<p>Those of you who are so fired up to attend Duke might think twice. Here's a link to a recent set of events at Duke that raises, in my mind, the type of education that Duke provides its students. A student, Philip Kurlian, wrote a nasty, anti-Semitic article for the Duke Chronicle, that, under the guise of free speech, reads like a page out of Mein Kampf. President Brodhead wrote a mealy-mouthed response to the article. Even the Jewish editor of The Chronicle justified printing it. Balance in the face of hate is no virtue. And Duke recently sponsored a Palestinian Solidarity Movement conference - spending $50,000 - that spewed hate and more anti-Semitism. </p>
<p>Here's the article from The Chronicle - keep in mind that it was written by a Duke senior, who supposedly had the benefit of fours years of a Duke education. It's amazing to me that Kurlian could be as hateful and ignorant as his article makes him out to be.</p>
<p>That's one person's opinion and certainly cannot be applied to the Duke community as a whole, which is very accepting and tolerant. Duke offers many programs dealing with international issues (including Judaic Studies). If you want to see Duke hatred, watch the Duke-UNC game (it's on right now). :)</p>
<p>By the way, Mein Kampf doesn't sound like that at all. I have never read a more boring book.</p>
<p>B.) For like 2 weeks, the Chronicle was FILLED with criticism for that article. Some people suggested that his scholarship be taken away (a view that I don't personally agree with). He in no way is representative of Duke.
The reason that the Chronicle printed it and the reason why the PSM was allowed to come here was in the name of free speech. </p>
<p>C.) Duke did not "sponsor" the PSM conference. The $50,000 (if that figure is even correct) wasn't to pay them to come here, it was for security, etc.</p>
<p>Do you go to Duke? I think not. You have no idea what goes on here. Trust me, both the Kurian article and the PSM were both HOTLY debated issues on campus. </p>
<p>You are the ignorant one on this issue, and as a Duke student, I find your statement that "Those of you who agree with Kurlian [sic] should love Duke" HIGHLY offensive.</p>
<p>No, Ay Caramba - I don't and didn't attend Duke. But I also wasn't in Hungary when the Germans dragged my great-grandmother out of her house and put her in a gas chamber. Does that mean I can't have an opinion?</p>
<p>Kurian not representative - hmmm, writes for The Chronicle, received a Benjamin Duke Scholarship, received a Truman Scholarship (I assume with the support and endorsement of Duke), is some kind of student poobah on the Board of Trustees - but he's "not representative. He sounds like a poster boy for Duke - but which one, Duke University or David Duke.
I believe in free speech - and Kurian (apologize for misspelling) can spew his hate anywhere but I'm suggesting that those of you considering a university think about whether this is the kind of place you want to attend.</p>
<p>Point is - Kurian article was a collection of anti-Semitic drivel: The Holocaust is overrated, Jews are disproportionately rich and powerful, anti-Semitism is exaggerated, Jews are an overly ''privileged'' minority, etc. -
statements typically heard by such anti-Semites as David Duke (hmm, a relation) and it was PUBLISHED in the Duke Student newspaper. What does this say about Duke? What kind of atmosphere exists at Duke that the editors of the school newspaper feel that they need to publish hate?</p>
<p>Most interesting is the kind of mail that The Chronical received after it was published - anti-Semites the world over weighed in to say how happy they were that Duke was such an enlightened place and finally exposing the truth about THE JEWS. Good work, Chronicle!</p>
<p>Yeah, Duke is evil. Don't go there. Tell everyone you know what a horrible, racist university it is. Clearly one students opinion, and the 0.01% of those who wrote in to "agree" with him, are representative of an entire university. Just continue twisting the crap out of reality here.</p>
<p>wow oib1, I'd expect a parent to make more mature arguments then comparing Duke to some anti-semitic white supremacist. Guess what? First person to bring up the Nazi/white supremacist analogy usually loses the argument. Kurian was criticized heavily for publishing the article, and what, the anti-Semites agreed with his article? Knock me over with a feather duster! </p>
<p>"What kind of atmosphere exists at Duke that the editors of the school newspaper feel that they need to publish hate?"</p>
<p>The same atmosphere that all colleges want to promote? Free speech? Or maybe you would prefer if the newspaper published only views befitting your tastes? Hate is quite subjective you know.</p>
<p>Why aren't you going off on Harvard? Surely since their president, the face of the collegem, made "sexist" comments, that's an environment where women are routinely repressed, right?</p>
Then you have no idea what it is ACTUALLY like here. You know what one person said. You're not saying anything new. TRUST ME there was OVERWHELMINGLY negative response to his article.
