Also, Duke, like many other universities, suffers terribly from administrative bloat. It's not the number of faculty (tenured faculty are actually in decline), it's the highly paid associate deans and associate provosts that strain the operating budgets.

The sense I get of Duke, as a professor at a competitor university and a mom to a college-aged kid, is that students love the idea of Duke, but they don't like each other. That probably accounts for the low alumni giving rate.

Anonymous wrote:What are the chances that all three of Jerry Seinfeld's kids were qualified for Duke?

Nepotism at it's finest.

Duke skews heavily towards kids of the rich and/or famous. I'm sure plenty of them are fairly bright. But it has always been a bit odd to me. I assume the parents promise big checks and to be very "available."

The Dean of Admissions is retiring so I wonder if there will be any changes. He was there for 30+ years - admitted a lot of multi-generation families.

Anonymous wrote:What are the chances that all three of Jerry Seinfeld's kids were qualified for Duke?

Nepotism at it's finest.

Jon Stewart’s kid goes to Duke, too. On his LinkedIn, his work experience includes an internship at the Daily Show.

What are the chances that all three of Jerry Seinfeld's kids were qualified for Duke?

Nepotism at it's finest.

Anonymous wrote:Without any political balance. Can’t recall a republican commencement speaker ever.

Coach K was well known to be a Republican (I'm guessing he is anti-Trump because he is a decent human being). I think I saw on that list Libby Dole and George Bush (going back a ways).

Who do you want - Steve Bannon or Alex Jones?

MAGA people are just so dumb. I wish they would just leave.

Anonymous wrote:Without any political balance. Can’t recall a republican commencement speaker ever.

The vast majority of commencement speakers are not political figures. How do you know who any of these people voted for?

https://commencement.duke.edu/commencement-information/memorabilia-traditions/previous-speakers-degree-recipients/

Athletes cost $. Gotta free up from some budget line. You did enjoy one year of Cooper, yes?

Without any political balance. Can’t recall a republican commencement speaker ever.

Many more schools will be doing layoffs with the research cuts that the Trump Administration is doing. And then you add in the uncertainty of international students and it gets even more messy.

The new food court was sort of necessary to compete with other schools. It kind of makes up for the dump that is the Bryan Center.

The alumni giving rate numbers speak for themselves. Duke used to be in high 30s to low 40 percent 30 years ago. Now it is barely in the low 20s. There are lots of grads from my era who will never write checks for a school with any political balance. There is no tolerance among the liberal lefties for people of opposing political beliefs.

Anonymous wrote:Weighs less than Pritzker

But Pritzker is a decent human being. Something that cannot be said about your orange crush.

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.

Any human being who voted for Trump this time around isn’t worth associating with. I say that as a almost 40 year registered republican.

Amen. I can kind of see how someone voted for him in 2016, thinking he would cut the crap and rise to the role. But he largely didn't do it then. Then he refused to admit he lost and orchestrated Jan. 6. Anyone who voted for him in 2024 was all in. I don't care how bad Biden was. Or how much you disagreed with Kamala. A vote for Kamala was a vote for decency. You could have voted for Halley in the primary who is not a saint but would have gotten you to largely the same place policy wise with much less drama. But MAGA nation thrives on drama. Their sole purpose is sticking it to the libs. Not making America better for everyone.

But we can no longer even have a rational conversation about this as we are all coming from two different places.

And there are the few noble people like you who are stuck in the middle. I admire your strength in stepping away from the cesspool that your former party has turned into.

Anonymous wrote:

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

Doubtful….but that is your response to everything. Are you enjoying living in your parents basement?

This is what Fox News tells them to say. And since they are unable to think independently they just repeat what they are told over and over and over again.

This is not the type of thinking I learned at Duke. But unfortunately I know a number of my classmates who have had a big drink of the Kool Aid.

I also know a number of my classmates who were historically Republicans who are now struggling as they might be politically closer to Trump but cannot support the childish behavior of him and his followers and how he is going about trying to achieve policy change so they are people without a party.

As a moderate Democrat I learned a lot at Duke having discussions with these people. We disagreed but it was very respectful and we were usually coming from the same moral background. MAGA is a different story and their way of thinking is the opposite of what is supposed to happen at a university. I will admit that those on the far left went overboard on things (imagine that - I am admitting fault with my party!), but it does not merit the over-reaction from Trump.