<p>I thought this would already be discussed here! Anyway, I'll give the first heads up to check the current Rolling Stone for the "Sex at Duke" article....it's about the Duke party scene.... Reactions anyone? Especially Duke students?</p>
<p>Here's the article: <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/10464110/sex__scandal_at_duke?source=music_news_rssfeed%5B/url%5D">http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/10464110/sex__scandal_at_duke?source=music_news_rssfeed</a></p>
<p>Thank you posting this, as the article was very interesting.</p>
<p>I just read the article and find that some of the content accurately depicts of a portion of the student body at Duke. Late-night parties, sex, and alcohol are certainly common, although some of the examples were a bit surprising to me (this could be because I'm not part of Greek life or the Duke party scene). Quoting the Duke observer blog certainly doesn't add credibility to the article, although I do think the article was accurate in some ways. </p>
<p>At the same time, there are many students (myself included) who aren't involved in the Duke party scene. A prospective student reading this article should not consider the article indicative of Duke students in general, although this is an aspect of campus life for some. If you prefer to be more involved in academics or other forms of on-campus life, there is certainly a place for you at Duke.</p>
<p>I mean...okay. There's tons I could say, but I don't have the time/energy/desire, really. As for my experience as a Duke female, all I really have to say is...when you enter as a student, from what I've seen, you pretty much stay true to yourself. I did change considerably upon coming to college, I'll say that much, but not in the way that I fundamentally am as a person, if that makes sense. </p>
<p>Where Im going with that is Ive never, ever, ever met anyone who was unhappy with their Duke experience. That ranges from people who perfectly fit the characterization provided in the article, to people who never really party but still have a good group of friends they enjoy hanging out with, to people who are downright antisocial. I personally think that it is incredibly easy to strike a balance between the scene that's been depicted in articles like the one posted above and the idea that anyone not involved in that life is antisocial and/or unpopular. I have a ton of friends on campus. I consider myself a popular person. I always run into people I know, even if I'm just running a quick errand, and I am completely in love with Duke and my Duke experience. Do I party? Yes, every weekend. Do I go to frat parties? Yes. Is there one fraternity in particular that I hang out with all the time because I'm friends with a ton of the brothers? Yes. However, I'll also be quick to point out that that frat is nowhere near the top of the frat "social hierarchy" (haha, sorry if you read this, Joe) and most brothers I know are incredibly quick to correct anyone who calls it a "frat" instead of their preferred term -- "fraternity." Dukeobsrvr, the anonymous blogger quoted in the article, has referred to them as the losers, etc. But I mean - guys join every year. Girls like me love hanging out with them. And we have a blast. Its not for everyone, but it is right for us, and if youre the type of person who wants to be friends with that kind of people, thats all that friggin matters. To some people, its important to be the Top of the Top and be in the right sorority/fraternity/etc. To some like myself and my friends its important to find a group you feel comfortable with and make yourself a little home within the community. Im not in a sorority I went through Rush just to try it out, and after experiencing it firsthand, I can honestly say I think I would be miserable if I were a part of the Core Four. I've never met a Lacrosse player, and to be honest, I never really had a desire to be friends with any of them - before or after the incident. Its not for me, and its not for a lot of my friends almost all of my girl friends are not in sororities, and most of my guy friends who are are all in one fraternity (which happens to be Phi Delt). But we are all so, so happy and so in love with Duke.</p>
<p>Alright, so I did wind up writing a lot, and I feel like I didnt even touch on what I really wanted to say. What I hope I got across was that there is part of Duke that is like that. Ill admit to having gone to Shooters multiple times, and Ill also admit to having participated (to a much lesser extent than some) in that aspect of the Duke Culture. But what I also hope people realize is that if you arent like that, you do not need to change in order to find a home in the Duke community, because there are plenty of people who fit every niche. My friends at Duke are all awesome, independent, original, artsy, creative, fun, and unbelievably kind and loving people that I adore and miss like hell. There is a way to strike a balance in Duke life that involves the party scene without giving up your life to it.</p>
