On Campus Magazine Articles




November 25, 2021

Duke recently announced a new residential plan, QuadEx, which will connect the East Campus freshman dormitories to one of seven quads on West Campus. As QuadEx is being launched, we might look back at another time when residential life underwent a massive change.

November 25, 2021

Writer:

Sterly Wilder

Each fall, the university community gathers to celebrate the founding of Duke—members of the Duke family and the giants on whose shoulders we have stood, those men and women who helped make our university the extraordinary place it is today. Many of these names are on buildings, quads, classrooms, and iconic spaces.

November 25, 2021

Writer:

Scott Huler

As the summer of 2021 lengthened and autumn began to approach, the website for “Mathemalchemy”—the unique, hallucinatory, room-sized mathematical mixed-media sculpture under construction by mathematicians from all over the world—showed a countdown to its unveiling. On August 15, 2021, at noon, in Gross Hall on West Campus, students, supporters, and the dozens of mathematicians who created parts of it would join together to unveil it.

November 25, 2021

Writer:

Corbie Hill

When Faulkner Fox planned her inaugural political-theater workshop for fall 2020, she didn’t predict an imminent summer of activism.

Beatrice and Elliott, Coquerel's sifakas from the Duke Lemur Center, settles in at the Chester Zoo in the U.K.

November 24, 2021

Writer:

Karl Leif Bates

Britt Keith hustled around the kitchen and out into the yard for fresh clippings like an anxious mother hurriedly packing her kids off to school. She gently stuffed a handful of sumac, sweetgum, and tulip poplar leaves into brown paper lunch sacks labeled “Izzy” and “Slausy,” then tore the bags open a bit because Sifakas aren’t big on problem- solving. Carrots, sweet potatoes, in-the-shell nuts and a few other special treats were poured into Ziplock bags.

Center for Documentary Studies and Scene of Radio podcast host John Biewen

November 24, 2021

Writer:

Scott Huler

You know about John Biewen’s bicycle if you have listened to episode eleven of season two of “Scene on Radio,” the podcast he created as part of his work as audio director at Duke’s Center for Documentary Studies. Season two of “Scene” was titled “Seeing White,” and in fourteen crystalline episodes, it addressed the issues of race in America by naming the elephant in the room: whiteness.

June 28, 2021

Writer:

Scott Huler

The Duke men’s lacrosse team finished the regular season ranked second in the nation, tied for the ACC championship. The players were the top seed in their bracket in the NCAA. And they made it to the semifinals. But the unique complexity of the 2021 men’s lacrosse team found expression moments after a one-goal win over Syracuse in March, its first ACC game.

June 28, 2021

JOHN BROWN was named vice provost for the arts last summer. A native North Carolinian, Brown came to the university in 2001 as an adjunct faculty member in the music department and went on to head Duke’s jazz program, along with his own jazz groups. “It’s hard to believe it’s already been a year, and what a year it has been,” he says.

You were the faculty sponsor for John Legend over Graduation Weekend. What was it like engaging with him?

June 28, 2021

Writer:

Corbie Hill

The weather was easy—mid-seventies and pleasantly sunny—and the windows were down as the three friends departed West Campus in a cramped Uber backseat, headed for the Eno River.

Scrim of Crazies at COVID Duke game

March 19, 2021

Writer:

Scott Huler

It was going to be a strange season anyhow. A roster full of freshman talent that wasn’t instantly finding its way; some surprising early losses; and the sudden midseason decision by freshman Jalen Johnson to opt out of the remainder of his Duke basketball career and prepare for the NBA draft.

March 19, 2021

Writer:

Corbie Hill

2024 was always going to be distinct for this class.

September 29, 2020

Writer:

Scott Huler

A few of our stories of realization came to us as spoken words, not as writing or images. We’re sharing them here as part of our podcast "The Devils' Share."

Black Duke employees and white Duke employees, segregated at 1946 holiday party

July 22, 2020

I am writing two weeks after the murder of George Floyd, as protests against white supremacy take place across the country. Many Americans are reckoning with the impact of racism, especially as it relates to American history. I, too, am reckoning with the past, especially here at Duke. There are hard truths to accept in a place where many people feel warmly embraced—a place that many of us love.

February 26, 2020

We are now approaching the 100th anniversary of the founding of Duke University in 1924. As we celebrate this milestone, it’s worth reflecting on how we came to have our two distinctive and beautiful campuses—and how different they could have looked.

