The recent decision by HDRL to enforce the “30% upperclassmen/10% senior” class distribution for SLG housing is discriminatory, unfair and unjustified. Duke administration’s justification is a correlation of better conduct scores with sections on campus that have a high percentage of seniors. This reasoning is statistically dishonest at worst and misleading at best: correlation does not mean causation. It should be noted that amongst greek organizations, the top four GPAs in Panhel and three of the top four GPAs in IFC belong to organizations that have the lowest percentage of seniors in section.
Campus organizations (including SLGs) exist exclusively to add to our undergraduate experience. This rule means taking away off campus housing for a significant portion of SLG seniors each year. Many junior class members, who have planned ahead and signed leases for next year, will now suffer significant financial losses to duck out of deposits and move back on campus. My biggest issue is I was told by Duke “three years on campus and you’re free senior year.” In fact, Duke is still telling prospective freshmen this (check the website).There was no “SLG clause” to that promise—and there still shouldn’t be one.
Max Schreiber
President, AEPi
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