The Dukiversity Project
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0Dukiversification (n) 1. the act of bringing diversity to a Blue Devil nation near you; 2. enormous ideas, passionate people, change for students NOW.
Vote: 71
Team Leader:
Bryan Cheong
Team Information:
The Dukiversity Project team is composed of five Duke undergraduates: Joyce Yu, a freshman majoring in Biomedical Engineering, Keng Fai Low, a freshmen majoring in Economics and Public Policy, David Martorana, a freshman majoring in Mechanical Engineering and Economics, Amin Saleem, a sophomore majoring in Public Policy, and Bryan Cheong, a junior majoring in Electrical Engineering and Math who was the founder of the project and serves as the team leader. The group of five was brought together by the Duke Student Think Tank, an organization founded by Masters of Engineering Management students to focus on identifying significant problems in the immediate and larger communities, developing actionable solutions to address these problems, and seeking the appropriate authorities or resources to affect real change. The Dukiversity Project team is proud to have Japanese, Singaporean, Chinese, Korean, Pakistani, and Caucasian ethnicities represented between its five members.
The Idea:
The Dukiversity Project
Far too often do ethnic groups isolate themselves and “public” cultural events yield homogeneous audiences on Duke’s supposedly diverse campus. While Duke’s minority populations are impressive compared to its peers, the benefits of such a multicultural campus are not realized without meaningful, positive cross-cultural interaction. Many on-campus cultural events, while open to the public, prove to be little more than exclusive celebrations of self—inside jokes—rather than an attempt to share culture with others. The spirit of diversity is in danger of being lost at the hand of ethnic “comfort zones,” and if left unresolved, could develop into an irreversible divide built into the university’s culture. Furthermore, the enormous potential afforded by cross-ethnic collaboration—and the demand for such cooperation in the globalized world—goes largely untapped here at Duke because of this ethnic isolation problem. Duke produces the leaders of tomorrow and the future may be bleak if our graduates have not been fully cultured. The Dukiversity Project team endeavors to bring out the true diversity at Duke—that across ethnic lines, not within them.
The Dukiversity Project is composed of four pilot programs designed to break down ethnic walls. First, Dukiversity Study Here will provide a financially-incentivized experience where students will conduct live-in studies in ethnic-interest Greek houses and the International House that will culminate in a presentation to peers on their cultural experience. Next, PDIVERSE will add to the first-year pre-orientation suite, as a two-week long program of trust and leadership activities, cultural exploration, language study, and ethnic food, concluding with a keynote address by a prominent leader in diversity. The group will break into teams after the program to take an active role in promoting cultural exchange in the community for the remainder of the year, competing for a $500 prize. The Dukiversity Greek-Off will be a month-long fundraising competition for the Dukiversity Initiative Fund during pledge season. The Greek organization that raises the most money will earn bonus RGAC points, fulfill their fundraising requirement, and be allowed additional bids. Finally, the Dukiversity Video Competition will offer a choice between $500 and a dinner with Coach K and the Men’s Basketball team to the team of undergraduates that publishes the YouTube video with the most views promoting cross-cultural interaction on college campuses.