Duke Kunshan University enrolled its largest class yet this fall, at a crucial time for the university’s future.
On Friday, the DKU welcomed 490 students for its class of 2028, almost 100 more than last year. The 349 Chinese and 141 international students were selected from a pool of almost 10,000 applicants from 123 countries.
“Duke was founded 100 years ago this December. We are incredibly excited to see how you will help shape our second century,” Duke Provost Alec Gallimore said in a video message to the DKU class of 2028, while welcoming the students to the “greater Duke community” of “nearly 200,000 alumni.”
The original agreement for DKU – a partnership between Duke University and Wuhan University formed in 2013 – expires in 2027. One year before the nearly 500 newly enrolled students graduate, Duke is faced with the decision of whether to extend its contract with the Jiangsu-based university.
“DKU continues to grow and attract internationally minded students from around the world seeking a unique educational experience,” Provost Alec Gallimore wrote in an email to The Chronicle on Tuesday. “We are proud of what DKU has accomplished in a short period of time, particularly the diversity of the student body, and are excited to continue to welcome DKU students in the dual degree program at Duke, where they contribute so much to the vibrancy of our campus community.”
The future of the DKU
The university will weigh up a number of challenges as it considers the future path of the DKU.
At a meeting of the Arts & Sciences Council on November 3, 2022, President Vincent Price spoke about the success of DKU in its first decade of existence, but did not take a clear stance on whether the venture would continue in 2027.
Price called DKU a “study in contrast,” citing the university’s “phenomenal students” and “very strong teaching staff,” but also noted that it is facing worsening geopolitical circumstances that are “exacerbated by COVID.”
“We’re looking at this renewal (in 2027) and we just have to be clear-sighted,” Price said at the 2022 meeting. “The world is conspiring to make a project like this really difficult these days.”
In Tuesday’s email, the university did not respond to Chronicle questions about whether there are any recent announcements about the expiration of the DKU in 2027 or how the university views the difficulties in continuing the agreement.
Expansion of the DKU campus
As the DKU will graduate its fourth bachelor’s class in May 2025, its campus has undergone rapid development and expansion.
The plans for building the campus are divided into “phases.” Phase 1 began in 2010 and was completed in 2019.
Phase 2 – which more than doubled the size of the campus with the construction of a new library, sports complex, research center and nine new residence halls – began in August 2019 and was completed in May 2023.
Conceptual plans for Phases 3 and 4 are already in place, but timelines for their completion have not yet been announced.
Challenges during COVID-19
An important part of the DKU experience is the opportunity to study abroad at Duke in Durham as part of a “Global Learning Semester”.
DKU’s first study abroad class spent a semester in Durham in fall 2020. The following year, Duke offered DKU students the opportunity to study on Duke’s Durham campus when travel restrictions due to COVID-19 made it impossible for DKU students in the U.S. to travel to China.
In response to changes in Chinese visa and entry requirements, the university reiterated its expectation that DKU students would return to Kunshan in the spring of 2022 and no longer offered dual enrollment at Duke in Durham or hybrid or distance learning. The decision raised concerns among some DKU students who had spent up to five semesters in Durham.
While operations at DKU are now largely functioning as they did before the pandemic, some DKU students are expressing concern that it is difficult to integrate into the social life of the Durham campus and that classes will still be held virtually in the 2023-24 academic year.
DKU convocation
DKU Vice Chancellor John Quelch and Chancellor Yaolin Liu spoke at the closing ceremony on Friday in Kunshan.
“The next four years will be the most enlightening of your life,” Quelch told the class of 2028, also urging students to have faith in themselves and each other.
Liu encouraged students to celebrate DKU’s cultural diversity and develop a “lifelong learning” attitude while keeping an eye on their health and well-being.
There were also comments from students at the event.
“I believe DKU will help me achieve my goals by not only immersing myself in Chinese culture, but also broadening my horizons through other students, faculty, and courses,” said Sara Salazar, a Class of 2028 graduate from Texas. Salazar and her sister Ally enrolled at DKU after studying Mandarin for 12 years.
The DKU held its first basic courses for the fall semester on Monday.
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| Senior Editor
Michael Austin is a junior at Trinity and managing editor of the Chronicle’s 120th issue.