Plus, did you know that the Chronicle is an independent newspaper? The university has NO SAY in what it publishes.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Most interesting is the kind of mail that The Chronical received after it was published - anti-Semites the world over weighed in to say how happy they were that Duke was such an enlightened place and finally exposing the truth about THE JEWS.
[/quote]
Where do you get this? None of this "mail" was published. Don't blame the Chronicle just from recieving mail... it's not like it can avoid it.</p>
<p>
[quote]
But I also wasn't in Hungary when the Germans dragged my great-grandmother out of her house and put her in a gas chamber. Does that mean I can't have an opinion?
[/quote]
I'm sorry for your great-grandmother. The holocaust was completely awful, we all know that. And yes, you can have an opinion. You can say Philip Kurian is a racist. But you can not say that Duke supports him. You can not say that anti-semitism is encouraged here. YOU AREN'T HERE. I am. And I'm telling people reading this thread that you are not right.</p>
<p>As for the PSM, you're not saying anything that hasn't been said before. Trust me, I bet that the overwhelming percentage of Duke students don't agree with what PSM has to say. There were letters printed in the Chronicle just about every single day that said not to have the conference. But what did Jewish leaders on campus do? They didn't protest at the conference. They held their own discussion about the issues at the Jewish Center on campus (yes we have one of those, there is actually a sizeable population of Jews at Duke). They dealt with this the MATURE way. Things don't get fixed by suppressing everything that you don't agree with!</p>
<p>I think ay_caramba is right on with his criticism of the OP. Though I am not a practicing Jew, my father is Jewish, I have ancestors who were affected by the holocaust, and I know very well the pain and injustice caused by anti-Semitism. However, I also know a lot about history and the history of anti-Semitism. Whenever freedom of speech is surpressed, ignorance and conformity follow. The fascist atmosphere pre-holocaust is a prime example of this. If you actually were at Duke the weeks leading up to and following the Palestinian Solidarity Movement conference and the Kurian article you would have bore witness to a great amount of dialogue between all sorts of groups on campus. You would have also seen an extremely active Freeman Center for Jewish Life which actually supported the PSM's coming to campus and exploited the event to bring many pro-Israel speakers and diplomats to campus (as well as Sister Hazel in an anti-terror concert) to engage in dialect against terrorism. You would have also seen the extremely powerful display of a bombed-out bus (the result of a Palestinian suicide bombing which killed many Israelis) that was out on the main quad of West Campus for days preceding the PSM conference.</p>
<p>Though I didn't necessarily agree with the publishing of Kurian's article as it appeared in The Chronicle (which, again, is NOT affiliated with Duke University but rather a 100-year-old student-run independent daily) and it was definitely painful for me to read, I was thankful in the end for the opportunity it provided for an entire community to come together to combat intolerance and work out cross-cultural issues. Also, you have to understand that the speakers sponsored by the Freeman Center were not disinterested either. At one point, a speaker referred to Palestinian activists as "barbarians." Thus, Kurian (whom it would be extremely ignorant to compare to David Duke, an Anglo-Saxon KKK leader who would have spewed equal hate against someone of Kurian's background) wrote that article in a context and emotional states unrepresentative of who he is as a person. I have talked to Kurian and those with whom he is close--he is extremely intelligent (Truman Scholar and Rhodes finalist) and has been involved in race relations throughout his time here--to dismiss him as an ignorant Klan-supporter is absurd. Though I am the first to declare that column to be prejudiced and hurtful, I at least can acknowledge the complexity of the situation. I understand that a lot of times events such as the PSM conference and Kurian column can surface a lot of deep pain and hurt, but it is silly to lash out at an entire university with the same ignorance by which you yourself were hurt.</p>
