Academic Council Meeting
September 21, 2023
3:30 – 5:00 PM
0012 Westbrook Building (Divinity School)
A reception will follow the meeting in the hallway
- Welcome / Remarks from the Chair
- [CONSENT ITEM] Election of new members to the Academic Council's Faculty Hearing Committee (FHC members)
- A Conversation with Provost Alec Gallimore
- Two anonymous questions submitted to the Administration regarding the following:
Question #1:
The recent NY Times article on the lack of economic diversity at Duke as compared to our peers surprised many faculty who have paid attention to these issues for years. Can you comment on the relative role of the Provost versus the President’s office in setting admissions policies, both at the big picture and practical level? During President Brodhead’s tenure, the President was “walled off” from any direct involvement in “close call” admissions decisions that were ultimately the responsibility of the Provost. Is this still the case? And what is Duke’s position on legacy admissions now and in the future?
Question #2:
Universities Studying Slavery (USS) is a consortium of over ninety colleges and universities focused on “sharing best practices and guiding principles as they engage in truth-telling educational projects focused on human bondage and the legacies of racism in their histories.” Most of Duke’s peer institutions have joined the consortium, including Harvard, Yale, Penn, Columbia, Amherst, UVA, Emory, Georgetown and Vanderbilt, among others. The consortium has been in existence since 2016, yet Duke’s name is not listed among the member institutions. At a time when leading educational institutions are openly reckoning with the legacy of slavery, and their institutional engagement with slavery, why has Duke not joined the consortium?
- As time allows: Open conversation among Academic Council members