<p>[The</a> new Duke | The Chronicle](<a href=“http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/new-duke-1]The”>http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/new-duke-1)</p>
<p>Interesting article and comments. It struck me because my alma mater (UChicago) seems to be undergoing a change as well - and one where current “Duke-like” characteristics may be more valued.</p>
<p>Thoughts?</p>
<p>Good find. This is an interesting article and I think anyone who plans to apply to Duke in the future should read it. It is somewhat concerning that the university is facing an “identity crisis”.</p>
<p>I love this; I love this so much. The “work hard, play hard” ethos — which Duke shares with many party-centered public universities — has always seemed to me like a downside of Duke, a reason not to apply. I’d fit in much more as a nerd at other colleges like the Ivy League or JHU/Vanderbilt/etc. than a school that sees education as work and overemphasizes play.</p>
<p>This is the push that will get me to apply ED.</p>
<p>
Mixed feelings. Encouraging academic engagement outside the classroom is obviously an admirable goal, and I am certainly all for promoting a more responsible social scene. At the same time, Duke’s social scene is one of its most defining characteristics, along with things like its unusual focus on freshmen, southern location, athletics/basketball, etc. Duke is going to have to walk a fine line to improve the intellectual atmosphere on campus without sacrificing quintessential aspects of the university.</p>
<p>Duke is more academically rigorous than most people realize, and it has a fair number of intellectual students running around campus. I think Brodhead is intent on switching the spotlight from the basketball team and parties to these students, and I agree that it’s something that needs to be done if Duke is to continue to be taken seriously in coming years. Less of a focus on what students do Thursday/Friday nights and more on what they do the rest of the week, if you will.</p>
<p>I’m hoping that one of the best things to come out of this will be increased faculty recruitment. Duke has strengthened its programs over the last two decades and performed extremely well in the most recent NRC rankings, but recruiting top-notch faculty will be paramount if it wants to seriously compete with universities like Columbia and Stanford. Duke’s new $3+ billion fundraising campaign will help with this, I think.</p>
<p>I have to say I am vastly disappointed by this. The “work hard, play hard” ethos was one of the main reasons I chose Duke.</p>
<p>The “work hard play hard” atmosphere is not going anywhere at Duke. Speaking as an alum to current students, ya’ll are going to miss out on the drunken debauchery that was Tailgate but the flipside of that is you have a better football team to watch. There is still an active Greek Life on campus and unless Durham turns into a bustling metropolis overnight, the epicenter of Duke’s social life will still be situated at parties on West Campus and off-campus fraternity-rented houses off East Campus.</p>
<p>I think that the hew house system will make the residential system much stronger and the renovations to the West Campus Union will turn the least aesthetically pleasing part of the Gothic Wonderland into the student mecca it was always meant to be. I agree with warblersrule that the new Duke Forward campaign should continue to bolser Duke’s faculty which slightly trails some schools that Duke is considered more prestigious than (Cornell and U of Michigan).</p>
<p>Overall, at least until participation in Greek Life starts falling significantly or until Coach K retires, basketball and social life will continue to differentiate Duke from other top 10 schools. The new interdisciplinary focus on education that Duke’s administration is trying to pitch as a competitive advantage is a nice addition as well. DukeEngage has really helped this vision turn into reality.</p>
<p>My real worry is about Duke’s commitments in China with the Kunshan campus. Its true that Duke’s international reputation is somewhat lacking but there are obviously a lot of risks involved in maintaing an academic presence in the land of “currency manipulators” aka China. This investment could either prove to be a great boon for Duke or money down a sinkhole. We shall see what happens.</p>
<p>I think the future is bright for this university. Our endowment and graduate faculty strength should move into the top 10 in the next decade to match our undergraduate student body strength and professional school reputation.</p>
<p>While I do think it’s great that the administration is placing more focus on education and interdisciplinary studies - we do, after all, come to college to learn - I don’t think that means we should have to restrict the activities we have now. I do believe that it is “foolish” to come to Duke solely because of basketball, but I do know that I personally picked Duke over the Ivy League because of its spirit and fun social scene. I felt so much more at home and at ease here because of the “work hard, play hard” mentality that’s been getting bashed. I wanted a school that was going to offer me a fantastic education, but also a school that had true school spirit, like you see at a big state school. Duke struck the perfect balance between both. There were obviously a lot of other factors that influenced my decision, like programs such as DukeEngage and FOCUS, but the social vibe of Duke