I’m going to open up my greeting to you freshmen with a question that I hope gets some raised hands.
How many of you wanted to come to Duke at least in part for Durham?
Hailing from Connecticut, I knew nothing about the Bull City before I arrived. But after three years, I’ll be the first to tell you that you should be excited not only to come to Duke, but also at the prospect of spending four years in one of the most exciting places in the country.
Like food? Durham’s a culinary World Cup year round, filled with some of the best Nouveau South cuisine there is. Start with Magnolia Grill, Gourmet’s #11 restaurant in the country—bring your parents, especially if they’ll pay—and then move on to Watts Grocery, Revolution, Piedmont and on.
How about music? Durham is mentioned in the same breath as traditional bastions like Seattle, Portland and San Francisco as the prime non-Brooklyn places to go to find your new favorite band. Next year the Hopscotch Music Festival should glut the city with America’s best, and Troika celebrates the local scene—which is superb. And let’s not forget the Coffeehouse, DPAC or the Cat’s Cradle in Chapel Hill, one of the nation’s premiere venues.
Prefer movies? The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival is the best of its kind, four days of 100+ films. That should keep you busy.
I love books, so there’s the Regulator. I saw Wells Tower read there. If the idea of that gets you as pumped as it got me, get in touch, we’ll be friends.
And there’s no shortage of innovative, exciting art spaces, starting with the Nasher, which since I’ve been here has featured work by Warhol and Picasso.
The fact that I ran out of space so quickly should give you an idea of how sincere I am about here. Go to college here, sure. But try to live here as well.
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