Layoff @Duke University

[Anonymous]

https://www.wral.com/news/local/duke-prepares-layoffs-employees-call-transparency/

My brother is a professor there and he said that morale is quite low at the moment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.wral.com/news/local/duke-prepares-layoffs-employees-call-transparency/

My brother is a professor there and he said that morale is quite low at the moment.

I am an alum and a fan of President Price. I think he generally "gets" Duke. In contrast to Nan, who was president when I was there. I think he handled Covid well and he has handled protests well. But I don't know why he has not been more aggressive in standing up to Trump and I don't know why he seems to be over-reacting with these layoffs. Yes, there might be some financial challenges and yes, there probably are some jobs that can be trimmed, but this seems like a lot. Particularly given how much Duke wastes on fluff to maintain its image as a "cool" place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.wral.com/news/local/duke-prepares-layoffs-employees-call-transparency/

My brother is a professor there and he said that morale is quite low at the moment.

I am an alum and a fan of President Price. I think he generally "gets" Duke. In contrast to Nan, who was president when I was there. I think he handled Covid well and he has handled protests well. But I don't know why he has not been more aggressive in standing up to Trump and I don't know why he seems to be over-reacting with these layoffs. Yes, there might be some financial challenges and yes, there probably are some jobs that can be trimmed, but this seems like a lot. Particularly given how much Duke wastes on fluff to maintain its image as a "cool" place.

Agreed. Duke spends a fortune on Last Day of Classes, the ridiculously fancy new food court, and various other amenities. I understand that you have to spend money to make money and some of these things are funded by directed gifts, but they could scale back some of the country club luxuries if they need to save money.

I also think the "Made For This" tag line for the latest campaign also reflects this gluttony and is kind of obnoxious. It seems targeted to the sorority girl types who show up at basketball games as alums in their skinny jeans and sipping chardonnay and acting like they are super fans when they don't actually know Cooper Flagg from Zion Williamson.

[Anonymous]

Duke has become very woke and alienated a good percentage of its alumni base

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.wral.com/news/local/duke-prepares-layoffs-employees-call-transparency/

My brother is a professor there and he said that morale is quite low at the moment.

I am an alum and a fan of President Price. I think he generally "gets" Duke. In contrast to Nan, who was president when I was there. I think he handled Covid well and he has handled protests well. But I don't know why he has not been more aggressive in standing up to Trump and I don't know why he seems to be over-reacting with these layoffs. Yes, there might be some financial challenges and yes, there probably are some jobs that can be trimmed, but this seems like a lot. Particularly given how much Duke wastes on fluff to maintain its image as a "cool" place.

Most university presidents if they can would want to avoid being the target of an executive order, and Price already has to deal with potentially shutting down Duke’s campus in China amid threats from the GOP. Keeping your head down to avoid the ire of the White House to protect the university community from further cuts is not the worst strategy. University presidents owe a duty to their constituents, not necessarily the public at large, even if the actions of the current presidential administration are obnoxious and unprecedented.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Duke has become very woke and alienated a good percentage of its alumni base

If you think Duke is woke then I'm not sure where you would consider sending your kids. MAGA University?

I'm a Duke alum. Moderate Democrat. I know several friends who voted for Trump who are extremely happy, active alums who would love to send their kids to Duke.

But perhaps at your klan rallies you hear otherwise.

[Anonymous]

As an alum who donated and volunteered for decades, agree way too much faculty and staff. News mentions Duke at 48,000 employees is second largest private employer and sure a large part of that base is medical and hospital employees. The growth in development staff, DEI, non-teaching faculty is staggering and has to be cut back and this is not unique to Duke as other elite universities are facing similar fiscal problems. Also when a school like Duke and the Ivies rejects active donating grads’ kids don’t expect checks to continue. Time for these schools to operate more like a business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As an alum who donated and volunteered for decades, agree way too much faculty and staff. News mentions Duke at 48,000 employees is second largest private employer and sure a large part of that base is medical and hospital employees. The growth in development staff, DEI, non-teaching faculty is staggering and has to be cut back and this is not unique to Duke as other elite universities are facing similar fiscal problems. Also when a school like Duke and the Ivies rejects active donating grads’ kids don’t expect checks to continue. Time for these schools to operate more like a business.

Agree with much of this. Staff is definitely bloated. And the development people I have met have often been very underwhelming. Perhaps they trot out the better people for the bigger hitters but I feel like I have met some of them as well and they have not been great. And several have been flat out rude to friends who wanted to be actively involved but couldn't right big checks.

