Duke is run like a corporation. Usually, I am not bothered in the least by this fact. The management of our endowment, until recently unguided by any moral imperative, has allowed for the financial aid I am receiving. The efficiency of OIT has saved me from viruses many a time. I generally trust the University to keep the interests of our academics and students in mind when formulating policies.
They seem to do well.
My trust was violated mildly last semester, when the supposed brilliance of the virtual course environment from hell--Blackboard--was imposed on professors across the institution. Professor Roy Weintraub wrote a letter to the editor in much-appreciated rage, and today the matter seems to be settled appropriately.
Currently, however, a situation I have found myself in has brought to light the full horror rigid and contradictory policy can present to the mindful scholar.
Let me tell you a story of utter retardation, adorned by latent--yet blatant--racism, found in Duke's policies.
This spring semester I am studying at the University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa. Part of the reason I chose this particular institution is the West's abundant ignorance of what once known as the "Dark Continent." I was impressed that Duke had an agreement with UCT in place, facilitating study abroad.
My admiration did not last very long.
The rationale behind study abroad programs is well known to all of us. It gives Duke students a chance to experience an environment completely foreign (in all senses of the word) to them, while continuing their education, surrounded by peers. A lot, if not most, of the learning abroad takes place outside the classroom.
Duke does not allow overloads abroad; it states so quite clearly in several publications. This ban is only logical--if a student desires to collect as many credits as possible, he or she can do so in Gothic Wonderland.
For the University of Cape Town, however, it appears that an exception has been made.
Duke requires students at UCT to take four courses. A regular, South African student takes three. The Duke Study Abroad Handbook tells one that "to calculate the normal semester load of any school, find the regular yearly load and divide by two."
A yearly UCT load is six courses.
This does indeed mean that Duke students, too, should only take three.
Requiring students to overload encourages looking for easier courses. Being abroad, after all, is not about living in a library. To me, this seems to run counter to good academic spirit--I, for one, would prefer to take three challenging courses over any four easy-passes.
So far I have just shown you the retardation. Racism came into play when the Deputy Dean of Undergraduate Students of UCT let Duke know that four courses a semester would indeed constitute an overload.
Duke disregarded the notice from UCT completely.
If a Harvard Dean would tell Duke officials they were wrong, instantaneous apology would ensue. Yet, because the e-mail came from the "Dark Continent," no change in Duke's contradictory policy (no overloads allowed, but four classes required) was undertaken. The argument, supposedly, was that Duke students in the past managed just fine.
Maybe my example is in a different league than Rita Bergmann's luminous attack on Duke's war profiteering. What both stories come down to, however, is that when university policy is put into practice, ethics and the spirit of academia are disregarded.
I am personally not a big fan of the heirs of Jessica Rutter, but their recent attack on Halliburton style exploitation by Nan and friends should not be taken lightly. The DCU-hating liberal Nannerl Keohane herself is now personally involved in no-bid contracts for rebuilding Iraq...
In a not completely unrelated story, Duke is making lots of money by selling Duke gear to basketball fans.
The first time I had second thoughts about this was last spring break. For some obscure reason, I found myself in an impoverished urban area of Minnesota. Four boys of roughly college age were hanging around an abandoned bus stop, under the influence of god-knows-what. As I walked by, I could tell they were significantly less advantaged than the average Blue Devil.
One of them was sporting a $120 Duke jacket.
Is it fair that someone who will never even graduate from a community college helps fund my Ivy-quality education?
I am not offering answers, but just posing the question.
I understand that a university like Duke requires professional management. I would just like to sincerely urge the Office of Study Abroad, the Research Triangle Institute and whoever is responsible for Duke basketball merchandise to think deeply about their roles in this world as representatives of an American institution of higher learning.
Joost Bosland is a Trinity sophomore. His column appears occasionally.
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