The annual Black Student Alliance Invitational brought more than 100 high school seniors to experience life on campus from Thursday to Sunday. Some of the weekend’s highlights included mini-classes taught by professors, a welcome dinner, a cultural fair, a fashion show and a step show. The Chronicle’s Gloria Lloyd corresponded with prospective freshmen and current students who attended BSAI to hear their take on the weekend’s events.
“Duke pulses with something I haven’t felt at other colleges. There’s something about it—outside of the architecture and prestige and the basketball team—that makes it vibrant. That’s what I liked about it. No matter the time of day, the school was alive with intellectualism and camaraderie. I never got tired of it, and I never will…. Not only that, but it’s just the right distance from home. I was raised by my dad to be a Blue Devil, and I’m ready to [become one].”
—Kamry Goodwin, prospective freshman from Columbia, S.C.
“Duke seems to have a lot of activities to offer to its students to make sure they are always enjoying their time on campus…. I could definitely see myself at Duke in the near future. The campus is beautiful; the people are amazing; and the academics are exceptional. Duke is the university for me.”
—Gabrielle Montes, prospective freshman from St. Petersburg, Fla.
“The weekend was awesome, probably one of the greatest times I have had in a long time. Every day was new and exciting, and the coordinators of the event gave us just enough free time and required activities. I thought Duke was perfect, honestly. The weather was good, and the environment had a very friendly feel to it. Overall I felt like people were welcoming, and the campus was gorgeous.”
—Zachary Coles, prospective freshman from Englewood, N.J.
“Duke for Africa’s cultural festival Jabulani was really phenomenal. Ethnically speaking, the black population at Duke is made up of a lot of Africans, so that showcase spoke to the plurality of the black community here. I also especially liked ‘Getting What You Paid For,’ in which different University offices and departments and student organizations were invited. That was really beneficial.”
—junior Charles West, BSAI co-chair
“The p-frosh really loved it, and they continued to talk about it even through the next day. Everything went smoothly, and it was a huge success. The students loved it, and we had over 350 students attending. It was at maximum capacity, and I think it was one of the best events of the weekend.”
—junior Nichole Ogojiaku, DukeAFRICA Jabulani co-chair
“The weekend was an awesome opportunity to bring together all segments of the community from the National Pan-Hellenic Council to BSA to Duke for Africa. Every black affinity organization contributed in some way, and BSAI this year was very successful in large part due to our community mobilizing around the theme of diversity recruitment and excellent programming by black students at Duke.”
—sophomore Marcus Benning, incoming Black Student Alliance president
“I’m always impressed with how the BSA manages to put the weekend together. We showed the incoming students the wonderful things that Duke has to offer them and the different student groups people can get involved with at Duke. It’s hard to pick which is the best event because each one touches on a different part of the student experience.”
—junior Latrice Coleman, BSAI planning committee member
“We got a chance to talk to a lot of p-frosh, and a lot of them seemed excited about coming to Duke or looking at Duke as a top choice for college next year, so it was a great weekend overall.”
—sophomore Alston Neville, incoming co-director of programming for Black Student Alliance
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