The approval of three cultural houses for next year’s house model has stirred conversation about the potential for self-segregation.
The Asian Cultural Interest house, the Black Culture Living Group and the Latino Cultural House are three of the 20 houses granted space in next year’s house model. The groups will exist in a residential model aimed at creating community and more equity for independent students. The groups who proposed the cultural houses said these spaces will meet a demand on campus that has historically been unmet.
Mi Gente is sponsoring the Latino Cultural House. The Black Student Alliance and the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture are sponsoring the Black Culture Living Group, and the Asian Student Association is the group sponsoring the Asian Cultural Interest house.
Mi Gente co-President Fernando Revelo La Rotta, a junior, said the group was not unanimous in its decision to apply for the Latino Cultural House. One of the reasons Mi Gente was split over the idea was whether a house would promote self-segregation. He said he does not think this will be a problem due to the nature of the Latino community.
“We’re so diverse that it is not feasible to self-segregate,” Revelo La Rotta said. “We have people who are in involved everything.... There is no stereotypical Hispanic. We’re not a race.... It’s a cultural thing. There are so many different fragments to the Latino community, and we’re going to have a very small house.”
Mi Gente was approached with the idea for a house the week applications for new selective living groups were due, he added.
“We were asked, ‘Hey, do you want to apply? ASA and BSA are doing it,’” Revelo La Rotta said. “Because of the pressure of the administration and peer organizations, we felt forced to apply. But, we wanted to open the opportunity for this house to succeed based on the system.”
BSA representatives declined to comment for this article and ASA representatives could not be reached.
Some form of a Black Culture Living house has been in the works for a long time, according to a letter to the editor Oct. 21 by BSA Executive Vice President Marcus Benning, a sophomore.
“The approval of the Black Culture Living Group signifies more than just having a space in the new house model,” Benning said. “This symbolizes the fulfillment of a demand made by black students more than 40 years ago.... We are pleased that the University administration has decided to support... the Black Culture Living Group.”
Similarly, Benning said claims about houses promoting self-segregation were “sensationalized rhetoric.” Benning said in an interview Sept. 27 that he does not think the Black Culture Living house will foster self-segregation because the house will not include only black students.
Cultural houses have been successful at peer institutions, such as Stanford University, Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania. Benning said the Black Culture Living house takes inspiration from Penn’s W.E.B. Du Bois College House, which promotes black scholarship.
Steve Nowicki, dean and vice provost of undergraduate education, said cultural houses at Duke were largely driven by student demand and were approved because their goals include promoting education about culture, not exclusivity.
“Cultural houses made it very clear that their model is not inward-looking, but rather, they intend to serve as a beacon,” Nowicki said. “If it’s done right, it will support the pluralistic group of student interests. If students are interested in something deeply, not only do they find a residential component to magnify their interests but they also use a physical place to project that to rest of the community.”
Revelo La Rotta noted that it has been difficult for Mi Gente to organize events for Latino students and students interested in Latino culture due to a lack of physical group space. Latino students compose a small minority of Duke, and there is no Latino center for students to currently congregate.
“The success of the [Latino Cultural] House will depend on where the house is,” Revelo La Rotta said.
At the housing lottery Wednesday, the Latino Cultural House was placed in Craven Quadrangle AA; the Asian Cultural Interest house is slated for Edens Quadrangle 1C Lower; and the Black Culture Living Group will reside on 2015 Yearby Ave. on Central Campus.
Joe Gonzalez, associate dean for residence life and co-chair of the House Model Committee, said location trading is a possibility if there is mutual interest for two similar-sized houses.
Revelo La Rotta said the Latino Cultural House is satisfied with its centrally located house, and he has received emails from other groups requesting a location trade. He noted his house will not trade.
Revelo La Rotta said even though Mi Gente was originally conflicted over whether or not to apply for a house, he has high hopes for the Latino Cultural House.
“We hope that [the house] will create unity within the Latino community but include people who are not Latino,” Revelo La Rotta said. “We hope that the house will bring visibility to our community.”
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