<p>Being from the South originally, I know that there can be some problems when it comes to diversity. On the Duke campus, while there are a good number of minorities, I have heard some rather unsavory things when it comes to race relations on campus from a few of my friends who have graduated. However, they ended up going to Princeton and Harvard instead, and I'm curious as to what actual Duke students think about Duke in regards to how race is handled by the student body, especially when it comes to interracial dating, de facto segregation, etc. I also am interested in how the gay population is treated at Duke, or if there really even is an openly gay population at Duke. Any information that anyone, especially a current student, could provide would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>It depends on what you mean by "a problem." If you're asking if Duke is diverse, then no, it's not that diverse. I'd say the student body is about 70% white, 20% Asian, and 5-10% AA. To sum it up, Duke tends to attract smart, white, upperclass, athletic, social students. Don't argue. My high school had more diversity. :( </p>
<p>If you're asking if there's segregation, then yes, there is. The Asians stick together, the AAs stick together, etc. </p>
<p>Does this detract from the overall education? No, I don't think so, at least not really. Discussions still cover a broad range of viewpoints, and I haven't seen anybody's pov be unwelcome. There are many people who socialize with people from a variety of backgrounds (socioeconomic and racial), so don't be too hasty. :)</p>
<p>As far as the gay population goes, I really don't know. I do know that the lesbian/gay/whatever center was extremely active during orientation, so I guess the atmosphere is somewhat open.</p>
<p>There also seems to be this huge segregation between engineering/pre-med students and everyone else. :p</p>
<p>I dunno, I kinda have to disagree with you there warbler. From what I've seen so far, diversity/segregation isn't that much of a problem - I hang out with ppl. of all ethnicities, and possibly to a lesser extent (since I don't have any solid figures and don't really ask) of different economic backgrounds. Ppl. are pretty outgoing in general, if you take the initiative to talk to them, I've talked to so many diff ppl at the marketplace. Diversity-wise the incoming class is really up to par - its about 22% azn, 9% african-am, 7% hispanic, and really diverse geographically. The diversity in my opnion is pretty awesome.
<a href="http://www.admissions.duke.edu/jump/applying/who_2009profile.asp%5B/url%5D">http://www.admissions.duke.edu/jump/applying/who_2009profile.asp</a></p>
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<p>That clearly applies to you (and me, btw)! I was generalizing as a whole. When you look around the marketplace, you see clumps of people. You can meet a lot of different people there, though! It's easy to spot the sophomores...they're the ones stashing food away in bookbags. :p </p>
<p>I was almost right on target about the percentages. Good guesses. :cool:</p>
<p>But would you agree that people of the same ethnicity, as a generalization, tend to self-segregate?</p>
<p>To leejwwc:
What do you think about treatment of the gay population at the school?</p>
<p>im sry warbler, i just dont see the blatant segregation to which ur referring, maybe its cuz I dont eat often enough at the marketplace lol. BTW, I stash food in my backpack too!, and if I dont have a backpack, my hands are pretty handy - how do you think I get fruit, I certainly dont buy it lol - most of the times anyways.</p>
<p>Regarding the gay population, I really dont know how they are treated. Im certainly not biased against them, and I think in general, the more liberal the student body, which in part stems from diversity, the more accepting they are of ppl of various backgrounds. Generalizing, I'd say theres no prob, but then again, Ive only been here for a few weeks so Im not that knowledgeable. They do have a pretty active gay rights activist group called ALLY on campus. I have one of their pins on my backpack :)</p>
<p>this website is such a great distraction, better get back to orgo...ugh...chem major...</p>
<p>there are pretty many gay people, and they come out to parties and act the same as people who aren't gay</p>
<p>this place is really, really diverse - which is awesome. </p>
<p>Meeting people from all over the world is pretty sweet.</p>
<p>Hey leejwwc, you're in my chem class. :)</p>
<p>The person across the hall from me is from Poland. Also on my hall, there's a person from Zimbabwe (but educated in Rome) and a person from Taiwan. :D</p>
<p>Its pretty high up on Princeton Reviews ranking of schools on the little to no racial/class interaction category. It's tackling its race problems, but they're still very much an issue.</p>
<p>PR also says that a bunch of schools no one really has ever heard of are top for academics and so on</p>
