Duke students to protest fraternity’s ‘racist rager’

[collegealum314]

<p>^I know. I meant “the state U” generically, not just U. of North Carolina. </p>

<p>I think if the fighting Popped Collars of Harvard played 30 televised games against Joe the Plumbers’ favorite team, they might have a worse reputation than Duke.</p>

[beyphy]

<p>I don’t normally post in this forum but felt a response was apt:</p>

<p>

Duke is a university that most love to hate, and whereas incidents at other colleges like those I outlined above are dismissed as aberrations, incidents at Duke are eagerly snatched up and cackled over, as people rejoice in confirmation that Duke students are indeed the arrogant miscreants they’ve always believed them to be

</p>

<p>The same could be said about USC or a number of other universities in this forum. I (personally) haven’t seen enough Duke hate to say that it’s the university that people ‘love to hate.’</p>

<p>

In truth, Duke is much like most any other top university. It’s a diverse university of 6500 people, each of whom brings different backgrounds, interests, and talents to the table. The Asian population at Duke has traditionally hovered around 1/4 of the student body and is steadily creeping toward the 1/3 mark (the current freshman class is 28% Asian-American). There is not a single student at Duke who hasn’t had Asian roommates, friends, romantic partners, teammates, classmates…students mix and interact at all levels, and I think it’s one of the very best places to do so. While at Duke I interacted with people of all kinds - male, female, black, white, Latino/a, gay, straight, Christian, atheist, poor, wealthy…it was a wonderfully accepting place, and I grew and was challenged in ways I never would’ve thought possible. Arrogance? Far from it. There is nothing like being surrounded by 6500 other people every bit as smart as you, if not smarter, to crush any sense of arrogance, and there are few students indeed with intact arrogance after their first semester. </p>

<p>Yes, Duke has some bad apples, but they are far from the norm. For every KSig, you have several dozen Paul Farmers - talented, intelligent, caring individuals working to make the world a better place. Even if you rounded up all of Duke’s controversial individuals, they are a drop in the bucket relative to the student body. While I am both embarrassed and disgusted by the party invitation and the people behind it, I remain immensely proud of my alma mater.

</p>

<p>As usual warblersrule, you hit the nail on the head. Duke, like many others, is an undoubtedly excellent university that is very diverse, and it’s certainly a university you should be proud of attending.</p>

<p>

One can only turn the other cheek so many times, and I have thought quite strongly about quitting CC over the issue. It would not be a huge loss - I receive nothing of value from this site and stick around only to pass on what I’ve managed to learn.

</p>

<p>Perhaps i’m wrong here, but I think you’re exaggerating a bit. Does Duke really receive that much flack on CC compared to other elite universities?</p>

<p>all of our universities receive flak on CC warblersrule, including many, who like to note that my alma mater isn’t ‘a flagship’ or the Cal boosters who like to cal it ‘southern branch’ or ‘baby Cal.’ Yes, this analogy isn’t exactly comparable to your situation, but I feel that integrating yourself into a community (including an online one) has to do with finding a place you fit in, and enjoying the company of others who frequent that community or forum. I’ve liked the vast majority of your posts I read, although you do remain more objective and impartial than others on the forum. That, like anything else, has its benefits and its downsides.</p>

<p>

As with every stereotype, there is a kernel of truth behind it

</p>

<p>So you make decisions, after thinking about them ‘long and hard,’ based on kernel’s of truth? gimme a break :rolleyes:</p>

[goldenboy8784]

<p>

@Pizzagirl

ROFL! The reputation extends far beyond North Carolina.

As a proud Duke alum, I apologize on behalf of whichever individual associated with the school may have wronged you in your personal or professional life but arrogance is not a trait I would associate with my school. Most kids I knew were friendly, intelligent, hard working, down-to-earth, and extroverted.</p>

<p>As far as this issue goes, I’m very familiar with the Kappa Sigs at Duke since I knew a few of them well when I went to school there a couple of years back. Its actually one of the most diverse fraternities at the school and is often the frat of choice for European international students at the school. I know that KSig had French, German, British, Indian, and Vietnamese brothers in their organization at least when I was there on campus.</p>

<p>The idea that this group, or any organization at Duke, is “racist” is laughable. I would say that most college students haven’t reached a consensus on what the appropriate boundaries are regarding race-based humor however.</p>

