<p>Pervading jock culture? Yes, Duke has school spirit (heaven forbid), but it's not like people fall down and worship sports. There is plenty of room for people who are not, um, athletically inclined. As a general rule, the student body stays healthy and active, but that's not a bad thing. :p</p>
<p>Must would argue there's a liberal bias at Duke, like its Northern counterparts</p>
<p>As a Duke student (I love Duke-- but I'm willing to tell people if they're right on a con) here's what I can tell you about your list.</p>
<p>Campus Crusade is a NATIONAL organization-- it's at pretty much every single college campus. I don't feel their presence at Duke since it's a cause I choose to not get involved in. </p>
<p>Duke doesn't really have conservative or religious values. Sure, we were founded as a Methodist university, but we've since lost any religious affiliation (except for the gorgeous chapel, which is more a campus landmark than a religious symbol at this point). This area of NC is one of the more liberal areas in the state.</p>
<p>As for Durham residents' opinions toward Duke students. Here's where things become strained. The area immediately off of East Campus = not our biggest fans. Think about it: our fraternities and sports teams live there, and we all know the trouble those organizations can get into. Kids party there, kids live there, kids act rowdy there. They don't like us. With the recent lacrosse scandal, these relations have been a lot more strained than normal. Otherwise, Durham residents are not hostile to Duke students. Think about it: all the stores and restaurants immediately off campus know that a huge portion of their business comes from Duke students-- they're not going to treat us like spoiled brats. I think the restaurants off campus are amazing. And I think if you get in a car and drive around the Triangle area, things are comfortable and pleasant. There's just not a ton to do within walking distance of East. There's not a 30 foot wall around campus. There's a short wall around east-- so short that you can hop over it. </p>
<p>As for self-segregation-- this is one of Duke's problems. There is some self-segregation on campus. This was also the reason that almost prevented me from coming here. I, like many of you guys, really wanted a place where diversity was accepted and embraced. At Duke, diversity IS accepted-- people just choose to stick with those people they personally feel most comfortable. It's not uncommon to see a group of friends of all different ethnicities, but it's also not uncommon to see a racially homogenous group hanging out; at least from what I've seen no one denies friendship of another person because of their ethnicity. However, not choosing Duke because of this is a little naive, in my opinion. I realized when I visited all the colleges I was accepted to that ANYWHERE there is some degree of self-segregation-- it's a matter of comfort for people.</p>
<p>I don't feel that students dressing up for class is the norm. My roommate does, but that's a whole other story... Sure-- you see some kids dressed up, but you also see kids in sweatpants and pajama pants.</p>
<p>There are plenty of BBYO alumni at Duke. Most of my friends are Northern, Jewish, and active in campus Jewish life. </p>
<p>As for the "jock culture" to say that it's really prevalent because of the lacrosse incident is a really unfair statement. What happened was utterly disgusting and as a Duke student I am ashamed, embarassed, and extremely disappointed. However, I am willing to cast the distinction between them committing these actions because they were Duke athletes and because they are disgusting individuals. And to say that the entire campus is OBSESSED with Duke basketball is also a mistake. Sure-- we want our team to win-- that's a matter of SCHOOL PRIDE. But not everyone camps outside-- not everyone cares to. A lot of the school thinks that K-Ville is a really stupid tradition. A lot of people may never set foot in Cameron. Of course there's going to be the exuberant outspoken overexposed Duke basketball fan, and of course, people tend to get excited during basketball season -- but some people are only excited for the important games, like when we play Carolina.</p>
<p>Chicken_little,</p>
<p>The things Stuck has asked about are certainly not concerns that should stop anybody from coming to Duke, but I'm glad to see he/she has asked about them so that we can deal with them in an honest fashion.</p>
<p>I appreciate your... uh, zeal... but Stuck seems to be asking honest questions and I see no reason to be rude to him.</p>
<ol>
