Have You Heard?

With the end nigh, I find myself taking the long way home, unnecessarily driving or more accurately crawling up Chapel Drive. Soaking it up as it were. Enjoying the flood of years past washing to the front of my mind.

I’m not alone. Walking to blue zone yesterday, I ran into a block of my friends leaving just having paid tribute to Tailgate with key and can. They were strolling through the Indiana limestone arches visiting their favorite spots on campus. Their next stop: Bella Union, a place that makes living in Edens infinitely better (Few can keep Alpine).

For me, Bella is central to sophomore year. Early morning coffee, afternoon tea, late night espresso. It met all my stimulant-related needs. It was my go to for half-heartedly doing work. So naturally I spent most of my “study” time on that fourth floor of the tower. And by most I mean nearly all. I used the abundant life and foot traffic in Bella to procrastinate until closing. Midnight didn’t signify the start of an intense productivity, however. It meant the beginnings of virtual distraction and that my laptop stayed plugged in ‘til the wee hours of the morning.

Every time I went home during college my neighbor told me to find the balance. That is, find the healthy medium between being social and studious. Maybe I did or maybe I just tell myself that to not be upset that I stayed up until six in the morning more times than I care to remember. Even if I am lying to myself to live a synthetic happiness, my current reflection points to a concrete benefit from the “balance” I chose at Duke, which gives me solace.

While sitting in Bella at four in the morning, long after close, I couldn’t focus on my work. The mind wanders for want of diversion from exhaustion and misery. I questioned my choices that brought me exhaustion and blood shot eyes. Why hadn’t I done my work earlier? I usually realized or at least told myself it was because I was enjoying my life – talking to friends and trolling around. Of course I would then imagine the future years here and beyond. Going abroad, coming back, opening a bagel shop. The mind wanders without sleep. Though I often hated myself for being up so late, I found great happiness in my projected possibilities and reflections of the has-beens.

So I confess that my best thinking happened not in class or with my nose in the books but while procrastinating. Think about the conversations, the real talk, you’ve had with people long since the sun’s set. That’s where I learned the most in my time here. 4am in Bella – my greatest thinking happened while on the edge of dreaming.

Last week at WNS a fellow senior shared with me a confession of her own. She told her mother that she’s moving to Australia without any direction. But hey, minimum wage is $19/hr. She’ll be fine. Yet I could hear a level of guilt in her voice telling me that she thought her parents would be upset for “throwing away” her expensive schooling. She told them that she’s grateful for their sacrifice and that she will use this amazing education after she figures things out down under. If you ask me, she’s wrong. In uprooting, she is putting that education to use right now, more so than most of us. What is the point of pulling all-nighters writing papers if we can’t make that intellectual dexterity work for us?

My friend’s moving to have an extended 4am procrastination session of self-discovery. She is taking an extended ride up Chapel Drive. She is going to live on the edge of dreaming.

Another year draws to a close on Duke’s campus. Campus life gets a little calmer as the students leave and we all begin our planning for next year. The parental role, however, never seems to be calm as the summer begins with the family. In many ways our role at the Wellness Center on campus is similar to being the parent away from home. We try to convey to students safe and healthy messages like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFAPWJeeOgs. We ask students to take care of themselves, get rest, eat nutritiously, don’t drink too much and be safe. The challenge we face during the summer months is to reach the students while they are potentially in different cities, on Duke Engage, in internships or at home. Students are adjusting and settling in to life off of campus and to the rules that may be different from the ones in the dorm. 

So as life on campus gets a little quieter and life at home potentially gets a little busier I want to give some tips to think about and/or discuss with your student over this summer regarding choices he/she has been faced with during the past year. Specifically I am thinking about choices around substance use, but this can apply to any difficult health topic.

Listen:
Students tend to be cautious speaking about alcohol and the drinking culture in which they may be involved. It must be difficult to hear the conflicting messages about how risky alcohol use is and to witness students having fun by drinking enough alcohol to get drunk. On the one hand the students are told about the risks of alcohol use by adults and on the other hand they watch their friends have fun while drinking. Students will defend the “fun” part of drinking, when an adult only focuses on the risks because they want us to see that this is not a right or wrong situation. This is complex. The only way that I will have an impact with students on a topic of alcohol use is to give them enough room to speak what they believe to be true. Students see what their friends are doing and they know what they like about drinking, but they will only admit the problem side of drinking if the adult admits that there is also a positive side. Students want to know that I see there are two sides to this issue.  This is complex for them and if I simplify it to being only a right or wrong issue then I will get tuned out.

