If the “work hard, play hard” Duke is ending then what will take its place? In its place will be the independent’s conception of Duke, a school where students work hard, pause for online moral preening and then work harder.
Despite their best intentions, the frat bros have set the stage for their eventual demise.
I want no part of Gen Z GOP’s vision. They aspire to create a Republican Party that is a respectable rump, its representatives fit to be invited on cable news but not to actually govern in the interests of the American nation.
If I am faced with a choice between two groups, each of which is wildly speculating in financial markets for personal gain, then I am going to side with the group that is giving average people a helping hand, that is helping to save a few community institutions from bankruptcy and that is producing some of the best memes of 2021.
Shaking off the stupor of late stage decadence is simply too aggravating for an “exhausted” America. Instead, we will resume a comfortable nap, resigned to the fact that this polity lacks the rousing, collective ambition necessary to solve our greatest challenges.
Central Campus was one of the final significant reminders of Duke’s roots as a southern university. Ever since West Campus was designed to look like Princeton, we’ve been running from those roots.
I was a digital serf, a laborer toiling on the data aggregation farm of the oligarchs in San Francisco. My reward was but a pittance, a small hit of dopamine in exchange for every single marketable fact about my existence.
If it's possible to see the good and the bad in Duke, to acknowledge the university’s failings while appreciating its many incredible virtues and accomplishments, then it is possible to do the same for Greek life.
Duke students must live up to the standards placed on us. We must concentrate our collective talent, ingenuity and ambition towards contributing to those in need.
It is easy to treat Duke as a brand, as a soulless entity devoid of any personal touch. But if this crisis has proven anything to us, it is that Duke is made up of individuals–wonderful, supportive, and caring people.
