"Remembering the Vigil": Update

 

 

Ten years ago, on the thirtieth anniversary of Duke's momentous 1968 Silent Vigil, Duke Magazine invited alumni and former administrators who had played important roles in the event to reflect on the impact it had on their lives.

The Duke vigil, like concurrent protests (and riots) across the country, was sparked by the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. But its subtext, as well as its mission, was somewhat more complex. In the months leading up to the vigil, student groups had been organizing in support of black university employees who sought higher pay and better treatment.

The students saw the vigil as an opportunity to bring these problems before the Duke administration and demand action.

This back story was of interest to students in a course called "Historical Perspectives on Public Policy."  The course, co-taught this past spring by Robert Korstad, associate professor of public policy studies, and Rachel Seidman, associate director of Duke's Center for History, Public Policy, and Social Change, was aimed at showing how a thorough assessment of history can—or perhaps more accurately, should—affect public policy decisions. It focused on race relations and policy in the American South during and after slavery, as well as South Africa during and after apartheid.

As part of the syllabus, students spent two weeks reading about the vigil at Duke. When the vigil's fortieth anniversary arrived, they took a cue from their 1960s counterparts, organizing a two-day "teach-in" to educate fellow students about the event and its lasting effects. Joined by several alumni who participated in the vigil as students, they handed out fliers and chatted with passersby on the West Campus Plaza and the main quad. On the second day, they invited campus social-justice groups to set up tables, too, in order to foster a discussion about future progress.