Provost Peter Lange delivered the University’s first presentation to Duke Student Government that addressed Duke Kunshan University at the group’s meeting Wednesday.
Lange discussed details about DKU’s campus, academic programs and possibilities for student involvement. He said DKU is a pertinent project for the University as Duke prioritizes it global presence and especially since so many talented students are international.
“If we want to draw the best students in the world, we are going to have to be present,” Lange said.
Lange explained how DKU’s board makes decisions for the University. The board—composed of three Duke representatives, two representatives from the city of Kunshan and two representatives from Wuhan University—requires five members of the board to approve a proposed policy in order for it to pass.
“It protects us so that legislation can’t be passed against our will,” Lange said.
Junyang Wang, Trinity ’11 and student liaison at the Office of Global Strategy and Programs, said his office is working to ensure that Duke students are involved in DKU’s development and will create a student interest group concerned with Kunshan and student life on the new campus. A town hall meeting and a DKU general information session will be held for students in March, Wang added.
Sophomore Gracie Lynne, senator of athletics, services and the environment, asked if there is a significant opportunity cost to the University investing in DKU. Lange said that although the University will be spending between $36 million and $40 million over the next six years on DKU, a portion of that money was endowed specifically for the China campus and cannot be dedicated to other projects.
Lange compared the cost of the DKU project to other University expenditures, such as more than $50 million put toward the Pratt School of Engineering over the past 10 years and the $5 million to $6 million that started the Duke Global Health Institute.
“Is it worth the strategic initiative to spend that amount of money based on what we are hoping we are getting and the strategic advantage we hope to get?” Lange asked. “I don’t think there’s any question that the opportunity costs are relatively minor compared to other things.”
In other business:
Sophomore Stefani Jones, senator of athletics, services and the environment, presented a resolution to the Senate outlining progress made by the Coalition for a Conflict-Free Duke, including its work to have the Board of Trustees pass a proxy voting resolution on conflict minerals. Stanford University is the only other university to have made a statement on this level about conflict minerals, Jones added.
“It’s a really powerful action,” Jones said.
Junior Alexandra Swain, vice president of Durham and regional affairs, announced that Duke will have an on-campus voting site for the spring primaries and election after a petition circulated through campus. The voting site will be on campus between April 19 and May 5. DSG President Pete Schork, a senior, will be speaking to National Public Radio about the site Thursday.
Central Campus will soon be home to two new ePrint machines and two new study rooms, for which Housing, Dining and Residence Life will fund $50,000, said junior Ayan Salah, senator for student life.
The Senate voted by unanimous consent to grant a charter to the student group Youth for Debate.
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