Warning: the line for brunch at Foster's Market is about to get even longer. The Fuqua School of Business's class size has grown 20.9% in the past five years, from 340 to 430, and its $23 million Fox Student Center makes the Bryan Center look archaic.
The School of Law's class size has remained consistent, but in order to compete as a ranked school just outside the top ten it has pumped millions of dollars into renovation projects: between 2000 and 2005, more than $30 million was spent renovating law facilities and a new library is currently under construction thanks to a $6.5 million gift from the Duke Endowment.
What does this all mean for the undergraduate population? There are the positives, such as new places to eat. The Star Commons, part of the Law renovations, will have a café and 4,200 square feet of space, within a glass enclosure (think: von der Heyden with a slightly older crowd). There are also Fuqua events that undergrads can attend undercover. Kegs and a projector are brought into the shiny new Fox Center to view basketball games during March Madness. So, for those undergrads not tenting who want a bit more excitement than a common room view, a grad school event could be perfect. But, this undergrad's concern is that the younger students are missing out on some of the bigger perks. Will they have access to better parking options like their graduate counterparts? Will the BC get a shiny makeover and become a glass pavilion? Paging Aubrey McClendon.
-Alexandra Brown
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