In Martin Luther King's famous speech "I have a dream," he yearned for the day when people of all races could "work together, pray together" and live together harmoniously. In line with this vision, Duke Admissions officers have worked to create a racially and culturally diverse student body.
Duke also has an entire Web site devoted to its diversity initiatives, which include its various faculty initiatives as well as a statement referring to Duke's determination to create a "diverse, inclusive and engaged community that affirms difference." The University even sponsors events such as Common Ground, run by the Center for Race Relations, which is a four day retreat that attempts to show students of all different racial, cultural and ethnic backgrounds their points of commonality.
On the surface, we appear to be fulfilling King's ideal. The ethnic breakdown for the undergraduate student body in Fall 2008, the last time data was publicly available, runs as follows: 10 percent African American, 22 percent Asian American, 6 percent Hispanic/Latino, 51percent Caucasian and 6 percent international students, according to the Office of News and Communications.
But even though Duke sports such diversity in numbers, what actually happens when everyone arrives on campus? Are the "sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners" sitting down together "at the table of brotherhood?"
Yeah right! Walk into any on-campus eatery-The Loop, The Marketplace, Grace's Cafe-and you will see homogenous clusters of students merrily chatting away about the myriad problems and concerns that we college students face on a daily basis. In case you haven't noticed, Duke is a very separated campus, and with the advent of selective living groups, fraternity housing and blocks, students manage to isolate themselves in ethnic and racial enclaves that are rarely breached.
Duke students even socialize separately-if you walk into a section party on Friday or Saturday night, you will probably find mostly white students laughing and drinking in the narrow halls and over-crowded rooms. On the other hand, parties thrown at Club 9, Devil's Den or the Great Hall are usually populated by black and Hispanic students.
Even cultural events that are advertised as a way to express Duke's multicultural student body are mostly attended by members of that specific ethnic group, with only a select minority of other students present. For instance, enter Page Auditorium for the Homecoming Step Show, you will see a predominantly black audience. My freshman year, I attended Lunar New Year run by the Asian Student Association only to feel vaguely uncomfortable at being one of the few non-Asian people in the audience.
So the question is: 46 years after MLK's speech, 55 years after Brown v. Board of Education and almost 40 years after the end of the Civil Rights Movement, why do students at Duke remain so racially and culturally isolated despite our physical proximity?
The bottom line is because people are lazy and want to be as comfortable as possible. There is no denying the fact that it is much easier to associate with people who look, think and generally act the way you do. It's more comfortable to be around people who share your race, culture and socioeconomic class because you share a common experience. You understand the intricacies and idiosyncrasies of your race or culture or religion that outsiders just wouldn't understand. It is comfortable to be around people who understand your point of view and your opinions. Take a look at your own social circle. I'm sure a majority of your friends are of the same racial, socioeconomic or religious group as yourself.
This in and of itself is not a problem; the problem occurs when you exclusively associate with those people similar to yourself and don't make the effort to get to know others. The whole point of being on a college campus is so that you can learn new ideas and associate with people that you might never get a chance to interact with ever again. Part of Duke's mission in bringing us all together is so we can branch out of our comfortable ethnic and racial enclaves and actually get to know one another.
Of course, this requires effort. It takes courage to strike up a conversation with a random stranger sitting next to you on the ever-crowded C-1. And often these cross-racial and cross-cultural dialogues are difficult. They can be tense and awkward moments when you will struggle to get to know a person who on the surface appears to be completely different from yourself. But as my mother has consistently told me for the past 19 years, nothing worth doing comes easy.
So, in the coming weeks as you struggle to get back into the hectic rhythm of Duke life, take time out and get to know different people. Let's make Duke a campus that is more than just diverse in numbers.
Dayo Oshilaja is a Trinity junior. Her column runs every other Thursday.
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