is definitely something that attracted me. Someone above said that the “work hard, play hard” thing was something that turned them off to Duke; I feel completely the opposite. I think that mentality is what makes Duke such a distinctive school. And saying that Duke is not a place where you will be challenged academically because it’s a “party school” is just plain wrong. I know there’s not a lot of weight to be held by college rankings, but there’s obviously something highly respectable going on here if we tie with the University of Pennsylvania and rank above three other Ivy League schools. That’s why I love Duke - because we’re up there with the Ivy League but still know how to have fun. Athletics and the social scene set Duke apart from every other top 10 school, and I won’t lie, that was definitely a big reason of why I chose to come here.</p>
<p>I’m currently a high school senior and submitted my ED application for Duke just last week. Upon reading this article, I am starting to question my decision. Of course the number one reason I chose Duke was because of the academics, but the combination of academics and the athletics and social life was what made me decide to apply here as opposed to other comparable schools. The administration should be ashamed in themselves in what seems to be a deliberate attempt to make Duke “less fun.” However, the social and athletic scene will always be a part of Duke and it won’t disappear overnight. I’m just hoping it can last until 2017.</p>
<p>Evan, you have nothing to worry about. I think the writers of that editorial were just speculating that promoting Duke’s interdisciplinary educational philosophy would come at the expense of athletics and social life but I see no reason that they can’t coexist.</p>
<p>This is an exciting time to be a Duke student, that’s for sure. :)</p>
Thought I’d bring this back up. Having already graduated, I’m wondering if this still a thing on campus.
The only thing that is constant is change.
This Chronicle article dates from 2012; really, however, the crux of the article’s thesis is ageless. I am sure one could find similarly focused Chronicle articles in every decade from the founding of Trinity. Of course, this is not a Duke-unique phenomenon; I can remember during my early days as an officer, the “salts” were always referring to the “Old Navy” and the “Old Corps” (and I have no doubt they do so today, even though my “old” was probably the World War II era and today’s “old” is likely the Cold War and Desert Storm).
The “work hard, play hard” culture, which I find both compellingly attractive and at the core of Duke undergraduate life, is not disappearing or atrophying, even though admissions and academic standards continue to improve. One glance at tomorrow night’s Cameron “festivities” should clearly demonstrate that Duke’s spirit, cohesion and FUN remain at the University’s heart. Naturally, this does NOT suggest that changes and enhancements are not continuous. Duke Engage is a perfect example of how major life/learning elements are developed, enhanced, and adapt very well to contemporary needs, without really altering the institution’s fundamental and enduring character.
It may be wise to consider one other fact. The Chronicle has the publish something, it has to fill space. That’s a primary reason, in my opinion, that so many of its Op-Ed pieces are really individually-driven, value-oriented diatribes. After decades of Chronicle readership, I’ve learned to accept all such “stuff” with resignation and many “grains of salt.”
= = = = = = = =
9F, 9F, 9F . . . GTHC, GTH.
Too lazy to write a well-thought out piece as you did @TopTier. But thats exactly what I thought. I was concerned that many people felt this need for Duke to be something it isn’t. If basketball is what differentiates us from the other top 10 schools then we should be proud of thta. DukeEngage, Duke Innovation & Entrepreneurship as well as Focus and other scholarship programs are enough to make Duke a standout in academic enrichment even with such large emphasis on basketball.
Yes I knew this was form 2012 but I was wondering if almost 3 years later people still had the same sentiments.
You know, @Jwest22, I really believe basketball isn’t our crucial and central focus (although, I’m not suggesting that you believe it is). However, K era hoops provides all Dukies – young or old, rich or poor, male or female, domestic or international, Trinity or Pratt or Divinity or Medical or Fuqua or . . . – with a common and often an enthusiastic “focal point,” from which more substantive matters can then potentially be developed and considered. I’ve often used this illustration:
Not a Duke person, but a fan of the school and Mike Krzyzewski. Duke basketball–with its attendant traditions like Krzyzewskiville, the student and the camp-out for tickets, Cameron Indoor, and standing up all game–is just a more intense, well known tradition similar to any number of traditions at top academic schools. The whole thing is good in my opinion, generating a lot of fun for students and vivid memories for alumni. Having someone like Mike Krzyzewski at the helm really helps. It will be interesting to see what happens when he retires in 5 or 10 years.
By the way, living in the mid-South, with many friends connected to both institutions, I think the rivalry with Carolina is as intense as any in the Country, and I have similar numbers of friends from Auburn / Alabama, Clemson / USC, and Michigan / Ohio State.