In the middle of Tuesday's Chronicle you will find the calendar of what has been called 21 Night Stand (a name straight out of a Faran Krentcil column). This is three weeks of extra programming made possible by a $50,000 grant from the Division of Student Affairs. It is Larry Moneta's way of trying to improve the much lamented social scene at Duke--and I think it is great.
The programming is completely left up to different student groups on campus. Jonathan Bigelow, president of the Duke University Union, proposed this format in a summertime memo to Moneta. A committee of student leaders, headed by Bigelow, now coordinates the effort.
That the Union has taken an active role in the project is barely surprising; they are the principal student programming body on campus. It has by far surpassed DSG and Campus Council as the center of student activity. This fact was clear from the impressive margin of 46 percent with which the Union portion of the student activities fee passed; the DSG increase passed with a meager 2 percent. The Union is Freewater Films, it is Major Speakers, it is pretty much any relatively well-known band playing on campus, and it will be Ludacris in Cameron.
Fifty thousand dollars is a lot of extra money for three weeks of shenanigans. According to a March 5 article in The Chronicle, the bling comes from "a variety of sources" (the word on the street is that the Development & Alumni Affairs Office has been particularly generous), but will be channeled through Moneta's account. A question that should be asked is whether the money could not have been better spent, since many student groups need money for more constructive things than 21 days of Moneta Madness.
The timing, too, is questionable. The first weeks of the academic year are traditionally busy with previous commitments for returning students and the inevitable orientation-related events for freshmen. On top of that, people are excited both to see friends and to be away from parental supervision again. Quite a few of the people you meet on the quad actually seem reinvigorated by the break.
But later in the semester, when professors start to bore us and beer pong at Theta Rho Pi loses its novelty, we might need such a boost in programming much more.
Despite these concerns, 21 Night Stand is a commendable initiative. When students use their talents to enrich the lives of their peers, we are as close as possible to President Keohane's vision of social life at Duke. If more people would attend student-organized events, they might realize that Nan's vision is not as preposterous as it is made out to be by staunch defenders of the beer-and-hookups greek scene. In fact, our president is right in what she wants.
A significant chunk of the debauchery advertised on the special calendar would have taken place without the fifty grand. In fact, in an e-mail advertising the availability of the extra funds to student groups, it was specifically mentioned that any and all events that were already in the pipeline would gladly be included in the publicity. The women's volleyball match against Pittsburgh would have taken place regardless, for example.
This is actually a good thing. If you look on calendar.duke.edu and browse through The Chronicle any given week during the academic year, you would be able to find events up to par with what is advertised Tuesday.
It takes some extra effort, but typing a URL into your browser is definitely manageable. I invite everyone to utilize the existing richness in programming--ranging from sports matches, classical concerts and Shakespeare plays, to free lunches at the law school and talks by convicted terrorists--all year long, not just when Moneta and Bigelow present it to us on a silver platter.
In a conversation I had with Bigelow about his brainchild, he mentioned that the Union will start its very own calendar this year. That calendar is supposed to make campus programming even more accessible.
He described 21 Night Stand as a learning experience that has revealed a number of existing weaknesses in campus dealings. If all groups involved review the process properly, we might see improvement, even without extra cash. For some reason I am confident that it will happen.
Ideally, however, Moneta realizes that there can never be too many social options, and continue to spend like there is no tomorrow.
Joost Bosland is a Trinity sophomore. His column appears every third week.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.