Class of 2019: Accept us this April

Amidst an incredible whirlwind of scandals, speeches, protests and celebrations, it was easy to take for granted and routine Duke’s regular decision offers for the Class of 2019 just two weeks ago. With all those following Duke’s recent visibility in the national media coverage, there are surely 2,650 newly admitted students now following those developments attentively. As the first Blue Devil Days wraps up and the others approach, we want to take a moment to discuss Duke’s current state and its direction in higher education for admitted students.

Part of the allure of Duke is its multifaceted nature. Students pride themselves on the wide variety of opportunities we have. And while athletics might be the most visible headline this week, the “an Ivy with…” cliché of Duke’s offerings points to students’ commitment to intellectual acuity. Institutionally, Duke is trying on a variety of different hats, using programs to encourage interdisciplinary studies and unique advancements in STEM fields and expanding the classics and humanities through curricular service and social justice opportunities. And with the ongoing review of the current Curriculum 2000, more innovation is on the horizon.

Duke also continues to challenge traditional models of education, offering opportunities like DukeEngage, DukeImmerse and Bass Connections to go beyond the orthodox classroom and discipline divide. These opportunities recognize our students as actively determining their own education, providing avenues to long-term success. Duke’s success in shaping the future of education is dependent on improving these models, while continuing to accept students who are willing to experiment with them.

For all the praise of the “go-getter” Duke student, the power of exposure on this campus cannot be understated. Today’s application process focuses on the diversity of experiences, and with that diversity comes exposure to different ideas, backgrounds, skills and talents that contribute to Duke’s culture. Between the whirlwind of protests last week and the triumph of men’s basketball this week, students gain as much as observers of the success of others as they do as activists for their choice causes, launching themselves into elated celebration as well as critical dialogue. We often look on passive exposure in a negative light if the sea of opportunities risks confusing students, but we think it can also pose a constructive challenge for students enrolling with some comfortably conceived notion of who they are.

In the hypercompetitive environment of college choices, Duke is a school with incredible inertia, and we as members of this community can both decide if it is the right one for us and help charter its course in the future for others. In end, the decision of where to go to college is overshadowed by the series of decisions made across a student’s four years, but there is scarcely a better environment to make those choices than here at Duke. As current students, we may not always appreciate the lack of tradition, the constant curricular tweaks, or the incessant construction, but Duke is investing in itself and in us. There is always an “ideal” Duke, one that we may have thought we were going to as a hopeful applicant or naïve freshman, and at times it may seem that Duke is fading into the past. But the truth is that there is a newer school emerging as well, and there are meaningful niches for all students, for investing in their own futures as well as in the communities around them at Duke.