Kunshan: Consult the experts

I appreciate Antonio Segalini’s recent column in the Opinion section “In bed with the wrong person,” as well as The Chronicle’s close attention to the series of unfortunate developments with regard to Duke’s initiative in China. What strikes me as particularly notable is that Duke’s faculty specialists (in Political Science and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies for example) could easily have warned administrators to anticipate issues like provincial competitiveness or political and business practices—had they been asked.

In my judgment, institutional leadership has an absolute responsibility to consider and consult the wisdom of Duke’s faculty specialists when advancing major initiatives. My years as an administrator brought me into close contact with extraordinary faculty in the Sanford School of Public Policy and the Political Science and Asian Studies departments whose deep expertise in foreign policy issues lead our state department to continue to turn to them for advice. Why our own administrative teams seem less interested in that local knowledge is puzzling. Indeed, this disinterest may ultimately prove to be a costly selectivity.

Karla FC Holloway

James B. Duke Professor of English

Former Dean of the Humanities and Social Sciences