It’s no secret that Duke’s campus culture is often construed as war between greeks and non-greeks, fighting for the soul of Duke. The supposed war is fueled by each side seeing the other as a malicious monolith, and suspecting the other side feels the same way. But neither group dislikes the other so much as they think.
These intuitions have been confirmed by a recent survey of 31 different educational institutions conducted by a national organization of student affairs administrators. The study abounds with data, revealing two kinds of problems—problems about how greeks and non-greeks perceive each other and substantive campus problems about how greeks and non-greeks interact.
The perception problem relates to a huge dissonance between how greeks and non-greeks feel about greek presences on campus, and each group thinks the dissonance is larger than it actually is.
For instance, greeks reported high satisfaction with their experiences, citing leadership opportunities and personal connections with other students as major benefits of membership in a greek organization. Ninety-five percent of greeks think that greek organizations provide meaningful leadership experiences for their members, and 92 percent of greeks think their organizations enhance campus life.
Non-greeks have a much less glowing perspective. Only 44 percent of them, for instance, believed greek organizations provided meaningful leadership opportunities, and a startlingly low 29 percent think greek organizations improve campus life.
But, for all this, greeks think they are more villainized than they actually are—61 percent of greeks thought that non-greeks had negative impressions of them, while only 42 percent actually did. This may seem like small beans, but it points to an enmity between groups that is more perceived than real. If each group recognizes that the other does not dislike them so much, we will be able to move towards a campus culture that looks more like a kaleidoscope and less like a yin-yang split between greek and non-greek.
This is important, because non-greeks picked out real problems generated by greek students on campus. No wonder perceptions on both sides are fraught with mutual distrust and perceptions of hostility. This is the second, substantive culture problem.
We see an opportunity to solve the perception problem and, in the same throw, to reduce the substantive problem. We see the evidence of a perception gap as an opportunity for more inter-organizational programming. Joint programming could take many forms, possibly as a collaboration between a greek group and an organization such as DUU. Many greek organizations have made significant headway by partnering with service organizations in Durham, but there is improvement to be made in partnering with Duke student groups to put on social events that defy the typical greek or non-greek characterization. It will be a good day when we rarely think of events as greek or non-greek, but as dances, performances and outings.
Both greeks and non-greeks have a stake in improving campus culture for all, and both need to be open to the possibility to change. Greeks benefit from blunting the criticisms of exclusivity frequently leveled against them. Non-greeks gain the opportunities to benefit from more events and programming and the distinctive character of greek organizations that makes them so beloved by their members. After all, the soul of Duke belongs to all of us.
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