Ask questions about what they have seen and how they have handled the situations they may have been faced with regarding alcohol. I can give you some questions in case you are fresh out of ideas: Do they drink? How do they figure out how much to drink? What role does alcohol play in college life? What do they like about drinking? Have they been in situations that they were not OK about? Do they think there are potential risks (what are they)?

I have found that the actual drinking is not the main point to be addressed. The more concerning feature is what is driving the drinking, why is it being done? What does the student hope to gain from drinking? Social connection is usually number one. Are they connecting to others when drinking? Students experience being drunk as fun (this is usually in the beginning part of the drunken state). When drunk; students often are laughing more, less self-conscious and dancing and they think they have built memories with friends during these times. The problem is that if they are drinking to intoxication then they are building a relationship with the alcohol not the friends they are with. How will their drinking help them to achieve their goals? Some students are adamant that the drinking is helping them to have a large amount of friends. With students who feel this way I talk about how they define friendship. What are the necessary elements and how do they know that they are close to a person? These are the best conversations and really help students connect and begin to pay attention. The beauty of this approach I have found is that these are the core issues the students wrestle with in their social lives. When students verbalize their thoughts it forces them to think deeper about their choices and how they are moving toward or away from their goals. Sometimes during this conversation students will start to see that they define friendship one way and experience people through drinking in a different way. The drinking experience with friends is not always a positive experience, but they only recognize this when they take a moment to reflect on all aspects of the drinking event. Once you have opened their eyes through the conversation, even if they choose to drink again, it will take some of the allure and mystic of drinking away.

Give feedback not advice. I have found that students will respond with an eye roll and glazed look if I am giving advice. A student talking about drinking will reference their feelings when talking about their story. If I can identify a feeling associated with what the student is talking about then I can reflect on my own experiences when I may have dealt with that feeling or addressed it in the past. In this manner I can give the student an idea of how to deal with a situation without telling them what to do. The difference between feedback vs advice is subtle, but powerful.

Although this article has been about listening and reflecting on your students experiences, don’t forget to acknowledge and enjoy the fact your child completed a year at Duke. Congratulations! Enjoy the summer.

As I enter my last week of classes, I can’t help but to think back freshman convocation in the Chapel. Sitting in those brown wooden pews I listened to President Broadhead tell me and my peers about how amazing our classmates are and questioned why the heck we were sitting among them. I still thank clerical error in the Admissions Office. Anyway, many of us had incredible stories and accomplishments that seemed to define us. Olympians, authors, successful entrepreneurs. I shrank into my seat trying to figure out what I could say about me. I could only muster seemingly trivial experiences from high school.

In early March of this year, however, I found my answer. Permit me a short anecdote. I was on a job interview when the recruiter asked me one final question to be answered in Spanish. “Why did I choose to go to Duke?” I froze. Not because I couldn’t articulate myself in Spanish but because my mind flooded with thoughts on everything that I’ve experienced since coming to college – living in Belfast working on a Duke Engage Project, watching us win a national basketball championship in Cameron Indoor, rushing the football field after we beat Carolina, all nighters in Perkins, late night Cook Out runs, dancing salsa at Cuban Revolution on Thursdays, hearing John Legend belt it out in Page, studying in Madrid and traveling around Europe, Cruising with 200 members of the senior class on spring break, ditching class to go to the gardens when it was 80 degrees in February, section parties, Tailgate with a capital T.

So much has happened since stepping foot onto East, I couldn’t think of an honest answer. After I left, I realized I could have just told him I picked Duke for basketball and the weather. Oh well. Next time I’ll remember to lie.

The inundation of memories reminded me of sitting in that pew as freshman thinking on experiences that were momentous for me. Though I may not have climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, I had a collection of small instances that impacted my life, which isn’t something I was conscious of at the time.

In the 18 years leading up to college, it is made to seem like the pinnacle of our education. It will be that final step that instills in us the skills necessary to succeed in life. The four years at Duke has taught me that a lot of that is crap. We stress about finals or papers, making them out to be a life or death situation. If your thesis doesn’t receive distinction, you’ll survive and graduate.