Duke is better about admitting legacies than many peer schools but could still do more. Price over-reacted to the NYT hit job article about Duke not having enough financial aid kids - Duke was marginally worse based on very statistically suspect metrics then made to look evil. Price should have ignored it. Instead he rolled out a bunch of programs to recruit more FA kids. It is largely a zero sum game so this means fewer legacies and/or full pay kids. I am all for diversity, but Duke is going a bit too far.

Meanwhile, there are a bunch of underqualified rich non-legacies who get in because Duke wants to be seen as "cool." Great to have Seinfeld at Duke in People Magazine. And Springsteen's kid. And so on. I get that they probably donated a lot and this helps pay the bills. But again, there are limited seats.

[Anonymous]

The alumni giving rate has declined sharply over the last 20 years and in my group of friends very few if any donate lacrosse fiasco, liberal turn to woke look at the alumni magazine and feature articles conservatives and Trump voting grads are not sending checks. Former Duke President Terry Sanford a moderate Democrat wouldn’t recognize the place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The alumni giving rate has declined sharply over the last 20 years and in my group of friends very few if any donate lacrosse fiasco, liberal turn to woke look at the alumni magazine and feature articles conservatives and Trump voting grads are not sending checks. Former Duke President Terry Sanford a moderate Democrat wouldn’t recognize the place.

Did you take any writing courses at Duke?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The alumni giving rate has declined sharply over the last 20 years and in my group of friends very few if any donate lacrosse fiasco, liberal turn to woke look at the alumni magazine and feature articles conservatives and Trump voting grads are not sending checks. Former Duke President Terry Sanford a moderate Democrat wouldn’t recognize the place.

You travel in very different circles than I do, and are seeing inaccurate data.

And even if you are correct, I think it is fine for Duke to distance itself from MAGA. Everything Trump stands for stands opposed to everything an elite university should stand for. And the way the typical Trump voter regurgitates Fox News talking points and completely falls in line with everything Trump does rather than thinking critically and defending their arguments intelligently is also opposite to everything Duke stands for.

And before you jump into your whataboutisms, most Democrats frequently criticize the party's policy. Yes, plenty of people defended Biden, but many questioned him, and many of those who defended him did it solely because they saw him as the best chance to beat Trump, which was the primary goal, and knew he would surround himself with morally decent people (don't give me Hunter crap), unlike Trump whose cabinet is 75% total morally bankrupt losers. Trumpers refuse to say one negative word about him. At least admit he is fat!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The alumni giving rate has declined sharply over the last 20 years and in my group of friends very few if any donate lacrosse fiasco, liberal turn to woke look at the alumni magazine and feature articles conservatives and Trump voting grads are not sending checks. Former Duke President Terry Sanford a moderate Democrat wouldn’t recognize the place.

Did you take any writing courses at Duke?

I think they were still nursing their hangover from sneaking into the Hideaway rather than going to 8 am UWC. LOL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As an alum who donated and volunteered for decades, agree way too much faculty and staff. News mentions Duke at 48,000 employees is second largest private employer and sure a large part of that base is medical and hospital employees. The growth in development staff, DEI, non-teaching faculty is staggering and has to be cut back and this is not unique to Duke as other elite universities are facing similar fiscal problems. Also when a school like Duke and the Ivies rejects active donating grads’ kids don’t expect checks to continue. Time for these schools to operate more like a business.

Agree with much of this. Staff is definitely bloated. And the development people I have met have often been very underwhelming. Perhaps they trot out the better people for the bigger hitters but I feel like I have met some of them as well and they have not been great. And several have been flat out rude to friends who wanted to be actively involved but couldn't right big checks.

Duke is better about admitting legacies than many peer schools but could still do more. Price over-reacted to the NYT hit job article about Duke not having enough financial aid kids - Duke was marginally worse based on very statistically suspect metrics then made to look evil. Price should have ignored it. Instead he rolled out a bunch of programs to recruit more FA kids. It is largely a zero sum game so this means fewer legacies and/or full pay kids. I am all for diversity, but Duke is going a bit too far.

Meanwhile, there are a bunch of underqualified rich non-legacies who get in because Duke wants to be seen as "cool." Great to have Seinfeld at Duke in People Magazine. And Springsteen's kid. And so on. I get that they probably donated a lot and this helps pay the bills. But again, there are limited seats.

Nothing sadder than a Duke alum who can’t get the better development people to pay attention to them.

[Anonymous]

Agree with other posters, Duke has alienated a sizable chunk of moderate and conservative grads. The appeal of Duke was that it wasn’t a liberal Ivy like Brown or Penn. Haven’t written a check in a long time.

[Anonymous]

I am not surprised. Their celebrations for the anniversary (Ed Sheeran) were like Blackstone/KKR party crazy.