<p>All of this is much ado about nothing IMHO.</p>

[SomeOldGuy]

<p>Re #202: That would still be Duke’s fault. Tommy Amaker played for Coach K. </p>

<p>Not that I condone in any way what happened with the KSigs, but I do think stories like this are bigger stories when they happen at Duke due to its profile with the general public from basketball. The crowd here might do well to remember that there are a lot of Americans who think a “Dart-mouth” is a new hatchback from Dodge.</p>

[Hunt]

<p>

As far as this issue goes, I’m very familiar with the Kappa Sigs at Duke since I knew a few of them well when I went to school there a couple of years back. Its actually one of the most diverse fraternities at the school and is often the frat of choice for European international students at the school. I know that KSig had French, German, British, Indian, and Vietnamese brothers in their organization at least when I was there on campus.

Never assume that a Greek organization (or any other organization) is the same as it was when you were there, or the same as it is on another campus. Every chapter turns over every few years, and can change significantly.</p>

<p>Latest from Duke on this:
<a href=“http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/duke-suspends-kappa-sigma-based-other-issues[/url]”>Duke suspends Kappa Sigma based on 'other issues' - The Chronicle;

[Pizzagirl]

<p>It’s of note to me that the Kappa Sig president is Luke Keohane - wonder if he is any relation to Nannerl Keohane, who was previously president at Duke? The name is unusual enough it made me wonder.</p>

[cobrat]

<p>

As a proud Duke alum, I apologize on behalf of whichever individual associated with the school may have wronged you in your personal or professional life but arrogance is not a trait I would associate with my school. Most kids I knew were friendly, intelligent, hard working, down-to-earth, and extroverted.

</p>

<p>Out of curiosity, is there a reason why you’ve implicitly cast negative aspersions on introverts with your comment above? Also, is Duke only for extroverts?</p>

<p>I sincerely hope not. Despite being an extrovert myself, I wouldn’t be too happy at any higher-ed institution without a diverse group of people…including introverts.</p>

[Pizzagirl]

<p>If goldenboy had wanted to say “introverts are bad people” or “Duke is only for extroverts,” he would have said so. He said that most kids he knew at Duke were extroverted. Take it at face value instead of trying to inpute negative things.</p>

[ucbalumnus]

<p>

@goldenboy8784

As far as this issue goes, I’m very familiar with the Kappa Sigs at Duke since I knew a few of them well when I went to school there a couple of years back.

</p>

<p>Wasn’t ΚΣ only re-recognized at Duke in 2012 after having been dissolved in 2002, so “a couple of years back”, there would only have been an unrecognized off-campus group?</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/kappa-sigma-return-campus[/url]”>Kappa Sigma to return to campus - The Chronicle;
<a href=“http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/kappa-sig-dissolves-itself[/url]”>Kappa Sig dissolves itself - The Chronicle;

[collegealum314]

<p>

…arrogance is not a trait I would associate with my school. Most kids I knew were friendly, intelligent, hard working, down-to-earth, and extroverted.

I interpreted this the same way cobrat did.</p>

<p>First Goldenboy says that Duke people are not arrogant, and then he appears to counter the negative associations people have by listing positive traits. Implying that extroversion is a positive trait infers that it is more desirable than introversion. That is, on the sliding-scale from introversion to extroversion, introversion would be the “negative” trait.</p>

[goldenboy8784]

<p>

@collegealum314

First Goldenboy says that Duke people are not arrogant, and then he appears to counter the negative associations people have by listing positive traits. Implying that extroversion is a positive trait infers that it is more desirable than introversion. That is, on the sliding-scale from introversion to extroversion, introversion would be the “negative” trait.

Reread my post again. I was just saying adamantly that arrogance was not a common trait that I would associate with my classmates and then listed some traits that I did find that they possessed more commonly. I agree that “extroversion” isn’t necessarily positive, but then again it isn’t necessarily a negative characteristic either.</p>

<p>

@cobrat

I sincerely hope not. Despite being an extrovert myself, I wouldn’t be too happy at any higher-ed institution without a diverse group of people…including introverts.

I obviously didn’t meet all 6,600 or so undergrads at Duke during my time there; I can only comment on the 100 or so that I knew that I had at least an acquaintance-like relationship with. I’m an extrovert myself so that may explain why I didn’t know too many introverts. It wouldn’t make much sense for any college with a reasonable population to lack a sizable group of introverts.</p>