The hyper academic focus the administration is trying to adopt for the students does us a disservice. Had I wanted a school that forces you into the books day and night, I would have chosen the Ivy League. But guess what. Duke is not an Ivy League. College isn’t about putting my nose to the grind. It is about experiences, which is something Duke used to be cognizant of and is now losing. Everything I just mentioned are memories that I carry with me and collectively define my character. Notice how few are actually academic.

The past four years have changed our lives because of the things we’ve lived. College gave us experiences that supposedly help determine our spirit. We are not static now, however. The next four years and the four after that will also transform us. Academics have and may play a part in that, but it is important to see and do more. The parties in blue zone, late night chats with your friend, and finding culinary gems are likely to be more impactful.

So live every day like it’s college, experience, and change.

Several recent incidents on Central Campus have raised concerns among students and parents about security. While Duke, including Central Campus, has a very low crime rate, we want to assure you that every incident gets our full attention. Student safety and well-being is our highest priority.

Central Campus has become a vibrant community and a popular gathering place for many at Duke. We introduced the house system this year, which afforded sororities the opportunity to live together for the first time in Central Campus apartments. Sophomores and other living groups were also added to the mix, together bringing a new level of student enthusiasm to Central.

In anticipation of increased activity on Central Campus, Residence Life and Duke University Police enacted enhanced security plans during the academic year, including:

• Increased presence of campus police and security auto and foot patrols assigned to Central Campus
• Staffing at Anderson and Alexander bus stops for students who want a walking escort
• Outdoor lighting improvements
• Continued monitoring of “blue light” security phones

Discussions for further improvements continue. In the coming days, DUPD and Residence Life staff will be visiting a number of apartments to offer crime prevention tips and on-the-spot safety improvements where possible, such as locking bars on sliding doors. Residence Life and DUPD staff met just recently with DSG and Fix My Campus student representatives to walk around central and discuss concerns and possible solutions. A variety of security improvements are being explored to make campus as safe as possible, and further safety enhancements will be shared as they are approved and implemented.

Safety is a shared responsibility. Students can do their part by taking simple steps like locking their doors, keeping to lighted paths at night, walking in groups when possible, and reporting suspicious activity to police. The university will do its part by ensuring that police officers are deployed to areas of concern throughout the day, and that information is shared with students on a timely basis.

We welcome your questions or suggestions. We are here to help, and to keep campus safe.

Sincerely,

Larry Moneta
Vice President for Student Affairs

Chief John Dailey
Duke University Police Department

Dear faculty and friends,

Somehow we've arrived at the last issue of our newsletter to you for this year. I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around 'last' while simultaneously focusing on the abundant work ahead (as, undoubtedly, are you). Between now and next fall when we issue our first newsletter of the next academic year, much will transpire. In our world, the Events Pavilion and Bryan Center renovations will be complete (check out: pavilioncam.studentaffairs.duke.edu), West Union will be closed and shrouded in fencing, many departments and offices will have relocated (sites.duke.edu/westunion), considerable renovations work will have been completed in our Central Campus apartments and on East Campus and much more.

As I write this, I'm reflecting on the academic year nearly past and feel so grateful to have worked with so many of you...especially our faculty. We have a fascinating project in development with several faculty from Psychology and Neuroscience regarding student resiliency, are partnering with Fuqua faculty on leadership development, and working with numerous faculty in the areas of entrepreneurship, sustainability, civic engagement and much more. Many of our staff serve as adjunct faculty and I'm so pleased that we support Duke's teaching (and research) mission in the classroom in addition to the experiential opportunities we provide. As I say with every issue of our newsletter, we welcome any opportunity to partner with faculty and look forward to hearing from and supporting you.

But, the year is not over and we have critical opportunities and occasions ahead. It seems that every student performing arts group is planning its final shows in the next few weeks. On April 17, we celebrated student leadership and service achievements at our awards ceremony (http://studentaffairs.duke.edu/ucae/leadership/leadership-service-awards). Please join us in congratulating the winners for their great work!

And, then there's LDOC (Last day of Classes)....we welcome any faculty presence there and you can even earn a jacket and hat by joining our A-Team, our events 'support team'. Just email me if you're interested at lmoneta@duke.edu.

