Earlier this month, the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, Dr. Gary Bennett, informed Colleen Scott, director of the Baldwin Scholars program, that Scholars would permanently lose access to the Baldwin office and meeting space—an environment that has fostered a supportive community and valuable collaboration for hundreds of students over the last fifteen years. Instead, this space would be converted for use by the Kenan Institute of Ethics, and the Baldwin Scholars program would move into a shared space in Smith Warehouse with no designated Baldwin area. The purported reason for doing so was to consolidate all Undergraduate Scholars and Fellows into one space. Neither the director of the program, program staff, nor Baldwin Scholars were consulted during the decision-making process and, in effect, were told we would be evicted from the space at the end of this academic year. We condemn this decision and ask that Duke University preserve our rightful space.
The state of affairs for women at Duke University is dire. Most undergraduate women at Duke graduate with lower self confidence or worse mental health than when they matriculated. In the most recent study on sexual assault on Duke’s campus, 48 percent of undergraduate women reported having been sexually assaulted during their time at Duke. On average, female professors make approximately $20,000 less than their male counterparts. The Baldwin Scholars program was founded within the context of these realities in an effort to uplift female-identifying and non-binary/gender nonconforming students and equip them to be effective, confident leaders at Duke and beyond. The program necessitates the existence of a safe, unified space for these students to meet, collaborate, and interact. This space exists in the Baldwin office, which has been a haven for Baldwin Scholars since the program began in 2004. Countless memories and important relationships were forged in this space, and without such a space, our ability to forge these important relationships and develop these skills will be severely hindered. For it to be taken without any regard for the Scholars or the director of the program is impudent and insulting to women on Duke’s campus. This decision perpetuates the continued erosion and displacement of women’s spaces on campus, including the displacement of the Women’s Center without the consideration of the directors or those it served in 2016. This decision sends a message to the women of Duke: we are dispensable. Destruction of our spaces is just collateral damage.
Furthermore, this space has a long history: the history of women at Duke began on East Campus, formerly the Woman’s College, and removing Baldwin from this space disregards it. Additionally, this space was given to Baldwin at the request of former President Keith Brodie. He personally designated his former office space to be given to the Baldwin Scholars Program upon his retirement. The removal of this space from the program disrespects the late President Brodie’s wishes. Lastly, the office and meeting space are card-access only and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, meaning that these rooms are secure for vulnerable students. This private space for Baldwins could not be replicated in a limited and shared space at Smith Warehouse, and this history cannot be duplicated elsewhere.
We, the current Baldwin Scholars and alumnae of the program, ask that our Baldwin office and meeting space remain intact, and that the decision to evict us from our space be reversed. The destruction of this crucial meeting space is regressive and irresponsible, and will affect Baldwins for generations to come. We implore you to reflect and reconsider the implications of this decision and extend an apology to Colleen Scott, who has worked tirelessly to uplift women on Duke’s campus.
Sincerely,
The Baldwin Scholars
Susana Gutiérrez, Class of 2022
Elizabeth Loschiavo, Class of 2022
Cayley Ryan, Class of 2022
Madison Alvarado, Class of 2021
Megan Dorogi, Class of 2020
Lauren Hadley, Class of 2020
Camara Wooten, Class of 2020
Megan Libke, Class of 2021
Clara Love, Class of 2022
Leila Milanfar, Class of 2020
Dina Qiryaqoz, Class of 2022
Madeleine Yancy, Class of 2022
Shweta Shukla, Class of 2014
Caragh Heverly, Class of 2022
Liyu Woldemichael, Class of 2022
Chloe McLain, Class of 2018
Sophie Elliott, Class of 2021
Charity Agasaro, Class of 2021
Elizabeth Clark, Class of 2013
Anna Koelsch, Class of 2014
Aleena Karediya, Class of 2017
Madeleine Scully, Class of 2022
Lindsay Maggioncalda, Class of 2021
Sujal Manohar, Class of 2020
Fernanda Machicao, Class of 2022
Allison Dorogi, Class of 2015
Cyan DeVeaux, Class of 2020
Esha Solanki, Class of 2014
Alethea Toh, Class of 2020
Flora Muglia, Class of 2014
Mia Wise, Class of 2014
Hannah Miao, Class of 2021
Audrey Adu-Appiah, Class of 2014
Kamika Shaw, Class of 2014
Mannat Bakshi, Class of 2020
Anne Crabill, Class of 2022
Mashal Ali, Class of 2022
Margaret Gaw, Class of 2022
Natalie Le, Class of 2019
Megan Rabe, Class of 2022
Mary Gooneratne, Class of 2021
Maria Guadalupe Renteria, Class of 2021
Elizabeth Edel, Class of 2020
Maria Rocha, Class of 2021
Ceren Ebrem, Class of 2020
Ece Yurukoglu, Class of 2021
Lauren Wein, Class of 2021
Mayra Navarro, Class of 2021
Lydia Smeltz, Class of 2021
Hawo Ibrahim, Class of 2021
Amelia Steinbach, Class of 2021
Tyler Edwards, Class of 2022
Abla Samantha Messie, Class of 2021
Daisy Almonte, Class of 2020
Nina Chen, Class of 2019
Kelly Chung, Class of 2019
Mumbi Kanyogo, Class of 2019
Sydney Jeffs, Class of 2018
Moreen Njoroge, Class of 2019
Anika Ayyar, Class of 2018
Samia Noor, Class of 2021
Samantha Holmes, Class of 2018
Amir Williams, Class of 2018
Rebekah Johnston, Class of 2014
Andrea Patiño Contreras, Class of 2012
Katie Hammond, Class of 2018
Alexandria “Lexy” Lattimore, Class of 2014
Catherine Joseph, Class of 2012
Samantha Streit, Class of 2022
Rachel Rubin, Class of 2019
Sophie Hurewitz, Class of 2022
Ema Klugman, Class of 2020
Vanja Vlahovic Malloy, Class of 2008
Eritrea Temesghen, Class of 2021
Morgan Sheppard, Class of 2011
Merri Estren, Class of 2009
Mollie Breen, Class of 2015
Elizabeth Barahona, Class of 2018
Regan Bosch Checcio, Class of 2008
Claire Stout, Class of 2019
Jasmine Tan, Class of 2019
Michaela Dwyer, Class of 2013
Aria Branch, Class of 2009
Brittany DuChaussee (Hesbrook), Class of 2010
Kristen Larson, Class of 2017
Inés Jordan-Zoob, Class of 2019
Leah Hill, Class of 2009
Katie Jane Fernelius, Class of 2016
Beth Gordon, Class of 2013
Kala Juett, Class of 2020
Arianna Carr, Class of 2020
Vanessa Agudelo, Class of 2019
Shruti Rao, Class of 2018
Edom Tilahun, Class of 2019
Roma Sonik, Class of 2017
Nonnie Egbuna, Class of 2020
Mariana Calvo Boullosa, Class of 2017
Arielle Kahn, Class of 2017
Symonne Singleton, Class of 2017
Christiana Oshotse, Class of 2019
Anna Kaul, Class of 2018
Aarti Asrani, Class of 2016
Sarah Urdahl, Class of 2016
Lexia Chadwick, Class of 2015
Mia King, Class of 2019
Samantha Huff, Class of 2017
Tori Williams, Class of 2020
Suhani Jalota, Class of 2016
May Lee, Class of 2020
Nourhan Elsayed, Class of 2016
Elizabeth Tobierre, Class of 2014
Riyanka Ganguly, Class of 2018
Kalifa Wright, Class of 2016
Daniela Flamini, Class of 2019
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