Now students have the opportunity to find common ground--not once but twice a year.
Due to increased student demand, the Center for Race Relations executive members decided to replicate the Common Ground retreat in the spring semester, said co-president Kathy Choi, a junior.
The CRR's most popular retreat, Common Ground celebrated its fifth anniversary during fall break of last semester, according to the CRR's website.
Co-director Kim Cocce, a junior, estimated that 80 to 90 students applied for approximately 50 spots for the spring retreat.
Choi said getting a spot for the fall retreat was even more competitive. She added that students were notified of their admission status for the spring retreat yesterday.
"[We] thought [having a second retreat] would be a great opportunity to double the impact Common Ground has on campus every year," Choi said.
Cocce said a Common Ground in the spring has been in the works since this years' fall retreat.
"It's something that's been played around with for a while," she said. "We got the final push to do it last semester."
Cocce added that the administration was receptive of the idea because it is in line with the goals of the Campus Culture Initiative.
Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs, said he did not hesitate when the programs' directors approached him for funding for a second retreat.
"Time after time I've heard from Common Ground participants that it has been one of the most inspirational and uplifting experiences of their time at Duke. I'm happy to be able to fund the [spring] event," Moneta said.
He added that funding for the spring retreat will come from the student affairs budget but will eventually become a part of the Multicultural Center's annual allocation.
"[That's] fifty more people who are inspired," Moneta said. "It's amazing what a hundred students who have been through Common Ground can do to help transform the campus."
The second Common Ground replaces the CRR's Beneath the Blue Retreat, which did not receive as positive feedback as Common Ground, Cocce said.
"[We] decided that if we were going to do a retreat, the model of Common Ground is so powerful.... [We] thought it was a better idea in terms of providing the best kinds of programming," Choi said.
Sophomore Sophia Davis has already been on Common Ground twice-in 2006 as a participant and in 2007 as a discussion facilitator-and will be facilitating again in the spring.
"I really like meeting the people who go on the retreats," she said. "I end up becoming good friends with 60 new students that I wouldn't have otherwise."
Davis added that the impact of having two Common Ground retreats each year could potentially be valuable to the campus.
"It is extremely important for diversity immersion training for students on campus," she said. "I think that it gets people to think more about campus culture at Duke and it helps them re-evaulate their thoughts about charged issues [like] race, gender, and sexuality. It helps students have the kinds of conversations they might not normally have on campus."
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