This has been a great year so far and I expect a furious but fantastic rush to the finish line. We're grateful for your support and look forward to sharing and connecting more with you in the years ahead.

Have a great Spring,

Larry

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"Office Hours" with Bill Wright-Swadel
Graduating students will soon take their first steps down career paths that may take unforeseen directions. In his 30 years as a college career counselor, William Wright-Swadel has picked up some wisdom about the road ahead for soon-to-be graduates, which he shared in a live "Office Hours" webcast interview on Friday, April 5.

View the video.

Arts & Activism

I know that this paragraph will not do justice to my experience during ASB: Arts & Activism. Throughout the week I built a relationship with the students and they defied my expectations. They were very smart, quick, and passionate. Each high school student had a story to tell and was invested in a social issue. These students have the power to change the world, and I hope they do!

Read more.

The Arts Annex Mural Project

The new mural completely transforms the front of the the Arts Annex into a new, inviting and exciting front for this creative space.

Read more.

"Let the Great World Spin"

Shortly after the World Trade Center complex was completed, acrobat Philippe Petit tight-roped across the gap between the two buildings, a quarter mile above the New York City streets.

In the novel “Let the Great World Spin,” this year’s summer reading selection for Duke University’s Class of 2017, author Colum McCann imagines how this single, daring event turned from ordinary to extraordinary the lives of many people watching on the street below.

Read more.

Lavender Graduation

Lavender Graduations recognizes and celebrates all LGBTQ and allied undergraduate and graduate students completing degrees. The event will be held April 19.

Read more.

Student Leadership and Service Award Winners
Each spring, the Vice President for Student Affairs invites members of the Duke community to nominate deserving undergraduate and graduate students, recognized student organizations, faculty, staff, and alumni for the University’s most prestigious awards for leadership and engagement.

 This year's winners are...

Read more.

Residence Hall Closing Information
All residence halls and apartments close for summer break at noon on Monday, May 6, 2013.  Students must be completely moved out and have returned their keys by this time.  

Graduating seniors and other students approved for housing extensions due to participation in commencement, athletic teams, or other university approved events will be able to occupy their spring housing assignment until noon on Monday, May 13 at the latest.

Students participating in Summer Session 1 are only eligible for housing extensions upon completion and approval of their summer housing application. Parents and students are reminded that move-in for upperclass students for the fall semester is Friday, August 23, 2013.

Read more.

Summer Housing Information
Summer housing is available for students enrolled in classes or working for the University.

Read more.

No one warned me about the wall I’d hit senior year. I heard that I would reach a point when I’d just say screw it and do things for completion because I’m almost out the door. I have more important things to do like skipping class and sitting on the plaza with some friends and some of the finest Busch Light or walking to Ben & Jerry’s to get a scoop on free cone day. It’s LSOC (last semester of college – because Duke loves useless acronyms); I’m supposed to be on an emotional high and full of life. Yet whenever someone asks me, how I’m doing I reply, “not that great.” Which generally elicits the “BUT YOU’RE A SENIOR!” response, particularly from underclassmen.

Thank you for reminding me that I’m supposed to be in a perpetual state of euphoria. Sorry to disappoint. Of course there’s fun to be had in college, especially as a senior. Everything is a little heightened and more meaningful. Lunch of Wednesday could be and likely will be the last time I eat at the Law School Refrectory. Gotta capture that moment and feel it – the living nostalgia that makes me long for the memories I’m in the process of making. It makes me hyperaware of my reality and impossible for me to turn a blind eye to the rest of life. The job hunt, papers, readings, and meetings are annoying, but they’re nothing to lose sleepover. Weird, considering I can’t seem to manage more than two consecutive hours a night recently. And maddening because I couldn’t explain why, until the other night.

I had been trying to pinpoint the source of my insomnia, looking to blame anxiety from work, fear of graduation, angst from unemployment, and worry of missing out on my remaining time. They were the natural places to look, but a few nights ago I had one of those muddled dreams that makes zero logical sense yet somehow is loosely intelligible to my consciousness. Meaning I don’t have a snowball’s chance in Hell in explaining it. I can say, however, when I woke up I realized looking for a single root cause of my mood was a mistake. Every problem that should be like a small breeze blowing against the fire that keeps me going has slowly compounded to create a gale force wind that extinguished my flame. I’m burnt out.   

