the annual fund is not down at all. Nor were applications last year .. and yield (the percentage of kids that choose Duke once accepted) was one of the highest years ever last year. Yield is what colleges care about most Well, not exactly. The annual fund is not down ,because they pulled more out of their endownment and they got some big donations from the likes of Melinda Gates, not "alumni"
Second, the applicant pool was WAY different this year. For the class of '011, over 40 % of them are Asian, mostly from out West, which indicates of course that the number of white kids from out of State, including relatives of alumni, etc, are way down. I dont think theres a top tier college in the country except for Berkely that has that type of student profile, and remember this happened all in one year, more than doubling that particular minority representation.( the only way to keep avg. SAT scores up, for the rankings)
And this isnt the end of it. The big alumni contributors who like Div I sports like basketball are PISSED. Thats what this speech is all about , and nothing else. Dumbhead could give a crap about anyone else. I hope they jettison this clown, he has caused irreperable damage to the school.
Additionally, Duke has always had a lot of Asians. All the top tier schools do. Those are the kids with the high test scores and great grades! My son is in the class of ‘09 which is pre-Nifong and there are a ton of Asians in his class.
Lest you think I am some kind of Brodhead synchophant, I gave them an ear full about the 88 faculty and their pathetic “listening” ad when they surveyed all the parents in the spring. I read Durham in Wonderland every day throughout the entire ordeal. It is frustrating to me that there are many FR posters who have jumped onto a bandwagon about which they know nothing. Just b/c Duke is a top tier school with a great reputation, they are very quick to trash it broadly (no pun intended) rather than target those who genuinely deserve the criticism (the 88). It is very much like the class warfare that the Dims attempt in every election cycle. The entire faculty is something like 1500 people. There are many who are wonderful, thoughtful professors.