a successful model for these student dialogues. The Center for Race Relations offers a few house courses on these issues, and any participant on Common Ground will tell you that the experience was one of their most educational and inspirational experiences at Duke. Use the model that the CRR has established, expand the number of house courses offered on these issues, and require that every Duke student take two before they leave. In the meantime, let's take some responsibility for the culture we've created and try not to shy away from the issues that make us uncomfortable. The students are the ones with the power to change our campus culture.
Julia Torti is a Trinity senior. Her column runs every other Monday.
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