I’m tired of engaging in the same conversations about the Duke social hierarchy, the administration’s numerous shortcomings, people “not getting it or not paying attention,” and imagining what-if. I’ve heard the same canned dialogue since August 2009. I’ve learned a lot from it, but it’s time to move on. Those conversations, which are old and irritating to me now, shaped me. I’m sure I could still gain more from sticking around and listening to the same qualms, but I think I would grow more cynical and disillusioned. I need a clean break and to face a whole new set of conversations.

Which brings me to the classic question that a senior answers on a daily basis, “What are you doing with your life or in the real world?” Does it not baffle anyone else? Why ask me now? Why did you not ask me that question last year or two years ago? I understand the sort of response it’s trying to elicit, and that is exactly my problem. It equates life with work. Maybe it has escaped your attention, but the four years we spend at Duke are real. True, many of us may not have as many concerns or responsibilities as we will post-graduation, but the operative phrase is as many. We still face challenges and heavy situations here. Financial struggle, sexual assault, discrimination, death, and relationships I would say a more real than the impending “real world” that most people use as a misnomer for the workforce.  

College has been real, and that’s why I’m exhausted. “I’M A SENIOR.”

From the very moment we enter kindergarten our next thirteen or seventeen years are no longer up to us. Sure we can rebel, choose to drop out of school, or elect not to attend college. But we’re all at Duke, so I’m going to go out on limb and say we allowed our lives to be dictated by a cultural hegemony. Our immediate goal was decided for us – do well and move on to the next level of education. Of course we had opportunities to define our interests and seek complementary ventures, but the key word is complementary. With few exceptions we never chose to substitute our end game.

As college quickly comes to a close for the class of 2013, some of us are unemployed and completely at a loss as to what path to pick. It doesn’t have to and likely will not be the one we will travel forever. Yet we still have a choice to make. Many of us chose our next step as a way to bide time. I could not tell you how many times I’ve heard, “I don’t know what I want to do, but I’m working at [insert company here] for a year or two ‘til I get my MBA or figure out what I want.”

There in lies the problem. We never had to figure out what we want. You could argue that we did when we chose our area of study. But remind me how many biomedical engineers from Duke become consultants? Certainly our tastes or aspirations may have and will change. I still wonder how many of us pursue pastimes that inspire in us zeal.

Some of us are fortunate enough to know our passions. I have friends who invest their lives to film in hopes of becoming directors. Others will speak to the world through dance or search for new vaccinations in lab coat. They are a fortunate minority. Most of us have either experimented or sat idly coming up with nothing.

Those of us leaving Durham in five weeks need ask ourselves if our next chapter is going to be written by the expectations and standards of others or if we will draft our own script. Those staying behind should use your remaining time to question your current trajectory. Exist with intentionality and gusto. Duke has opportunities for you to explore, though most are not advertised well. You can find funding to do research abroad or begin a new social venture. If there’s something you want to try, ask because there is a way. 

Being lost is fine, as long as we’re conscious of it. In knowing our lack of direction, we are at least assured that we’re asking the right questions. Facing the, “Now what?” can be daunting, but don’t let it scare you into forfeiting the next X number of years to a safe system of predetermination. 

I’ve always hated when classes require you to do weekly responses for the reading. As if processing one hundred pages a week on eighteenth-century European expansionism wasn’t enough work. It’s always just told me that the professor doesn’t trust us to actually read. Apparently, we need some sort of accountability to do what we’re paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to do. Also, so what if we skip the reading? Our final grades will suffer, the professor won’t. This semester I’m taking a course on Antonio Gramsci that has no written assignments save for a final paper. The rest is reading, which I actually do. Shocker – not that it helps me understand what the heck Gramsci was trying to express. Grappling with the reading is hard enough.

But while I’m convinced some classes have response papers to make it look like the students are doing work, there is value in writing about the reading. These assignments force us to sit and think about what we just consumed. They inherently put us in a state of reflection helping us to better comprehend and perhaps appreciate the material.