<p>In conclusion, I am actually proud to be at a university where controversial ideas can be debated and where political correctness does not completely suffocate understanding or dialect. I have grown in my awareness of all issues surrounding anti-Semitism, the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, and other issues in the Middle East and I don't believe I would be nearly as educated about all these things had I not been at Duke.</p>
<p>By the way, I suggest you let this thread die. Its ignorance is axiomatic, and if you really want to have a debate about these issues, consult The Chronicle @ chronicle.duke.edu....</p>
<p>I am a current Duke student and Jewish and I back aycaramba and incollege88 that the atmosphere around Duke was the exact opposite of the one described by oib1. I was amazed at the positive and constructive responses to Kurian's article and the PSM and how they were handled with open minds and without hatred and bigotry. It was some experience to open up the first few months as a freshman at college. I just want to verify again what the other two people on this post who were actually students here while these events took place on campus said. Listening to oib1's statement agravated me as to how ignorant people can actually be. Sounds almost like kind of a hoax thread.</p>
<p>I'm sure there are many well-meaning people at Duke and that you had a very nice discussion about anti-Semitism and hate. If any of you have actually read the Kurian article - it is a classic, on a par with anything Goebbels might have written about the Jews controlling Germany, or "The Protocols of the Elder of Zion" - a phony document still published all over the Arab world. MY QUESTION, WHICH HAS STILL NOT BEEN ANSWERED, IS HOW COULD A DUKE SENIOR WITH THE BENEFIT OF A DUKE EDUCATION WRITE SUCH A DOCUMENT? So, let the thread die and let each who reads this thread, answer the question for themselves.</p>
<p>For God's sake oib1, Duke doesn't have the power to suppress all hateful tendencies within its student body. Even Harvard can't do that. There are some very well-educated people with ignorant opinions. Do you really think it's the job of a college to instill in everyone a cultured, mature (or whatever you like to call your opinion) viewpoint? Because if you do, then you will be sorely disappointed...at any college you or your son choose.</p>
<p>I really don't understand you, oib1. Would you rather all people with ignorant views remain silent and uncorrected? If you really believe there to be issues at Duke with anti-Semitism would you rather people (such as the Jewish editor of The Chronicle) just hushed those like Kurian so that nobody would ever have to combat or debate his ideas in public? </p>
<p>Would you rather have had the president of Harvard University, Lawrence Summers, not state his controversial and ignorant views (on "innate differences" which lead to women's poor performance in math and science) in public--where they were largely shot down and are now inciting progress on women at Harvard--but rather kept quiet and insidiously went on not hiring/supporting female faculty in the math/science departments?</p>
<p>There are over 550 responses to Kurian's article. My Jewish friends at MIT, Yale, and Harvard all heard about it. He most definitely has been publicly corrected and lambasted in his prejdiced views. If anything, Kurian's article paradoxically led to more understanding of Jews and the anti-Semitism that has remained alive at all levels of education and society. You don't know Kurian, you don't know where he was coming from, and you don't know how this community is or has changed. Do not presuppose a level of cognizance about Duke or its people which you obviously do not have.</p>
<p>Wow, duke25, I'd have to say I might agree about this being a hoax...this thread is very suspicious in light of oib's other comments on CC:</p>
<p>All direct quotes from oib written months AFTER Kurian's article:</p>
<p>"(About Yale) Eclectic is a word that covers many evils. And I'm not sure I'd use "New York City" and "New Haven" in the same sentence. My point is this - why would anyone want to spend four years in New Haven going to Yale if you could actually live someplace nice and have an equivalent education - let's see, UCLA, Dartmouth, Bowdoin, <<<duke>>>, Stanford, UCSD, UCSB etc etc. In today's world, what you produce and not where you went to school will make the difference."</duke></p>