February 26, 2020

Writer:

Corbie Hill

The first rule of magic is not to trust magicians, says Duke Sleight Club president Wesley Pritzlaff. The second is not to forget what your card is.

Picture of Peaches the cat, relaxing on Duke University campus

November 19, 2019

She usually sits on top of her house, or she runs around in the grass,” says Jonas Meksem. On an early fall day, the junior stopped by to visit Peaches the Calico Cat on his way to Pitchfork’s, a campus eatery. Meksem peeked inside her cat home.

No Peaches.

“I try to make visiting Peaches a part of my daily walk,” says Meksem. “It’s great because she’s everyone’s pet, and everyone gets to take care of her.”

Kora Kwok's Ocean Room project

May 17, 2019

Writer:

Kora Kwok

I grew up by the sea. Hong Kong is right on the coast, and you can catch a view of the ocean pretty much wherever you go. Even if you’re deep in the city or up in the mountains, the ocean is always close by. It was a constant in my life: I grew up with the sense that this massive, beautiful piece of blue was always nearby and that it would always be there, wherever I was in the city.

May 17, 2019

In the spring of 1987, Baron Maurice J.L. de Rothschild enrolled in the continuing-education program at Duke. He drove a Honda CRX but told fellow students that he had a Maserati at home in France, where his famously wealthy family lived in a 270-room chateau. He told new friends about dining with President Ronald Reagan and vacationing with the Kennedys on Cape Cod. He carried a cell phone and a laptop computer in the days when both were rare.

May 17, 2019

Writer:

Lucas Hubbard

Ryan Bergamini discusses “community” to a degree that the combination of his face and the word has become a meme. On East Campus, he’s the senior making signs that encourage the first-years in the dorm where he’s a resident assistant to become TROUTs (Trinity Residents Organizing a Unified Trinity, with the slogan stating that “TROUTs swim together”).

Nasher exhibition examines pop art

May 17, 2019

Writer:

Lucas Hubbard

It’s a little scary to talk to an academic about the first time they have an idea,” says Esther Gabara, “because we kind of muddle things. You look at something in an archive; you have a spark here. You start working on other projects. It’s not this sort of straightforward process.”

May 17, 2019

Writer:

Scott Huler

Start with scales.

You’re playing the cello, and you want to get used to new players, so you go back to the beginning. And you play scales.

“Scales are something you do your entire life,” says Ciompi Quartet violist Jonathan Bagg. “So it’s kind of like calisthenics. But we weren’t in the habit of doing that as a quartet before Carrie came.”

Professor Abbas Benmanoun

May 17, 2019

How did you respond personally to the instantly notorious case, from earlier this semester, of a Duke faculty member seeming to challenge Chinese students around their speaking Chinese in a social space?

September 25, 2014

On a Friday night two Octobers ago, fans flocked to Cameron Indoor Stadium for the fourth annual Countdown to Craziness. In the locker room, the players suited up for the opening-season bluewhite scrimmage. Meanwhile, Ryan Kelly traveled through a hallway in the stadium’s recesses, towing an ice chest heavy with Gatorade and water. But as he moved to switch hands, he lost hold of the handle. In one swift motion, the chest slipped to the floor, spilling ice and liquid everywhere.

April 29, 2014

Read more about these alumni who recently returned to give back to Duke students through mentoring, lectures, and words of wisdom.

April 28, 2014

One of the most joyous highlights of this past fall was the reopening of Baldwin Auditorium. Just as Duke Chapel is the focal point of West Campus, so Baldwin, with its graceful Georgian Revival dome, is the focal point of East Campus. Over the last two years, Baldwin has undergone a $15 million renovation in line with Duke’s philosophy of architectural renewal on campus: Preserve the historic exterior while creating state-of-the-art interior spaces to meet key campus needs.

Duke Coffeehouse

February 11, 2014

On stage, a woman taps at synthesizers and drum boxes, creating alien noises with her fingertips. Across the room, behind the soundboard, senior Jack Tarpey listens with earphones askew. He tweaks dials that correspond to synths, drums, and vocals, transforming a tangled racket into a starry, liquid melody.

November 19, 2013

Whether you’re navigating the early stages of your professional career, experiencing a major life transition, or pursuing deeper engagement with issues that matter to you, the Duke Alumni Association’s 2014 Women’s Weekend promises insights, inspiration, and expert advice.