<p>If you want to ignore an issue, go ahead, I won't try to stop you, I just think its silly for you to try to convince others of what you've convinced yourself. Remember, the rankings come from the students of the university...</p>
<p>here're my thoughts on the problem surrouding lack of diversity / racial segratation on college campus:</p>
<p>1) this is a problem that exists across almost every top college in the US. let's face it, which top school isn't dominated by white americans? (excluding the UCs, which have like a 40% asian population)</p>
<p>2) i believe that some minorities out there are actually more conformatble hanging out with people from their racial / ethnic groups. they shouldn't be blamed though. everyone has the right to set up his own personal perferences.</p>
<p>as a Duke studnet, i can tell you that there are plenty of cross-cultural iinteraction events on campus. there is no restriction on who can or cannot attend to those events. however, from personal experience, i can tell you that it's very rare to have an african american showing up to an event orgainzed by the asian student associaion.</p>
<p>but hey, isn't that the case in every other school?</p>
<p>^^^^
Agreed. Actually there's even an open house tomorrow night for race interaction, or something like that.</p>
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<p>well then duke better watch itself... i'm black.. & asian.. and not afraid to participate in either of those cultures! :D ... then again, i also live in LA, which i've heard is noticeably more diverse than north carolina.... or any other state for that matter</p>
<p>film, every knows that PR is somewhat stupid for most things, and I wouldn't be suprised if the rankings for the Race Interaction changed drastically next year</p>
<p>Duke is one of the most diverse colleges, period, and no one is excluding from anything because, well, you just aren't allowed to exclude anyone from anything. Its true that there are a ton of international kids who tend to hang out with each other. But I wonder how many groups of friends at similar colleges like Columbia, Dartmouth, and Stanford have with asians, blacks, whites, and hispanics all hanging out with one another.</p>
<p>PR's rankings are stupid in a number of categories, including Best Academics where a bunch of no name schools are ranked the highest, and so on. I guess my gripe is more with PR than with any particular complaints about diversity. If you take PR at face value, well, thats your issue. But if racial interaction was a REAL problem, than you'd hear about it from other places than Princeton Review.</p>
<p>The following web sites address the above concerns. The first describes Duke as being the best school in the country at integrating blacks onto the campus. This likely stems from a fifteen (?) year mandate to increase the number of black students and professors, a move that has been lauded around the country.</p>
<p>The following relates to the gay scene on campus. Queer studies and the like are very active at Duke, a fact that has prompted more conservative schools (like the U of Chicago to scoff at Duke as being hopelessly liberal).</p>
<p>The above perceptions may relate to the fact that the most visible of Duke students--the frat guys and gals--are pretty traditional looking and that there is significant self segregation of all subgroups. If you're white and straight, you may think it's tough to be black and/or gay, but I'm not sure that the case for the actual students and is CERTAINLY not the case for the black/gay student who seeks out role model professors, of whom there are now many on campus. </p>
<p>Perceptions can be slow to change, and an individual's self-perpetuating stereotypes may not be as accurate as the research that seems to indicate that Duke has steadily become one of the best places to attend college even if you don't fit the old Duke model of the affluent southern preppie.</p>
<p>"But if racial interaction was a REAL problem, than you'd hear about it from other places than Princeton Review."</p>
<p>Well there is the fact that the Black faculty members refer to the school as 'The PLantation", but other than that and several op ed pieces, yeah, I guess it's only silly PR that talks about it.</p>
<p>Lol, it sounds like I've got such a grudge against Duke, which isn't the case (I have some friends there), it's just my pet peeve on this site when students defend their favorite schools past the point of reason. You can like a school, but you can also recognize its flaws. (That 'you' was general, and not pointed :))</p>
<p>Hmmm, well, give me links!
I want to read. Hopefully the op-ed pieces aren't from over 10 years ago. A lot has changed at Duke over the past half century you know. My own pet peeve is when people repeat things that they hear about a school from things like PR. I'm just pointing out that Duke is really diverse, about half white and half other races. I don't hear about racism. A few op-ed pieces? The same goes with other schools is thats the case. I guess you'd need to see it to believe it. :)</p>