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Duke University

Undergraduate School

Mailing Address
2080 Duke University Road
Durham, North Carolina 27708
Phone
(919) 684-8111
School Information
Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina, with 10 different colleges/schools (Trinity College of Arts & Sciences, School of Law, Divinity School, Graduate School, School of Medicine, School of Nursing, Pratt School of Engineering, Fuqua School of Business, Nicholas School of the Environment, Sanford School of Public Policy) and 12 research institutes (Institute of Policy Sciences & Public Affairs, John Hope Franklin Institute at Duke University, The Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University, Social Science Research Institute, Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke Global Health Institute, Duke Institute for Brain Sciences, Duke Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Duke Energy Initiative, Information Initiative at Duke, Duke Science & Society, Duke Center for Genomic and Computational Biology). The university has over 3,800 faculty and 15,600 students. (Source: https://facts.duke.edu/)
General Information
In addition to mandating anti-racist education for faculty, staff, and students, Duke University has taken the step of investing $16 million from its endowment to support anti-racist initiatives. Additionally, due to student pressure, the Jarvis residence was renamed, due to the namesake's "racist history". Further changes are to be expected, as anti-racism committees have been launched in individual colleges. See developments below:

Actions Taken

Anti-Racism, Bias, and Diversity Training
  • New Anti-Racist education will be implemented for faculty, staff, and students.
  • The university "incorporated racial equity sessions into new student orientation."
Curriculum Changes and Requirements
  • Students will be required to learn the “nature of structural racism and inequity, with special focus on our own regional and institutional legacies.”
  • The English Department announced that "a new diversity requirement has been added to the English major." The chair of the committee on anti-racism said, “It is now written into the structure of our major that no student majoring in English will graduate without serious study of writers of color and/or literary methods imbued with anti-racism."
Faculty/Staff Requirements
  • The Office of Undergraduate Education will, "Hire external consultants to provide training to staff" and "Invest in anti-racism training for all OUE staff."
  • The university "implemented implicit bias training for hiring managers."
Program and Research Funding
  • $16 million will be invested from the Duke Endowment for anti-racist initiatives.
  • Through the Duke Endowment, "the Provost has funded 17 projects focused on Reckoning with Race, Racism and the History of the American South, all led by Duke faculty members and many including staff, students and community members."
Re-Imagining Policing
  • Duke University faculty and experts discussed policing reform and “what the police killing of Tyre Nichols means for public safety and the police reform movement in the US.”
Resources
  • The English Department, "established a ad-hoc Committee on Anti-Racism, which 'has set up a series of workshops this spring on issues of race and academic fields, and will bring recommendations for concrete action items' to the English faculty later in the spring semester," according to the Duke Chronicle.
  • The university will offer a course called “The Invention and Consequences of Race," which will "provide foundational knowledge about and explore the origins and meanings of the concept of race."
  • The Office of Undergraduate Education established an Anti-Racism Working Group
Symbolic Actions
  • Jarvis Dorm was renamed as West Residence Hall, due to the namesake’s “racist history”.
  • Trinity College of Arts and Sciences started a faculty anti-racism committee.
  • The Office of Undergraduate Education has formed an "Anti-racism Working Group", which will aim to " affirm, develop, and strengthen racial equity in OUE by continuously challenging our existing systems and implementing new policies and practices that provide our BIPOC community with the infrastructure to thrive at Duke."
  • The Office for Institutional Equity at Duke University offers educational opportunities on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
  • DiversifyIT is a “staff-led, volunteer organization at Duke University sponsored by the Office of Information Technology and Duke IT leadership” that works to create a more diverse and inclusive IT climate at Duke.
Last updated February 15th, 2024
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