Since August, I have been eagerly anticipating what can only-in the words of boxing promoter Don King-be described as the most "fantabulously splendiferous" three-day period on the Duke calendar-Homecoming Weekend. I waited for Homecoming with the same anxiety that I waited for Patrick Patterson and Greg Monroe to commit to Duke, except this time, I was not scorned. Homecoming would never deny me just because I, in my meaningless majorless existence, am in a downward spiral toward mediocrity.
This year, once again, Homecoming Weekend did not let me down. Well, kind of. I suppose Virginia Tech did destroy our football team and Piketoberfest was pretty low on alcohol, but, to be honest, the Homecoming Step Show was the only event I really looked forward to.
For those of you unfamiliar with the step shows that the National Pan-Hellenic Council-the umbrella organization for historically black greek letter organizations-hosts at Duke during Homecoming Weekend and the Black Student Alliance Invitational Weekend, or stepping in general, think of the movie "Stomp the Yard," with less flash and melodrama. If you have not seen "Stomp the Yard"-which you probably have not, considering it is, at best, a C-plus movie-then think of "Riverdance" with a bit more soul.
With Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. taking the sorority title and the brothers of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. figuratively and literally stepping over their competition (again), this year's step show did not disappoint in terms of performance level. I got my two-and-a-half hour fix of stepping for the semester; I was content.
I left Page Auditorium, choosing to forgo the after-party and its entry fee, and followed the friends that I had gone to the show with to a number of different section parties. As I made my way through a crowded hallway, I realized that I had just left what can be considered a "black event" for a white one. That night, I had passed through what essentially are two separate worlds at Duke.
I was unsettled. As I made my way through a sea of white people, I would never have known that I attended a university with the highest percentage of black students of the US News & World Report's top 10 colleges. It appeared that there were separately thriving black and white social scenes divided by greek life at Duke.
Yes, there is some overlap. Every now and then you run into a party at Shooters cohosted by one historically black fraternity or sorority and one unofficially historically white greek letter organization. Overall, however, there is an undeniable divide, and there is not much Duke-both students and administrators-has done to bridge the gap.
The largest roadblock, aside from the obvious fact that black students tend to pledge historically black fraternities and sororities, is geographical separation. Not a single one of the NPHC fraternities has an official section, and black fraternities generally all block on Central Campus.
This geographical segregation effectively segregates the Duke social scene. Black freshmen and sophomores tend to go to Central Campus while their white peers go to West for section parties. Many black students move to Central Campus after sophomore year, while proportionally fewer white students leave West Campus.
All of this separation inhibits everything that college should be about. We do not experience the diversity that Duke offers. A historically black fraternity needs a section on West Campus. My only experiences with black greek life at Duke should not be limited to two step shows a year at Page Auditorium, no matter how much soul Phi Beta Sigma's step team may have.
Jordan Rice is a Trinity sophomore. His column runs every other Friday.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.