<p>Why couldn't they have built Duke by the beach or in a city or somewhere where there is actually a place to let off steam besides clubs, which is obviously all that Durham has to offer. They we wouldn't have this problem.</p>
<p>Interesting article. I'm in a fraternity at Duke (as bandcampgirl mentioned above, Phi Delta Theta) and I've never been to a party like the one described - by choice - and in my peak first semester, I probably made it to 5-7 parties a week. That scene exists, but its very easy to not get involved in that culture if you don't want to, and that's a choice I've made and I still have an immense amount of fun.</p>
<p>I can't say I care much for the "social ladder" because I have a lot of fun, the people around me have a lot of fun, and NONE of us in my fraternity wish that we were part of the other scene that commonly gets described as the "top of the food chain" socially. It's a conscious and voluntary decision on our part to not participate in that, and its fine. You can make that choice too when you come to campus.</p>
<p>The media does a great job of making horrible generalizations - Arabs are murderers, conservatives are ignorant, liberals are shrill, Duke is full of rich white rapists, etc. etc. etc. This article is no different. For example, out of the 1000+ people who marched across Duke's campus to Take Back the Night during Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Week, the media interviewed more Durhamites with a bone to pick with Duke than they did students - and students made up easily 95% of the march. Bandcampgirl can attest to this, she was one of the organizers and was interviewed (briefly) for the news cameras.</p>
<p>And yes, I do know one lacrosse player - the one black player on the team. He was the roommate of one of my fraternity brothers this past year. He's not a bad guy, but he's been used as a pawn by every side to try and achieve some sort of twisted agenda, even though he himself doesn't talk much about the issue to people so he doesn't make it worse - not pretty.</p>
<p>
[quote]
For example, out of the 1000+ people who marched across Duke's campus to Take Back the Night during Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Week, the media interviewed more Durhamites with a bone to pick with Duke than they did students - and students made up easily 95% of the march. Bandcampgirl can attest to this, she was one of the organizers and was interviewed (briefly) for the news cameras.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Um, word. After the past 2 months at Duke, I permanently crossed Journalism off of my list of possible career choices - and as a previous-potential-English-major, that was definitely a path that had once very strongly appealed to me. Why? Because just by being on the Duke campus during the past 2 months, I personally witnessed what I suppose plenty of people already accepted as common truth - the fact that the media knows what they want to say well before they say it, and they won't change their message no matter what the actual truth of the situation is. </p>
<p>For example, as quoted above, I did speak briefly to 2 news reporters during TBTN. I saw one filming a man speaking about how the march was a protest against men's lacrosse. As part of the group that organized it, knowing full well that it had NOTHING to do with lax and was solely about sexual assault, I went up and corrected him. As soon as I said that, they immediately stopped filming - they had no interest in knowing what the true purpose of the march was. After all, their segment was about the campus response to the lacrosse allegations, so why would they want to know that we had organized an anti-sexual assault march that had nothing to do with lax? Then, I was approached by another reporter. The conversation went something like what follows - it seems like I'm exaggerating, but I swear this is what it was like:</p>
<p>Reporter: "So what's this march about?"
Me: (I talk for a minute or two about the group, what we do, the march, how it's an annual thing, etc)
Reporter: "Alright...but it's about lacrosse, right?"
Me: "No, this is something that happens every yea--"
Reporter: "Do you feel like there's a huge split between the kids who are here for academics and the athletes?"
Me: "Not really - the closest I come to participating in sports is channel surfing, and I have plenty of friends who are athletes. Some of them are actually here, at this march, supporting our cause. We're doing various things this week, like --"
Reporter: "Alright, so do you think there's a 'jock culture' on campus?"
Me: "Don't you want to speak to me about Sexual Assault Prevention Week?"
Reporter: "...I'd rather speak to you about lacrosse."</p>
<p>The media sees what they want to see.
