August 21, 2018 by Duke Chronicle

The Chronicle

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T H E I N D E P E N D E N T D A I LY AT D U K E U N I V E R S I T Y

TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2018 DUKECHRONICLE.COM

ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTEENTH YEAR, ISSUE 2

Joyce Er | Contributing Graphics Designer

EMPTY: ‘A POWERFUL STATEMENT’ Convocation

Price announced Friday the space where Robert E. Lee’s statue stood will remain empty, a plaque added nearby By Likhitha Butchireddygari Investigations Editor

Kenrick Cai Investigations Editor

contextualize it, all we have are people co-opting it and making it idol to white supremacy,” he said. “So, I think it’s so important for us to contextualize, to remember, but not to celebrate that dark past.” Led by Harreveld, several hundred alumni—including Parks and Recreation actress Retta Sirleaf, Trinity ‘92—signed a letter vowing not to donate to the University as long as the statue stayed on campus. Earlier that day, the Robert E. Lee statue had been vandalized. Soon after, President Vincent Price—as his first major action in office—ordered the removal of the statue with unanimous support from the Board of Trustees.

One year ago August 19, in early morning light on a near empty campus, a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee was removed from the Chapel steps. In the days leading up to the removal, events off of Duke’s campus had sparked a conversation about Confederate monuments. In Charlottesville, Va., white supremacists and counterprotesters clashed over a Robert E. Lee statue outside the University of What has happened since Virginia’s campus. When the statue was removed, Price wrote in his statement that Less than a week later, protesters toppled a Confederate statue it “will be preserved so that students can study Duke’s complex past just a few miles off of East Campus. Around the country, Americans were grappling with the and take part in a more inclusive future.” It is currently being held in question of what should be considered proper visibility of a “secured Duke storage facility,” according to Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations. Confederate iconography—the debates were making headlines, Although Price’s decision to remove the statue was met with filling column inches and saturating the cable news cycle. Once some criticism, many students also news broke of a Confederate monument that had been at the steps of the Chapel It will provide a powerful supported him. The next month, Price for nearly a century, the polarizing statement about the past, the created a commission to discuss what conversation sparked by outside events should happen to the space where the present and our values. Confederate general once stood. This suddenly permeated Duke’s stone walls. group—the Commission on Memory and “I think for a long time, especially in the South, we’ve had this complicit vincent price History—would also create guidelines on acceptance of a history of white PRESIDENT how to handle the names of buildings that supremacy,” said Adrienne Harreveld, honor controversial figures. A forum was hosted by Provost Sally Kornbluth on the subject of Trinity ’14, who has always lived in a former Confederate state. “I think that we needed activism. We needed people throughout the “American Universities, Monuments and the Legacies of Slavery.” Duke also announced the creation of the Truth, Racial Healing and country to start a dialogue on these emblems of racism.” Alumni like Harreveld, students and faculty had strong opinions Transformation Center. regarding the Robert E. Lee statue. Some thought that removing Price publicized the commission’s recommendations last December, opting to leave the empty space vacant pending an the statue would be akin to erasing Duke’s history. Others thought “open and deliberative process” to determine what to do about the that there were ways to preserve that history without the statue, including Rob Lee IV, M.T.S. ‘17 and a descendent of Robert E. Lee. See STATUE on Page 8 “It’s so important to contextualize our history and if we don’t

to be held in Cameron

By Stefanie Pousoulides Local and National News Editor

Nearly every year, bright-eyed first-year students pass under the portal of Duke Chapel on their first day of orientation week for convocation. But not this year. This year’s convocation of the class of 2022 will be held in Cameron Indoor Stadium instead of Duke Chapel. In the past, the ceremony has been held in the Chapel with live streams in Page Auditorium and Griffiths Theater–acting as overflow locations. Because of the number of attendees and ongoing construction in Page Auditorium, the location of convocation was changed. “Being in Cameron helps with space and students, parents and guests can all attend together,” Director of New Student Programs Jordan Hale wrote in an email. “Also, with Page being down this year, simulcasting the program would have been more challenging.” Page Auditorium has a seating capacity of 1,170, and Griffiths Theater seats 500. According to a Duke Chapel brochure, the Chapel’s main floor has a seating capacity of 1,650, as the nave and transepts seat 1,500, and the chancel seats 150. Cameron Indoor Stadium has a seating capacity of 9,314. Convocation of the class of 2019 was held in Cameron Indoor Stadium because of concurrent renovations of the Chapel. According to Hale, it is unknown at this point if the location change will be permanent, as they will “know more after this year.” Amongst the more than 37,000 applicants, over 3,000 were admitted to the class of 2022. Within the early decision pool, 875 applicants were admitted in December and 99 deferred applicants in March. Duke admitted just 6.4 percent of regular decision applicants–2,123 prospective first-years. Last year’s incoming first-year class had 1,751 enrolled students. While 864 students were accepted from the early decision pool, 859 of whom enrolled. Among regular decision applicants, 2,423 were accepted, and 892 applicants enrolled.

Ian Jaffe | Special Projects Photography Editor President Price speaks at last year’s Convocation.

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