MBAs call for action against prejudice

In recent weeks, the ugly specter of racism and prejudice has descended upon our campus and community. The Chronicle, the independent daily newspaper at Duke, published a column Oct. 18 titled “The Jews” written by a senior undergraduate student. In sweeping terms, the column classified all Jews as a single entity and claimed this entity leveraged the so-called “Holocaust Industry” to assume exaggerated power in society and “shocking overrepresentation” in academia, among other inflammatory statements. Four weeks have elapsed since the column’s publication, and to date, we do not feel that The Chronicle has acted in a sufficient manner to suggest that such hurtful language is unwelcome in our community. While we do appreciate the recent steps taken by the University and its leadership to address these issues, we feel more is yet to be done.

Free speech is, and should be, a revered value in our society. However, when free speech is used to wound, we must clearly express our strongest objection. Freedom of speech is not exclusively the right of those whose words hurt; it is also the rightful domain of those who wish to heal. To that end, we write not to censor what we perceive as racism, but rather to lift the self-inflicted fear to criticize it.

At its core, the Fuqua School of Business is committed to educating “Thoughtful Business Leaders Worldwide.” We have been taught that when faced with adversity, leadership requires not only thoughtful consideration, but also clear judgment and strong responses. It is our firm belief that we must actively condemn what we see as stereotyping and discrimination, whether based on race, gender, religion, nationality, sexual orientation or any other characteristic. Moreover, a failure to respond decisively and promptly endangers not merely the subjects of such prejudice—it emboldens those who use such language, and threatens the integrity and foundation of our entire campus community.

Thus, we condemn any expressions perceived as racism or prejudice, and call upon the leadership of Duke University to join us and respond accordingly by condemning such notions in an unequivocal and clear fashion. In addition, we ask the school to take all appropriate actions to eliminate such vitriol from our community, including launching formal programs to educate students of the true nature and ramifications of such volatile language. Moreover, we call all members of this community to engage in a thorough academic discussion of the issues raised around stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination. Finally, we call upon The Chronicle to publicly recognize its recent lapse of editorial judgment. We urge The Chronicle to take the necessary steps to ensure that editorial columns do not become vehicles for the publication of cheap and malicious language, or any other content that does not adhere to what we consider as minimal academic or journalistic criteria.

To conclude, in no uncertain terms, we categorically condemn the contents of this column, which we identify to be a monolithic classification of a diverse people and a pseudo-academic distortion of recent and historical events. However, the issue at hand is far greater than the column, the author or “The Jews”; it is about the atmosphere we all want to foster in our community and our role as leaders to ensure it is sustained.

It is our profound hope that this episode leads to a better campus community, such that Duke will be known as a campus that both welcomes diversity and is blessed by its presence. This, we believe will, as the University’s Mission Statement suggests, “increase our wisdom, and promote human happiness.”

Michael Levin is a second year student at the Fuqua School of Business. He is writing on behalf of the following student organizations at Fuqua: Asian Business Club, INDUS South Asian Business Club, Black & Latino MBA Organization, Jewish Business Association, Gay Lesbian & Straight Alliance and Latin American Student Association