The Chronicle THE INDEPENDENT DAILY AT DUKE UNIVERSITY
THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2009
ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTH YEAR, ISSUE S6
Clinton recalls ‘angry, happy man’ Scholarship will assist post-9/11 vets
Ex-president highlights Franklin celebration by Emmeline Zhao THE CHRONICLE
In October 1995, on the eve of his reception of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, John Hope Franklin was handed a coat check by a white woman while entering a Washington D.C. club. The woman had assumed Franklin was a club employee and not a patron. The then-80-year-old black historian patiently responded that if she would ask an attendant—all of whom were in uniform—then she could perhaps retrieve her coat. Former president Bill Clinton retold this account from Franklin’s autobiography “Mirror to America” at an event celebrating the lives of Franklin and his wife, Aurelia Franklin, last Thursday in an overflowing Duke Chapel decorated with the Franklins’ signature orchids. “We’re laughing,” Clinton said to the amused audience. “He did write this in a funny way, and he wrote it in a way that you knew he didn’t think it was funny. He was a genius in being a passionate rationalist—an angry, happy man. A happy, angry man.” Clinton was the last of 12 speakers—a pool of Franklin’s family, colleagues and friends, including Franklin and Aurelia’s son John Whittington Franklin and trustee emerita Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans. But the 42nd U.S. president was just one of many who alluded to Franklin’s ineffable character, indignant sense of humor and SEE CELEBRATION ON PAGE 9
by Lindsey Rupp THE CHRONICLE
Graduate and professional students may soon have a new, 71-year-old housing option on Duke University Road. Capstone Companies, a student housing firm based in Birmingham, Ala., finalized its acquistion of University Apartments from University Associates, a Winston-Salem based company, May 29. “We are a student housing company and because of the proximity to Duke and because of the number of students in the area... we do intend to reach out to the school and see what its graduate and professional student housing needs are,” said Rick Hansen, Capstone’s senior vice president for acquisitions and renovations. Some neighbors are concerned the new owners will recruit students to replace current working class tenants, said Anne Thornhill, president of the Burch Area Neighborhood Association. Thornhill’s association represents the neighborhood that borders the apartments, which are located at the intersection of Duke University Road and Underwood Avenue. Thornhill said the neighborhood considers Duke students part of its community as they compose 30 to 35 percent of the neighborhood, but she said she does not want the University Apartments to cater exclusively to student residents. “One of the wonderful things about our neighborhood is the Duke students—undergraduate and graduate, although mostly
Effective Aug. 1, Duke will provide eligible veterans with $770,000 in cumulative annual financial aid from all of its schools, with matching aid from the Department of Veterans Affairs, University officials announced Wednesday. The initiative is in response to the Yellow Ribbon Program of the Post-9/11 GI Bill to help veterans pursue their educational goals. When University officials decided to join the voluntary program, they concluded that the benefits veterans bring to campus outweigh the financial cost, said Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations. “[As] much as we have made needbased financial aid an imperative for the institution, this really builds on the University’s commitment to making a Duke education affordable, accessible and available for anybody,” Schoenfeld said. “And it is especially important for veterans— people who have really made extraordinary sacrifices and commitments to the country—and one of many ways we hope both Duke and the Department of Veterans Affairs can repay our debt to them.” President Richard Brodhead could not be reached for comment Wednesday. The Post-GI Bill pays up to the highest public in-state undergraduate tuition and fees for the state in which eligible veterans wish to attend college. To be eligible for the full amount, a veteran must have served 36 months of active duty after September 10, 2001 and been honorably discharged—or have served at least 30 consecutive days of active duty before being discharged due to a service-related disability, the VA Web site states. The Yellow Ribbon Program allows private institutions to fund up to half the difference between their institution and the highest public in-state tuition. To qualify for Yellow Ribbon assistance, a veteran must qualify for maximum assistance under the Post-GI Bill. The aid is provided on a firstcome, first-served basis, the VA reports. Although the University as a whole has pledged $770,000 from its institutional financial aid budget to veterans, the amount of money available and the number of veterans who are eligible varies between schools, according to the VA Web site. Only $15,000 will fund undergraduates. Duke, for example, can cover up to half the difference in expenses between its $39,080 undergraduate tuition and fees, according to the admissions Web
SEE APARTMENTS ON PAGE 12
SEE SCHOLARSHIP ON PAGE 7
MICHAEL NACLERIO/THE CHRONICLE
As the last in a series of 12 speakers, former president Bill Clinton reminisces about the late historian John Hope Franklin at the Duke Chapel last Thursday. Franklin, who passed away in March, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and appointed to head a White House committee on race during Clinton’s presidency.
University Apartments change hands by Lindsey Rupp THE CHRONICLE
MICHAEL NACLERIO/THE CHRONICLE
The 71-years-old University Apartments, sold to the student-housing firm Capstone Companies May 29, is expected to undergo major renovations.
ONTHERECORD “...There is a certain value of human life and the message we send is that black life is not as valuable as white life.” — N.C. Coalition for a Moratorium Coordinator Jeremy Collins on the Racial Justice Act. See story page 4
Men’s Tennis: Recruiting Coup Duke snags Brazilian Henrique Cunha, one of the best junior players in the world, PAGE 10
Rare collections: there’s an app for that, Page 3