As much as I enjoy the amusing image the phrase "crazy liberal" invokes, I fear that the phrase genuinely applies to the individuals behind the recent lunacy that has culminated in "The Demands."
The Demands are a list of a dozen or so items that an ad hoc group of students created to address minority issues on campus after the notorious Sigma Chi party. As a "crazy liberal" myself, I can appreciate the ideologies behind these efforts, though I am increasingly frustrated with the polarization this group continues to create in the leftist community.
It's "out of control" to say the least, and I don't have to be a member of the Duke Conservative Union to come to that conclusion. I refuse to jump on board the anti-Sigma Chi bandwagon that has recently morphed into "let the Allen Building pay" camp.
Frankly, students are wasting their time brainstorming administrative changes as the ones proposed in order to influence the campus climate for all types of minority students. First of all, it's highly unlikely the Allen Building will suddenly develop a Native American Studies program because a bunch of upset students demand it. I'd even be surprised if they ran a "one-page ad in The Chronicle and the Dialogue" funded by Student Affairs each semester, "detailing University policy on hate crimes."
A bunch of idealistic students might think these are great ideas, and I'm certainly not opposed to them on face. Even though Luther could tack his 95 Theses on the church door and spawn a new Christian denomination, this group of students cannot simply tack "The Demands" on the Chapel and expect change before Dec. 31, as they "demand."
These students do not seem to understand the workings of a university, let alone the administrative organization of institutions.
Administrators, university or not, generally do not respond well to demands, especially demands that require intense planning, resources and money. Pulling the "minority card" won't help much either. They do not seem to know that Arts & Sciences is facing a budget crisis. This might be important when formulating "demands."
Or maybe they also forgot that the Cultural Fund, managed by the Office of Multicultural Affairs, "focuses on activities that expand multicultural and intercultural programming." Groups such as ASA, Mi Gente and AQUADuke are privy to these funds, in addition to the regular student group funds they receive from DSG (as annual budgets and specific programming refund requests).
Also, the development of programs such as Women's Studies and African and African-American Studies took years of negotiations, surveys and research. And Women's Studies is still funded in part by private donors outside of the University, even though it is the largest interdisciplinary program at Duke. Native American Studies and Asian American Studies will not magically appear this semester, and it's unlikely that a serious conversation about Native American Studies will be initiated either.
Ask any student or professor involved in the recent efforts to develop Asian American Studies: these things take careful planning and negotiation. If anything, these demands are a slap in the face of individuals who have thoughtfully made a case on academic grounds for Asian American Studies in the past few years. In fact, students and faculty continue to articulate an academic realm for Sexuality Studies in the University seven years after its founding.
Using the campus climate as a springboard for the creation of a new slew of interdisciplines delegitimizes the serious academic work being done on campus to create new programs. It seems The Demands camp is not familiar with University practices and policies. Unfortunately, this lack of understanding and thoughtful research into the areas covered by The Demands lends the camp little credibility where it matters.
What saddens and frustrates me most about The Demands is the notion once again that administrators have to solve our problems. And we have problems. "Viva Mexico" is the tip of the iceberg. Administrators can fine the hell out of Sigma Chi; they can kick them off-campus; they can line them up before a firing squad on Main West. What they cannot do is meaningfully engage the student body with these issues, no matter how much money they pour into it.
Larry Moneta and Nan Keohane did not throw the party. Students threw the party. Students self-segregate; students intimidate each other; students glare at freaks from their benches; students make racist/sexist/homophobic jokes; students sexually assault one another. And students can begin to fix these problems. A top-down approach will do nothing to effect change within the campus climate. The existence of this or that cultural center serves little purpose for students who choose not to step inside. More African-American professors may make the faculty look more diverse, but it certainly won't stamp out racist attitudes.
And that's the problem with all of The Demands. Any of them would surely make Duke appear to be a leftist, progressive institution in the viewbook, videos, radio and news articles. And as an institution, it could very well become more progressive than it is. However, students reside at this school, students interact with one another and students create these problems.
I am disappointed that The Demands camp missed the opportunity of a lifetime--an opportunity to bring these issues into the consciousness of every Duke student and work them out together as members of one student body. Instead, they chose to isolate conservatives and liberals alike and demand that the University do something about their gripes top-down. These are issues only students will ever be able to solve. It's unfortunate that we haven't figured that out yet.
Christopher Scoville is a Trinity junior. His column appears every other Thursday.
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