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When a group of students protested in the Allen Building on February 13, 1969, they released 10 requests titled “The Black Demands.” The list of demands was developed by this early generation of activists and it yielded some good results. Duke now has a fully accredited African and African-American Studies Department, for example.
At Friday afternoon’s discussion with President Broadhead, I was troubled by one student’s comments about the Duke family. Making a point about last April’s noose incident, the student referred to Duke as “a school that was founded off of plantation money.” Some applause followed this remark, and she continued: “my great-great-grandfather was a slave in North Carolina and probably worked for the Duke family.”
We often call Duke a “Gothic Wonderland.” Eager visitors and tour guides alike use this term. It’s all over Instagram, especially during the excitement of Blue Devil Days or after the blanketing of Main Quad with a gentle snow. It is certainly not an inaccurate description of our beautiful campus.
White people are not taught to think of their whiteness as a defining part of their identity. If you asked me or any other white student at Duke to make a list of my defining characteristics, I would probably list a lot of my passions, personality traits and relationships before I ever thought to identify myself by the color of my skin. Student? Yes. Methodist? Yes. Son and brother? Yes. Runner? Yes. White person? I guess…?
“I don’t think I know enough to vote! How could anybody know about all of this stuff?” My grandma said that to me while I was home for fall break. I, like most people, think that voters can and should try to learn about the issues and candidates in any election before they vote. I usually consider myself one of these well-informed voters.
How do you create a place like Duke? Two weekends ago we celebrated Founders’ Day, and as I was sitting in the Chapel for the Convocation service this question came into my head. What things do you need to build something like Duke? We have had no shortage of people with a passion for teaching—an absolute prerequisite. We have had thousands of intellectually curious students with a passion for learning—another necessity. Natural born innovators and problem solvers abound among both and have helped to make the University flourish.
Speaking up is good; silence is bad.
I’ve noticed something strange about Duke’s crest. The blue and white shield has a banner running beneath it which is supposed to bear the school’s motto—Eruditio et Religio. “Knowledge and Religion.” On the signs in Wilson Gym the banner is there, but the motto is not on it. All of the crests on campus signage have the banner, but many of them don’t have the motto on it. Just a blank banner. There could be any number of reasons for the this; maybe to save money, maybe it’s an oversight. It doesn’t really matter. and I’m not passionately upset that the motto is absent from the sign reminding me to leave my shirt and shoes on.