<li>How "southern" is Duke, in terms of traditions and culture? Not very, It's also considered NJ state university south.</li>
<li>How religious is Duke? Will people flaunt their values? No more or less than any other major university.</li>
<li>Is Duke really as intolerant and homophobic as it is purported to be? Not at all.</li>
<li>Is Durham really that shady? YES!</li>
</ol>
<p>and yes the music scene down here is really good! you will find yourself heading to chapel hill, greensboro or raleigh to get the best of it though...only 45min in any direction. good luck with your decisions and future.</p>
<p>Durham as a whole, is not that shady!! There are parts that are extremely shady, but others are pretty awesome - it took me three years to realize that, I wish I would have figured it out sooner!</p>
<p>And I don't think the OP is "biased" or "stupid" at all. We are here to answer questions and clear up misconceptions. Keep asking the questions! :)</p>
<p>I agree with the previous poster. As someone who has lived in rather "shady" NYC neighborhoods, the area around East Campus is a tony suburb by comparison.</p>
<p>I just have issue with people that are like, "oh my gosh, the south. do they have black people?"</p>
<p>I don't think the OP asked that or anything resembling that</p>
<p>"self segregating, in race and class."</p>
<p>I've lived in the south all my life, and I know and am friends with plenty of non-whites, thanks.</p>
<p>That is the start of a good answer - if you are a Duke student, maybe you could have politely written something about that and your Duke experience instead of making fun of the person who asked the question.</p>
<p>What do you guys mean when you guys say that Durham is "shady"? As in once you set foot off campus, you'll immediately feel unsafe? I have lived in the East Bay and currently work as a teacher in East Palo Alto (California)... how would I feel?</p>
<p>Durham varies... there are parts that are nice and parts that arent. I would say it is normally relatively safe during the day, but after dark there are definately areas to avoid. Still, a lot of schools have worse situations (Chicago, Penn etc). For the record I'm not a student at Duke (yet), I will probably be a freshman next year (I got accepted), but I have lived at a Durham address my entire life.</p>
<p>I'm just confused bc I'm choosing between NU and Duke.. and the two surrounding areas are completely different. I feel like I'd benefit more from the Chicago culture for NU but also I was really excited when I got into Duke because it was one of my harder schools..</p>
<p>I don't know if that's enough excitement to keep me going for all 4 years though. DrumNDukie, what are some things about Duke/Durham area that attract you to the campus?</p>
<p>If East Palo Alto is your reference point, then Durham will be perfectly fine. Daylight hours in particular are perfectly safe. (PS: I'm an East Bay kid, too.)</p>
<p>Soulfood, if you're currently working as a teacher, does that mean you've already graduated from college?</p>
<p>well Chicago is an awesome city... I really love its midwestern vibe so I can't really discourage you from the place but lets talk about the areas around Duke.</p>
<p>First of all... to consider Duke vs NU you don't have to just consider Durham... Chapel Hill which is the location of UNC and a great college town is easy to get to from Duke (there is even a Bus that shuttles between the two). Raleigh is also not that far away. You don't get the big city aspect here, but Durham and Chapel Hill have a lot of different things to offer that could keep you interested. In Rolling Stone's ranking of college towns for music Durham/Chapel Hill was number 2 on the list which illustrates the fact that there is an abundance of things to do. </p>
<p>I mean you really need to just check it out for yourself to totally understand... but there is enough to do and experience. You get the southern vibe in a relatively enlightened community (RTP- Research Triangle Park has the higest per capita PhD rate in the country!... I think I just said this in another thread...)</p>
<p>I agree, Durham is NOT Chicago - but I will never, and I say NEVER reach point that I am bored going to Duke because I exhausted all the options in the surrouding triangle area. Most of all, I wish I could make it to MORE things on campus. From all sorts of great sports teams (women's lax (top 5) playing NU tonight - go devils!) to visiting broadway shows to student performances to student art exhibitions to amazing speakers/lecturers - I could just come to Duke, not take classes, and STILL have plenty to do. Just realize that this isn't high school...that is to say, weekends = quite a bit of work. You won't be spending saturday just trying to come up with ways to spend your day. And many of your friends will have cars, so the Streets at Southpoint will always be an option (AMAZING shopping, movies, eateries, etc, about 15 min away). Also, the new central campus should be around for your last two years here....that'll also add quite a bit to convenient things to do....</p>
