Duke University - Chanticleer Yearbook (Durham, NC)

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Within sight of factories and smell of tobacco lies Duke, strangely amalgamat- ing intellect and athletics, tradition and progress, North and South. Seeking great- ness in scholarship, finding prestige in athletics, the University calls attention to its surroundings, and especially to Dur- ham. The indirect result of the tobacco industry, Duke finds its position difficult. Its quest to establish a role in national affairs is felt in some circles to be ham- pered by lack of an influential metropoli- tan center. Duke is affiliated with a pro- vincial and distinctly Southern city; but to deny the city would be to deny the power that spawned the University’s life. The University, then, has a symbiotic relationship with Durham. Although Dur- ham exists in and of itself, the University qualifies that existence. For Duke, as an expanding university, must necessarily draw the city along in its wake. Duke on the other hand, is obliged to aid Dur- ham in solving its urban problems. To many of its citizens, Durham is a progressive city now. Its economy is ex- panding, unemployment is low, integra- tion has come rapidly and without no- table distress. Durham is, in their words, making a bid to become part of the New South.” But in the opinion of others, Durham is making no real bid at all, giving token regard to integration, almost totally dis- regarding the miserable conditions that prevail in predominantly Negro sections. 27

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In truth, Durham is struggling for its place in the New South,” but is ham- pered by vestiges of the backward years which strike a strangely incongruous note. A huge Klan rally on the out- skirts of town contrasts vividly with the modern structure of the Negro-owned N.C. Mutual Building. Schools may be more completely integrated than in the North, but extensive block voting by Negroes signifies the presence of dissatis- faction and perhaps an incipient Black Power” drive. The Research Triangle is vociferously proclaimed by the city fathers as an example of area progress, and yet the best answer for an evening of intel- lectual entertainment in Durham is still probably a foreign movie at the Rialto. All too often, Durham appears dull and uninspiring to Duke students. Their DIAMONDS BIG SAVINGS 28