CRR alumni respond to merger

We were shocked and saddened to read about the merging of the International House and the Multicultural Center, and about the loss of Juanita Johnson and Julian Sanchez in particular. Some of the most meaningful experiences from our time at Duke (and maybe even our lives to date) have come from the Center for Race Relations, which is run out of the Multicultural Center. We sincerely hope this merger will not prevent other students from having similar experiences. Juanita was an invaluable resource to the various programs that came out of the Center, and Julian was a much beloved and admired mentor to so many of us. They will be greatly missed, and they are irreplaceable.

The International House and the Multicultural Center provide equally vital services to two distinct communities. Diversity work is rendered meaningless and ineffective if it is not treated as a nuanced issue, and given Duke’s history, this type of work should not be taken lightly. We hope that the decision to remove two distinguished staff members who have shown much loyalty to the university was not made flippantly as an “easy” way to deal with budget constraints. Their contributions to our university community far outweigh their salaries. You cannot put a price on diversity.

We would greatly appreciate an explanation of why this happened, and how the University plans to keep its diversity planning at the same level. We are deeply concerned about what this plan means for the future of diversity and student programming at Duke.

Olivia Singelmann, Trinity ’08

Alumnus, Center for Race Relations

Cammie Erickson, Trinity ’08

Alumnus, Center for Race Relations

Boyu Hu, Trinity ’08