The Chronicle

December 3rd, 2007

Inside scoop: annual legacy student luncheon

What originally seemed to me to be unfair special treatment for students of legacy, I now view as something benefiting myself, my peers and Duke.

I first walked into the Alumni House and was greeted by soft, background music and the smell of lasagna. Legacy students sat in a dining room and discussed what seemed to be somewhat uninteresting topics. It seemed unfair that because these students’ parents or grandparents had attended Duke they were now paid special attention and given opportunities to get together, but the uninteresting topics quickly ceased and a much more productive conversation emerged.

While I will not go so far as to say that these legacy students will be changing the face of the University in these annual lunches, they are certainly making an effort to improve Duke and are very responsive to questions from the Alumni Association.

Similarly, having attended the lunch I learned how interested the Alumni Association is in being involved in Duke students’ lives from freshman year.

“We want kids thinking from the first day that they get on campus that this is a lifelong relationship,” Kim Hanauer, Trinity ’02 and director of Young Alumni and Student Programs, told the group on Thursday.

Hanauer and Sterly Wilder, Trinity ’83 and executive director of Alumni Affairs, were extremely interested in the legacy students’ opinions on the events they throw and ways to make students more aware of their existence.

While interviewing legacy students, I learned from Lauren Haigler, a freshman in attendance Thursday, that while her friends are aware that she is a legacy, it is not something that is talked about.

A sophomore said she thinks all Duke students assume that the Alumni House is only available to legacy kids. Hanauer and Wilder made certain that everyone knew that they wanted to exist as advocates for all Duke students.

“We love getting you guys here and anyone else who will come,” Hanauer said. “We want our space to be used. We want students to see us as a benefit to their undergraduate experience.”

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