<p>"The best thing we ever did was send out son to the pre-college program at Duke last summer (after his junior year of HS). He took two Duke courses - with Duke students - and was totally on his own. If we were lucky he'd answer his cell phone once in awhile. He was up to the task. He got a B+ in Calculus and a B- in Public Speaking - both Duke courses. Before going he was a b/b+ student in HS - he got five A's his senior year, first semester and is really on top of things. I'd recommend sending him to a pre-college program - lots of schools run them. It'll give your son a sense of independence and responsibility. By the way, I suspect my son met a few nice Duke female students - but he doesn't talk much about it."</p>
<p>Oh, and you equate Kurian's opinions with Duke as a whole because Kurian wrote the article after "receiving the benefits of a Duke education"--what about you, oib, who claim yourself that "I'm embarassed to say that I spent more time drinking beer the first two years (at Dartmouth) than studying." </p>
<p>You dont see me commenting about anti-muslim comments: -</p>
<p>Since I lived through the years of the 'Holocaust' I can say, unequivocally, it happened! To call the survivors' memories and anger an 'Industry' would be akin to saying the same thing about the families of the victims of 9/11. As for Israel, there is no Israel-Palestinian conflict. There is a culture of 'hate' throughout the Muslim world, particularly in the Middle East, fuelled by opportunists like Yasser Arafat. But it is not against the Jews only, it is against anyone who is not Muslim. They even have names for us; "khufr" is one name, "Infidel" is another. The Arab and Palestinian Muslims have vowed to kill us all and they have made a fair start on it. It is a world-wide war of Islamic terror and hegemony against all who are not Muslim and Israel is merely the 'canary in the coalpit'. We didn't realize that at first and assumed it was an ethnic struggle (Israelis v. Palestinians) but it's more evident now that in fact, what happens between the Israelis and Palestinians is like an 'early warning system' of terrorism, fuelled by hateful leaders like Arafat and Zarqawi and they have much bigger designs than Israel.</p>
<p>Yes ok, but I don't think this is really the appropriate place to argue against the content of Kurian's article.</p>
<p>But I think that main idea that we're trying to get across is that you cannot equate one person's opinion in a publication independent from the university with the view of the university itself.</p>
<p>I read Kurian's article. It did raise for me the question that Oib1 asked - how'd this student - almost a poster boy for the Duke Administration - get through Duke and remain so ignorant and insensitive? It also put the lie to some of the other things said on this thread about open discussion, etc. on the Duke campus. Doesn't Kurian know any Jews at Duke? Are students at Duke that isolated from each other? I don't plan to visit Duke until I get in - but it would be good to have these questions answered. One person may not reflect the views of thousands but he may reflect a failure of the curriculum and teaching.</p>
<p>I think Arabs are the most oppressed group in this country. It seems to me that it's okay for Jews to criticize the Palestinians as terrorists but it's not okay for the Palestinians to express how horrendous it is when the Israeli military bulldozes their homes, kills thousands of innocent Palestinian civilians with air strikes, tanks, and bullets. Why is it considered anti-semitist when you criticize the actions of the police state called Israel? Is it not in the interests of humanity to be outraged against all ethnic violence and genocide of any form, even if it's the Jews who are the perpetrators in the 21st Century? </p>
<p>I am against all genocides and racist violence. I am appalled at the actions of Nazi Germany in WWII. I am appalled at the actions of Japan in WWII. I am appalled at the actions of Zionist Israel in the modern era. I am appalled at the actions of the United States of America in the modern era. Does that make me an anti-semitist? Or maybe the only way I can be considered non-racist is if I applaud the actions of an Israeli soldier who shoots a 9-year-old Palestinian boy dead, and laud the soldier as a hero fighting against terrorism.</p>