Chain-link canvas: Attendees at the Arts Annex opening reception create a living mural by decorating a fence with materials provided by Durham's Scrap Exchange. Credit: Jared Lazarus

November 5, 2012

Inspiring is hardly the word most alumni would assign to the old Duke Linen Service Center, a nondescript warehouse off Campus Drive near East Campus. Gray and spare, the building befits its utilitarian roots as the site where massive quantities of campus bedding were laundered.

November 5, 2012

Duke’s annual Career Fair often can resemble a trading floor, with its chaotic buzz of sharply dressed young men and women in search of a deal. Despite the shaky economy and a weak job market, this fall’s fair was no different. More than 100 employers filled three levels of the Bryan Center, and they were descended upon by hundreds of students, all looking for a handshake that would secure their post-graduation success.

Lessons from Buck: Trustee David Rubenstien evoked the spirit of James B. Duke during the keynote address at the annual Founders' Day ceremony in Duke Chapel. Credit: Megan Moor

November 5, 2012

David M. Rubenstein ’70 was seeking a little inspiration. What he found, he told a packed Duke Chapel on Founders’ Day, was a message from beyond: a hopeful vision for Duke’s prolonged success.

No I in tee: Tabria Williford and Maddy Haller in the team's “Compete” shirts [Photos: Jon Gardiner]

November 1, 2012

In spring 2010, the rising seniors of the Duke women’s soccer team were not pleased. The fall season had ended abruptly with back-to-back losses in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament and the first round of the NCAA championships. That might have been considered a decent season, but the team’s leaders, who had advanced to the Elite Eight the two previous years, expected more. During the team’s spring training, they gathered the team for a mental and emotional overhaul.

September 27, 2012

Duke leaders credit success in philanthropy for advancing some of the university’s most innovative ideas. And that’s why they say the new Duke Forward campaign isn’t just about maintaining Duke’s progress. It’s about supporting a university that does best when it thinks big.

May 31, 2012

I really want you, resolute reader, to read this entire story. Yes, that’s you. And it’s really important. So what will it take to make it happen? Maybe a personal note of appreciation? Or a Starbucks coupon? Or the guarantee that your favorite student will attend Duke tuition-free?

May 17, 2012

In the fall of 1947, three Duke roommates had an idea to launch a campus radio station. Using a turntable and microphone balanced on a desk in their Kilgo Hall dorm room, Ethelbert “Sonny” Elmore Jr. ’50, Archie Mathis Jr. ’51, and Edgar Hillman Jr. ’49 played records and broadcast news to their classmates. Naming their station WCDC (“We Cover Duke Campus”), they pitched it to the Duke administration, hoping for financial backing.

April 22, 2012

Matthew Hastings didn’t need a huge particle collider to split an electron. Instead, the Duke physicist did it virtually, with the help of several massive supercomputers.

Illustration above: Fundamental particles Simulated experiments allow researchers to speculate how electrons might react under different conditions.

April 1, 2012

Noted journalist Fareed Zakaria will deliver Duke’s commencement address during graduation ceremonies on May 13. Zakaria, an editor-at-large for Time and columnist for the Washington Post, hosts Fareed Zakaria GPS, a news program on international and domestic affairs, on CNN.

April 1, 2012

Writer:

John Burness

Anyone who follows the news will recognize the schizophrenic character of public discussion of American higher education. On one hand, its research universities are “the envy of the world.” As James Fallows of The Atlantic and David Brooks of The New York Times, among others, have noted, they are one of the few strategic advantages the nation has in a global economy driven by creativity and technological innovation.

April 1, 2012

Nowhere on the Duke campus is spring more joyously revealed than in the Sarah P. Duke Gardens. The space comprises four distinct gardens that offer delights throughout the year. We asked the curators of each garden to pick a favorite plant species blooming within.

January 31, 2012

Writer:

Dovina Qu '12

International Association's FoodFest becomes a savory tradition.

Photo above: Culinary adventures Hokkien noodles, pikliz, and baklava were among the international delights available for sampling.

January 31, 2012

 

Intestinal bacteria may determine whether statins lower cholesterol.

January 31, 2012

 
Campus Club evolves from tea and lace.
 

 

Photo above:Social graces
A Campus Club tea in 1966
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