No resurrection in Duke Divinity

Let me begin by giving you some numbers that the Divinity School won’t publish: zero—the number of African-American women tenured track professors, two—the number of African-American students in the Class of 2011 going to Ph.D. programs, five—the number of perpetual African-American congregation field education placements, seven—the number of graduating students of African descent with guaranteed jobs, 25—the percentage of African-American students who transferred from Duke Divinity during 2009-2010, 65,000—the average amount of loan debt in dollars that African American women students carry even though less than three per class (not 3 percent) will have gainful employment to pay it back.

How many students of African descent does the Divinity School have? Sixty-eight (around 60 percent of them women).

How many students of African descent are in the senior class? Twenty-four (give or take one or two).

I raise these numbers because I have been a part of a strong contingent of students who wrote a letter more than two weeks ago to raise concerns about what we see as a tragedy in our Duke Divinity experiences. In our letter to the dean, the Office of Black Church Studies and black and allied faculty, we have raised a variety of concerns (and are willing to offer solutions) that we see as critical. The letter given was a third draft (started more than a year ago) that we submitted because we wanted to be honest but not accusatory.

But, our professors and administrators, who ask for us to sit and listen to them, refuse to hear our stories. They refuse to hear stories about their colleagues intimidating students. They refuse to hear stories about the void of mentorship and support. They refuse to hear how the lack of networks have left us deplete of opportunity (especially since they do not want or have a connection with the Career Center), denying students opportunity post-graduation. They do not want to hear how the chosen adviser for the Black Seminarians Union has damned up its potential to advocate and program, foregoing this year’s elections. Next year, she says, “She’ll choose the officers.”

Other letters, too—personal letters, deeply sad letters—have been sent to administrators, but to no avail. No one wants to listen.... They just want to tell us that they are working on “our issues.” Truthfully, some of these people told students not to sign the letter that called for a meeting, so that all students could have a more positive education. Mostly, they hope we will go away... like discarded trash. But, I will not. I love Duke! And, in a few weeks, I’m going to become an alumnus, and become more involved than I was when I was here!

However, today in this season that acknowledges that Christ has risen, that is ultimately about redemption, there is no resurrection in the Divinity School where we are taught to listen. There is no resurrection on critical issues that frame black livelihood as a part of the Duke story. Instead, we are told to wait until summer and “they’ll” figure out how to fix it. But, all I want is to be heard. Is that too much to ask for before I graduate? How is it that a school can teach redemption and resurrection in the church, but here in our community it remains midnight, theologically?