<p>And Deathcab for Cutie and Franz Ferdinand tonight! Who could ask for anything more?</p>
<p>I agree with lex. This week is Arts Week and Social Justice Week, so I've tried to make a point of going to a lot of the events on campus - but I've still been missing a TON of things I wanted to go to (most notably the arts gala opening at the Nasher - I heard it was amazing...too bad I had to write a paper :'( ). But yeah...there's always so much going on. You just have to know where to look for it. We have an unbelieveable art museum right on campus, speakers here all the time, performances, art openings, shows...my roommate is really involved with the theater department, and there are ALWAYS shows going on. Plus, there are just so many interesting opportunities to learn. Yesterday afternoon I sat down with about 10 other women and spoke with the ex-Director of Women's Health for the FDA, who stepped down because of their refusal to grant over-the-counter status to the emergency contraception pill. We sat there asking her questions and listening to her speak for about an hour and a half.</p>
<p>Plus, I've recently discovered the amazingness that is 9th street (the street directly next to East Campus). I've lived here for almost 8 months, and I only ventured out into Durham occasionally to tutor at an elementary school about a 10 minute walk away, get food from Cosmic, or shop at Ben & Jerry's/Whole Foods (not really Durham, since it's practically on campus). But I had to go on 9th the other day to buy books for an English class, and when I was walking around there I thought to myself, "What have I been missing?!" There's Books On Ninth, an INCREDIBLY CHEAP used books store that is amazing...Vaguely Reminiscent, an awesome store with jewelry, books, postcards, magnets, you name it...a great gelato cafe, a flower store, a salon, ANOTHER book store, and just...so much more. I've now been spending entire afternoons just walking up and down 9th street - especially on a sunny day or for a nice afternoon with friends, it's just really great.</p>
<p>9th street was one of the first things I discovered!</p>
<p>I grew up in NYC. I had one of the fastest paced cities in the world at my fingertips whenever I wanted. Yeah, being in Durham was a little bit of an adjustment (other than 9th street, and maybe Brightleaf Square, there isn't much I personally walk to) because I couldn't just get up and walk everywhere whenever I wanted. But that being said, I don't run out of things to do in Durham. You're BUSY as a Duke student-- you don't necessarily go out every single night and every single weekend day. A lot of that time is spent doing work. There's always speakers and events going on at Duke-- some a lot better advertised than others... if you get involved in extracurriculars, there's always something to do with those. A lot of the fun in the college experience is just hanging around with your friends.... but back to me being from NYC. I have friends from camp who didn't grow up in NYC and now go to Columbia. They have the world around their campus, yet they hardly exploit their resources. Sure we may not have art museums and galleries and theatres to the extent that NYC does (we do have some though!) but as a college student, how much are you going to go to these things? For example, I've never been to the new MoMA in nyc and it's been open for a year or two. Sure if you go to a place like Northwestern you have Chicago kind of near by, but going to Chicago and walking around, having dinner, going to museums or shows or shopping, it's not going to happen all the time. </p>
<p>So don't knock Durham so much and say that it's in an uninhabited ghost town with nothing to do, because it's not the case as a Duke student.</p>
<p>Echo comments made above - think big-city life is more accessible if you are in a program that is less demanding. I would not go to NU or UChi expecting Chicago to be my oyster. Not to knock these places, but if you want to do that, go to Loyola or DePaul. some people point to NYU and BU as being more of the city, but you will need $$$ to enjoy. Don't forget most of what goes on campus at Duke is FREE!!! Maybe not the concerts/broadway plays, ok...</p>