What do you meannnnn. Championship Week is for UPPERCLASSMEN and it’s an inside joke. Please do not bring this into your argument.

Also, I’m not sure about you, but it was okay for me to become ratchet on an August morning in 1990 when I was born.

I understand your concern for your PFrosh drinking, because it’s illegal and she shouldn’t be encouraged to do that when in high school, I completely agree with you on that. However, name ONE WEEKEND where there are zero Duke students perusing Durham and our campus drunk?

There are events for the students Thursday, Friday and Saturday throughout the day. The night time is only a small part of the weekend and the parties are meant to show the students a good time. The only reason the general Duke Community only hears about the parties is that the majority of academically geared programs are strictly for the prospective freshmen.

I attended Blue Devil Days as opposed to BSAI and while I adored my hosts and learned about life at Duke, I still didn’t know how it felt to be BLACK at Duke. It almost made me not want to come for the fear of not having any African American or black friends. I did not a see a black face the entire weekend and took that as something as I would have to live with if I chose to come to Duke. When I came here, I automatically gravitated toward the black community, however I have several non-black friends as well. To attribute segregation on campus to recruitment weekends is just inane. I hear this argument every year and I just can’t believe it. If a prospective freshmen doesn’t want to attend this weekend, they don’t have to. However, if they identify as black and they want to see black culture within the Duke community, who are we to tell them they can’t?

In conclusion, we as upperclassmen may anticipate the parties during BSAI weekend, but from the perspective of a prospective freshmen, that’s not what it’s all about.

The fallacy I see with this argument is that makes the assumption that blue devil days don’t have the same party atmosphere.

I didn’t attend BSAI as a pre-frosh, however I did attend blue devil days. What I saw during the day was the intellectual (class), the commitment (club meetings), and the connection between the students. What I saw at night? Drinking. Trashed people. A frat house where a girl was taken away in an ambulance. Yet- I still chose Duke. I attended 4 BSAIs, joined an selective living group where I was the only black person, and remained active on campus in many groups of both a minority and non-minority focus.

What’s happening in these anti-BSAI posts that I’ve seen (for at least 7 years now) is that they give little responsibility to the pre-frosh and the non-minorities of Duke. You don’t like how supposedly “exclusive” BSAI is then find a way to incorporate those events into BDDs. Get involved in BSAI, shoot get involved in BSA. Furthermore, to assume that because a pre-frosh attends BSAI he/she will automatically shun the rest of the university is silly. I don’t know any current Duke student who tells their p-frosh that this is every day/every weekend life. I also don’t know any p-frosh who gets into a university without having a mind of their own.

Basically- if you can spend 7 years worth of energy complaining about one dang weekend I’m certain you can pull together enough time to make the difference you want to see on campus. Enough already- these arguments are old.

Dear Ariel,

After reading your article, I am utterly confused by both the intent of your piece. You begin by defining various forms of the term “ratchet,” for what purpose I am not sure. There are many social events where friends (irrespective of race) joke about behavior worse than being ratchet, ie. getting black out, waste faced, etc. Besides that, ratchet is a term that is relative in its interpretation, for me it has signified my enjoying my final BSAI as a senior with my closest friends.

Even so, I am still confused as to why this terminology is relevant to BSAI given that it is used between friends, albeit on online social networks, without any implications on the experience of prospective freshmen. If this is the behavior that Duke students, who possess the capacity and right to make their own decisions, wish to exude then I still don’t see how this impedes on the experience of prospective freshmen.

As a black student enrolled on this campus I can vouch for myself in saying that I attended a wide array of events that were not limited to parties such as hearing Sonia Sanchez, a renowned civil rights activist, speak. But even so, I still fail to see how my decision as an adult to engage in social activities holds any weight on the experience of prospective freshmen who too hold the self judgment to decide whether or not to attend events provided for entertainment.

While I understand your concern over your prospective freshman’s alcohol intake I must say that these are situations she will be placed in when she decides to attend any campus regardless of whether she seeks solace within the black community. Before you question the presence of alcohol at parties you may want to question university policy of having West be a wet campus, or maybe question the fraternities day drinking on the plaza as tour groups pass by. With that said, even if pfrosh choose to drink during the social events I fail to see how these 4 hours invalidate the other 20 in which Duke students are offering support to pfrosh without the presence of vodka.

I would also be wary of your generalization that there is an unofficial emphasis placed on partying. I, as a second semester senior, had much more free time than the average Duke student to attend the events that take place during the day for pfrosh. Many Duke students either are in class or completing class assignments during the day. And although I am not sure of this conditional party pass you are suggesting, I feel that it’s prudent of BSA to make it clear that pfrosh must attend the day events if they wish to engage in the scheduled entertainment as we must recognize that these are young adolescents entering our campus who until this point have not had the autonomy they experience during the weekend to make responsible decisions concerning their social freedoms.

All in all, I hope that other Duke students offering critiques would consider more productive mechanisms of critique such as approaching leaders of BSA prior to posting blogs riddled with opinion and very little fact. If the greater Duke community really is concerned with the plight of prospective freshmen after their experiences during BSAI I would implore you all to read instead some of the comments left by pfrosh posted in the Chronicle all of which were reflective of a positive, supportive experience.

First, thank you to everyone that commented on this article. I would just like to say that this column reflects my opinion and my experiences and it is not meant to create opinions for others. I will address each of you personally to help you better understand my position.

ChampionshipWK: The humor of the twitter is not lost on me and I do understand that it is in no way affiliated with BSA or the BSAI.

Annoyed2012: BSAI is more than just the parties and that was the entire point of my article. Yes, the parties are the smallest part of the weekend but they have the biggest turnouts. The party culture of BSAI is definitely no where near the size of the party culture of other events on campus but these other events are not connected to a weekend of uplifting race and celebrating good character.

Jordan J: I do not spend my weekends at Perkins and I go out more than my roommate does. I agree that no high school senior wants to go to a school where people just study but I want all seniors to feel welcome. Also, I used the term “ratchet” as an ends to a mean and it was the best way I knew how to describe the phenomenon.

Little Miss Sunshine: I am in no way saying that this problem exists at BSAI and not at Blue Devil Days. I do not want this program to be eliminated and I think that it is beneficial for Duke and the prospective freshman. However, I felt the need to address the issue that was fresh in my mind because Blue Devil Days has not occured yet. When it does occur, I will be sure to express my opinions about that program as well.

Amber Bowie: Let me clarify my statement. I did not drink this weekend. My prospective freshman did not drink this weekend. However, other prospective freshmen that she befriended over the weekend were attending pregames and she expressed that she did not want to be surrounded by drunk people because that would take away from her good time. Yes, there were game nights but my p-frosh wanted to go to the parties to have fun and that is her decision. Lastly, this is what I know and these are my experiences. If you experienced something differently tell me what you experienced and do not claim to know what I experienced.

Nadia: My post was not a criticism of the BSA but rather of an entire culture that can be found across the university and not just during BSAI. My definition of the term was just a way to define the phenomenon. I appreciate that BSA required p-frosh to attend events during the day to gain admission to events at night. I did not feel the need to discuss my opinions with the BSA because it is not a program change that I want but rather a cultural change.

Once again, thank you for everyone that commented on this article and I value each opinion that you gave. If you want to contact me to discuss this further, you can email me at aas47@duke.edu and I will be happy to respond.