Stephen Miller's suggestion that alumni withhold donations from Duke ("Alumni: withhold your support," Feb. 12) to help the school may be a great example of political cant, but it is in no way borne out of genuine concern for the future of Duke.
The education I received from Duke is a bone fide legacy from generations that came before me. I plan to pass on that legacy to my son. He can then pass it on to his children. For me to turn my back on the school by not supporting it financially is nothing less than a denigration of that legacy and a statement that temporal problems are more important than what Duke has done and will do for generations.
My degree was the first college degree in my family, and I still treasure it as such. Who would in their right mind try to destroy our school by withholding donations and then argue that it is good for the school? The contributions of generous alumni and benefactors are what helped me through four years of study, so how could I not now step up to the plate to provide the same kind of support?
There have been over time lots of reasons not to donate, because one disagrees with this policy or that outspoken professor or because the president did not say exactly what we wanted him or her to, but if one believes as I do that Duke is a work of genuine benevolence to our nation, one realizes that our school's work is much larger than any one controversy, issue, incident or person. The work of Duke must continue.
Supporting Duke is not ideological. It is not political. It is not even intellectual. It is a personal and teleological act that binds me to others who share a thirst for knowledge and an ideal that education should be available to all. I hope that Miller realizes this before he leaves Duke this spring with the same legacy thousands will share with him.
Jamie Smarr
Trinity '94
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