What Ails Duke?
I went to Duke University and maintain some small affection for it. It is in for a rough patch of road these days. Applications for early admission to the undergraduate program are down 20% this year. (For those who don't know, undergraduates are the cash cow of a university. )The question is why? Obviously the non-rape/lacrosse team incident, but what specifically about it? That is, is the problem
- Parents were shocked, shocked to find out that there is a lot of drinking and strippers at Duke parties and don't want their children caught up in this.
- Parents or students were upset at the way the administration and faculty gave such little support (or actually anti-support) to the falsely accused students.
- The revelation of the extreme "town vs. gown" racial problems in Durham.
posted by Harsh Pencil | 1/04/2007 08:48:00 AM
You know what parents are thinking: they'd like to send their kid to Duke, but picture themselves at cocktail parties, "Yeah, Johnny got into Duke." "Oh, is he a rapist?" Not entirely logical, but enough to scare a certain number of people away.
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