No magazine is going to publish an article called "Sex at Duke: Turns out that some of them have it and some of them don't, just like kids at any other college. Go figure."</p>
<p>HEY - don't not become a journalist because of that - become an actual journalist because of that... Lead, and hopefully others will follow.</p>
<p>Haha, thanks but no thanks DukeEgr. I don't really have any desire to become a journalist anymore, and there are other career paths I feel much more passionate about - but I do appreciate and strongly agree with the sentiment (hence the reason I now want to become a lawyer so I can personally do whatever I can to negate the "lawyers are scummy" stereotype).</p>
<p>Hey, I met the woman who wrote this. She seemed friendly enough...</p>
<p>"Why couldn't they have built Duke by the beach or in a city or somewhere where there is actually a place to let off steam besides clubs, which is obviously all that Durham has to offer. They we wouldn't have this problem."</p>
<p>Haha... beach schools are some of the biggest party schools of all... College students like alcohol and the such... the more it gets pushed off campus the more wild and unsafe it gets... thats how it works.</p>
<p>This doesn't make it okay by any means... but Durham is not the cause of wild drunken parties at Duke... these problems are prevalent at the large majority of colleges and universities regardless of location and whatnot... besides... even though the media is trying to act like the behavior at duke is a "rich" type of thing... almost every major state schools throws a lot crazier parties and a lot more of em.</p>
<p>That article was pretty, um, interesting. Apparently more was happening at parties than I thought lol. The things you miss when you hang out with friends at Bostock and Biddle! :p</p>
<p>This article is abhorrent and extremely inaccurate. The way they stereotype Greek life at Duke is absolutely repulsive. As a rising senior and having been intimately involved in Greek affairs at duke (in both a social and non-social capacity <em>Interfraternity Council Exec. Board</em>), I must say that I have never engaged in that sort of behavior nor do I or any of my fraternity brothers condone it... and yet, many might classify us as "fraternity guys." The mainstream media likes to rip on fraternities for being "conservative and traditional" - well such behavior is certainly not conservative. Moreover, most of the behavior described comes from off campus social groups that aren't even fraternities - one such group, calling themselves "Eta Prime" is listed in the article and is NOT recognized by Duke. They were responsible for the jello party that Rollingstones discusses - not a Duke FRATERNITY. Once a fraternity, they were kicked off campus years back and have never been reinstated. Real Duke fraternities and sororities in actuality lead quality organizations - academic and political - and in fact six out of six members of the Duke Student Government Executive Board this past year were Greek affiliates. At the very least, this goes to demonstrate that Greek members are intricately involved in life at Duke. Moreover, Greek organizations perform thousands of hours of community service ever year. Of course, Rollingstone wouldn't report this - it doesn't sell. But please don't write off Greek life. You can be a part of an active Duke Greek group, reject the behavior and attitudes expressed in the article, and still have fantastic experience!</p>
<p>welcome to the real world of journalism!</p>
<p>As a graduate of a journalism school, the cardinal rule I learned is that you never, never, never talk to a journalist unless you want to be misquoted or misconstrued. They have an objective for a story and will manipulate it to suit their needs.</p>
<p>Do they twist the truth? That depends on how you define truth.</p>
<p>Haha - this particular reporter (the one who wrote the RS article) watched me give an interview for Nightline and then asked me repeatedly whether the lacrosse team had a "reputation" for this sort of behavior, whether they were divided from the rest of the student body, etc. I wouldn't put myself on record as saying that, and after she tried a couple times to get me to say something inflammatory, she got bored.</p>
<p>Very polite and friendly about it, though.</p>
<p>just got delivered this article (takes up a large part of the front page)</p>
<p>pretty ridiculous!</p>
<p>(and although it might be a little extreme, I think it would be wrong to call the article baseless)</p>
<p>Just read the article finally. Doesn't surprise me this is a part of the campus life, but I think this exists all over in our culture. I know not all of Duke is this way and I'm certainly not!</p>