In 2000, Duke reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice in response to a complaint brought by a student and wheelchair user who graduated in 1997. According to the terms of the settlement, Duke "agreed to make a broad range of programs more accessible to persons with disabilities including, academics, dining and living facilities, and social aspects of campus life." In the twenty-five years since, Duke has made progress in improving accessibility on campus, but issues persist.
Duke currently has 10 pending cases related to disability discrimination under investigation with the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights. This is among the highest amount of open cases at any private university, with some cases, involving denial of accommodations, harassment, and retaliation, dating back to 2015. Somewhat paradoxically, these cases could be what has spurred Duke to become one of the most disability-friendly campuses in the United States. In 2021, for example, Duke became one of the few private universities in the country to establish a Disability Cultural Center, although it must be noted that the Center is not currently recognized as one of Duke's Identity & Cultural Centers.
Reporting in The Chronicle reveals further grievances on Duke's campus. A student noted that the rigidity of both the first-year meal plan as well as of scheduling paratransit service, which requires students to put in requests 3-4 days in advance, makes it challenging for disabled students to participate fully "in social life at Duke, such as sporting events or off-campus extracurriculars."
Duke University is ranked 6th among national universities by U.S. News. Last year Duke was ranked 7th.
A Duke professor filed a lawsuit against the University last Wednesday, alleging that Duke pays her significantly less than her male colleagues and that she faced retaliation for her complaints.
In 2020, Rachel Lance, assistant consulting professor in the department of anesthesiology, was allegedly assigned additional work without an increase in pay by Joseph Mathew, her immediate supervisor and chairman of her department.
After initially raising “multiple internal complaints” to several University offices, Lance also began expressing concerns about a potential pay gap between herself and other male colleagues in her department. In August of 2021, Lance filed an official complaint with the Office of Institutional Equity, followed by a Charge of Discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in October.
Lance says that after the complaints were filed, Mathew and other Duke employees created a “hostile work environment” through retaliatory comments and actions, including repeated attempts to pressure Lance into “dropping” her complaints.
In one such instance, Lance was allegedly told by a professor that her complaints labeled her as a “troublemaker.”
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On Tuesday, MGM Chief Administrative Officer Kris Matthews informed all department members that OIE and MGM were designing a training module aimed at “helping members of our department be fair and welcoming of individuals who differ in their background,” according to the email.
“Per School of Medicine guidelines, all faculty are required to attend a session,” the email read.
Within minutes, Bryan Cullen, James B. Duke distinguished professor of molecular genetics and microbiology, replied to everyone on the email chain.
“My initial reaction is I refuse to engage in left-wing Maoist political propaganda workshops and, as a tenured faculty, that is my choice,” Cullen wrote in an email reply obtained by The Chronicle.
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When Cuban-American author Jennine Capó Crucet speaks to students of color at PWIs she reminds them: “This place never imagined you here, and your exclusion was a fundamental premise in its initial design.” The same holds true of Duke Student Government, an organization which will inevitably reflect the values of the university by working in conjunction to, instead of in opposition of, Duke administrative forces. Senate, committee meetings and social gatherings have added fuel to the hellfire that is the psychological trauma caused by my existence in an elite environment.
I am writing to resign from Duke Student Government because of recurrent microaggressions within the organization. Truth is, I’m tired of feeling like an on-hand diversity token and discrimination detector.
To be successful in DSG, a student must be comfortable networking with the predominately white and wealthy representative body and adhere to respectability politics during meetings (especially if said meeting is with an administrator). Normative notions of respectability encouraged by the executive team are tainted with the belief that behavior from dissenting minority and/or low-income students is inherently inferior. Upon my departure, there will be zero senators from underrepresented ethnoracial groups on the Academic Affairs committee. Seemingly, in DSG, intellectualism and changing the face of higher education are not considered acceptable pursuits for Black or LatinX students.
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