I'm black, but don't get it twisted

My name is Tegan Joseph Mosugu and I am a black student at Duke University. I was admitted into Duke at the age of 16 and I also enrolled at that age. During my time here at Duke, I have never felt so ashamed and disrespected as a student. It surprises me that people in right states of mind can attribute my excellence to switching to an “easier major.”

I was flabbergasted when I read The Durham Herald-Sun. The Herald-Sun reported that a University research paper found that “African-American undergraduates at the Duke are disproportionally more likely to switch from tough majors to easier ones.” The article went on to state “the switch to easier majors was predominantly responsible for why the grade point averages of black undergraduates ultimately became similar to the GPAs of white students as they progressed through school.” I was very disturbed with the report! I started off my Duke career with the intention of being pre-med. I chose not to follow that route, not because I needed “an easy major” or “a high GPA.” I decided to major in history because studying it allowed me to do things that a pre-med student cannot.

I can’t speak for everyone out there, but I can speak for myself. If I am involved in something or studying something that turns out to not be what I expected, I have the right to change my mind at any given time. Establishing a correlation among race, GPA and easiness of major is a shame. It eliminates other factors that can attribute to such an occurrence, such as hard work and one’s interest in the subject at hand.

I am not attending this institution to simply get a degree and have the perfect looking transcript. I am attending this school to study something that suits me well. I do not mind if it takes me time for me to discover what it is. I would rather enjoy whatever I am studying than have no passion for it at all.

It also fascinates me that researchers who are supposed to be educating the public are doing the opposite. First and foremost, just like every other race here at this university, there is a wide spectrum in grade point averages in the black community.

People work hard at this university and I would greatly appreciate it if somebody can name a major that is “easy.” I may not be spending my nights in Perkins, but that does not make my major easier than a Prattstar. You may not see me studying all the time, but that does not mean that I don’t study at all. Just like you, I have to work hard in every class. There has been no class where I can easily fall back on “an easy A!” Students have to put in work, even in “easy A classes.” We all know that something one person can consider easy might be onerous to another person.

I absolutely detest the fact that somebody can tell me being a history major is easy! I took U.S. Legal History last semester with Professor Laura Edwards. That class was challenging and pushed me to the limits. I eventually excelled in it and I take full ownership of it. I did not do well because I switched to a less rigorous program. I did well in it because of my passion and the amount of work that I put into the class.

Further, the University should have inhibited this type of research. It is absolutely ridiculous that University officials can condone these things. There is nothing positive that can result out of this. It is a shame that somebody can tell me that a black brother or sister of mine has a high GPA because he or she switched into an easier major. This is not only questioning the ability for blacks to achieve academically, but it is creating ignorance. I don’t know you and you don’t know me. Whether or not my GPA is high is my personal business. You can have the highest or lowest grade point average, but at the end of the day, it all comes down to who you are and how you can pursue your dreams.