NEWS  |  LOCAL NATIONAL

Durham City Council becomes second city in North Carolina to pass cease-fire resolution

By Claire Cranford | February 20, 2024

Ten pro-Israel and 30 pro-Palestinian speakers addressed the council prior to the vote. Chief among their concerns was the language of the proposed resolution: pro-Israel speakers protested the fact it did not name Hamas, while pro-Palestinian speakers thought the resolution should have called for a permanent cease-fire and labeled Israel’s actions as genocide. 

---

NEWS  |  UNIVERSITY

Duke art history professor may have experienced medical event before fatal car crash, police report reads

By Mia Penner | February 20, 2024

Van Miegroet, 71, died in a car accident while driving on North Carolina Highway 751 near Duke University Drive on Feb. 9. Around 6:30 p.m., he veered off the road and crashed into a “very small tree,” according to police records obtained by The Chronicle.

---

NEWS  |  LOCAL NATIONAL

The Chronicle’s rundown on the 2024 North Carolina gubernatorial primary candidates

By Zoe Spicer and Abby Spiller | February 19, 2024

The election will decide the Republican and Democratic candidates, who will advance to the Nov. 5 general election. The Chronicle has you covered with a guide on the candidates and the main issues at the forefront of voters’ minds.

---

NEWS  |  UNIVERSITY

Duke neurosurgeon David Hasan speaks on experience after return from war-torn Gaza

By Aseel Ibrahim | February 19, 2024

Hasan, who was born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents, initially hoped to volunteer in Gaza with his wife Lauren Hasan, a former trauma surgeon, after the conflict had settled down. The couple didn’t think they would be able to go at the height of the war. 

---

NEWS  |  UNIVERSITY

Duke no longer giving numerical rating to standardized testing, essays in undergraduate admissions

By Jazper Lu | February 19, 2024

The change went into place this year, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Christoph Guttentag wrote in an email to The Chronicle. He explained that essays are no longer receiving a score because of a rise in the use of generative artificial intelligence and college admissions consultants. 

---

NEWS  |  LOCAL NATIONAL

Duke professor Michael Munger runs for state house with focus on education, affordable housing

By Michelle Voicu | February 18, 2024

Munger previously ran for governor of North Carolina in 2008 as the Libertarian Party nominee, becoming the first third party candidate to appear in a televised debate and earning nearly three percent of the vote.

---

NEWS  |  UNIVERSITY

'Where the real learning happens': Duke students, academic dean look back on week at Iowa Republican caucuses

By Ava Littman | February 18, 2024

The trip was meant to offer students the chance to engage with different perspectives, according to Mark Dalhouse, academic dean in the Trinity School of Arts & Sciences and the trip’s organizer. 

---

NEWS  |  UNIVERSITY

Petition calling for Duke Herbarium to stay open surpasses 9,400 signatures

By Zoe Kolenovsky | February 16, 2024

Several leading organizations in botany and natural history collections signed a description accompanying the petition.

---

NEWS  |  UNIVERSITY

Academic Council hears from administrators on settling financial aid lawsuit, investigation into data fraud allegations

By Jazper Lu | February 16, 2024

The Council also listened to a conversation regarding Duke Athletics between Andrew Janiak, chair of the Athletic Council, and Linda Franzoni, Duke’s faculty athletic representative for the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Atlantic Coast Conference. 

---

NEWS  |  LOCAL NATIONAL

DPS Board meets with Durham Association of Educators, decides on meet and confer process

By Lucas Lin | February 16, 2024

The DAE believes that a meet and confer process will aid the district in “retaining Durham Public School staff and attracting highly qualified workers to join Durham Public Schools.”

---

NEWS  |  UNIVERSITY

Duke hosts first Climate Collaboration Symposium on role of insurance sector in mitigating climate risk

By Caroline Zepecki | February 15, 2024

The symposium, which took place in Penn Pavilion, is the first in a new Climate Collaboration Symposia series hosted by the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment and Sustainability and Duke Risk Science for Climate Resilience (RESILE).

---

NEWS  |  UNIVERSITY

‘To kill a program’: Duke to close herbarium after over 100 years of operation

By Claire Cranford | February 15, 2024

The Duke Herbarium is the second-largest private university herbarium in the U.S. and is home to more than 825,000 plant specimens, including some specimens almost 200 years old. Universities across the world utilize the herbarium, which is a foundation for research in molecular, biochemical and cytogenetic studies. 

---

NEWS  |  UNIVERSITY

DSG gives updates on future committee plans, allocates SOFC funding to student groups

By Abby Spiller | February 14, 2024

Duke Student Government senators met Wednesday to provide updates on committee projects and approve funding for various student groups.

---

NEWS  |  UNIVERSITY

From SLGs to LLCs: How The Cube and Langdorm have begun adapting to QuadEx

By Lucas Lin | February 14, 2024

Two SLGs that have been approved as LLCs, The Cube and Langdorm, are currently undergoing this transition under the QuadEx residential model. 

---

NEWS  |  LOCAL NATIONAL

Durham assistant district attorney admonished for failing to notify rape victim of assaulter’s reduced sentence

By Ishita Vaid | February 14, 2024

The victim, who was then a nursing student at Duke, was assaulted by then-Durham High School student David Felton behind an East Campus dormitory in June 1972. Felton died in January 2024.

---

NEWS  |  UNIVERSITY

Former US ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer speaks about path to peace in Middle East

By Ishita Vaid and Abby Spiller | February 14, 2024

Bruce Jentleson, William Preston Few distinguished professor of public policy and head of the provost’s initiative, moderated the conversation with Kurtzer on the prospect and logistics of facilitating peace in the Middle East. 

---

NEWS  |  UNIVERSITY

Student-organized alumni panel commemorates 55th anniversary of Allen Building Takeover

By Zoe Kolenovsky | February 14, 2024

Four panelists, including three Allen Building Takeover student activists and Theodore Segal, Trinity ‘77 and author of “Point of Reckoning: The Fight for Racial Justice at Duke University,” took the stage in the Rubenstein Library’s Holsti-Anderson Family Assembly Room to share their experiences. 

---

NEWS  |  UNIVERSITY

Duke announces Provost’s Initiative on the Middle East to foster conversation on Israel-Hamas war

By Mia Penner | February 13, 2024

Gallimore appointed Bruce W. Jentleson, William Preston Few distinguished professor of public policy and former State Department advisor on Middle East issues, to lead the initiative. 

---

NEWS  |  UNIVERSITY

Juniors assigned to dorms on East Campus after returning from studying abroad

By Kate Haver | February 12, 2024

At the start of the spring semester, 23 formerly-abroad juniors were assigned to East House, an East Campus dorm otherwise occupied by DKU students, according to Marijean Williams, director of housing assignments and planning. 

---

NEWS  |  HEALTH SCIENCE

Do sea otters slow erosion? These Duke researchers think so

By Michael Austin | February 12, 2024

Researchers at the Nicholas School of the Environment published a discovery in Nature on Jan. 31, presenting “revolutionary” evidence of predator control over marsh landscapes. The study offers a novel interpretation of saltmarsh decline and opens the door for new approaches to shoreline remediation.