With college quickly coming to a close, I, like every other senior, have been contemplating my time here and what it means for the next steps. Sometimes I sit on the plaza or the McClendon walkway and just take it all in and think. I remember the days when 1,500 freshmen would wait in a mob at the East Campus bus stop on a Friday night and would fight each other to get on the C1 to go out on West. Those times are over. Duke has changed. For better or for worse? And have the policy shifts impacted who I am as a graduate? Who knows? There are arguments for all sides. Reflecting on the change, asking the questions and trying to figure out some answers will help us value our experience here and understand our principles.

Operating solely within our heads, however, can lead to a rush of thoughts that are difficult to organize. As much as it pains me to say it, weekly response papers help navigate the corresponding literature. Putting pen to paper makes me more conscious of what I am thinking and will in turn say.

During the summer of 2011, I went to Belfast on Duke Engage, which exposed me to a lot of history and information that was difficult to process in only two months. To help gain a firmer grasp on my time in Northern Ireland, I maintained a blog with daily updates about the journey. In doing so, I was more conscious of my place in that foreign city. Serving as a student blogger for Student Affairs this year has afforded me the same self-awareness (in addition to some self-indulgence and nostalgia). By writing about issues on campus every week or so, I had to think more critically about the whole situation to provide a more comprehensive opinion. It has assisted me in knowing who I am at Duke and what Duke is to me.

I still submit that some weekly responses are a waste of time, but response papers can be important, particularly the ones we draft on our own volition. Through writing, we learn. So try blogging.

This year, UCAE: Leadership Development & Social Action held its first international Alternative Spring Break program to Lima, Peru. 13 students and 2 staff members traveled to Lima to work with the elderly and children with disabilities. The group worked primarily in two different communities, La Victoria and Villa El Salvador.

La Victoria is often the initial settlement area for thousands of highland migrants who pour into Lima each year. Historically, this area has been home to slaves and indentured servants, and therefore has a high population of Afro, Chinese and Japanese-Peruvians.

Villa El Salvador was founded in 1971 when many families abandoned their homes in the Andes because of poverty, earthquakes, terrorism, etc. The people organized quickly and have been an example for excellence in social work and community growth, being nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in recognition for their efforts.

Shortly after the World Trade Center complex was completed, acrobat Philippe Petit tight-roped across the gap between the two buildings, a quarter mile above the New York City streets.

In the novel “Let the Great World Spin,” this year’s summer reading selection for Duke University’s Class of 2017, author Colum McCann imagines how this single, daring event turned from ordinary to extraordinary the lives of many people watching on the street below.

“The summer reading book should be relatable to the Duke experience, and I think ‘Let the Great World Spin’ is the perfect choice with this consideration in mind,” said Valentine Esposito, a junior and member of the Duke Summer Reading committee. “The book stitches together the experiences of a diverse group of people living in New York by depicting a single event they all witnessed or interacted with.

“At Duke, you will meet many people that are different from yourself in every sense,” Esposito added. “In my opinion, the beauty of the Duke experience is coming to appreciate these differences while recognizing the events and moments that stitch everyone's Duke experience together.”

Duke’s Summer Reading Program is designed to give incoming students a shared intellectual experience with other members of their class. During orientation welcome week activities, students will discuss the book in small groups and the committee will attempt to arrange an author visit for a larger campus discussion.

The selection committee is comprised of faculty, staff and students.

“Every year we compile a list of books recommended by faculty, students and staff, and discuss the merits of each selection. After a few rounds of readings and conversations, our committee reduces the list to five or six books,” said Clay Adams, director of New Student Programs and co-chair of the selection committee. “We then reach out to the Duke community for their feedback.”

In addition to “Let the Great World Spin,” this year’s finalists included:

• “Behind the Beautiful Forevers,” by Katherine Boo
• “Little Princes,” by Conor Grennan
• “Crashing Through,” by Robert Kurson, and
• “Purge,” by Sofi Oksanen

“I think the incoming freshmen will have the opportunity to engage in discussion surrounding the substantive themes in this book, and will be reminded that risk-taking, selflessness, and the courage to step outside of a comfort zone are important things to remember in the first semester on Duke's campus,” said Trinity student and committee member Madison Moyle. Currently, the committee is working to arrange a visit by the author to discuss his book. “I hope to meet McCann if he comes to speak in the fall, and I am confident that the incoming freshmen will enjoy their summer reading.”

A special printing of the book for first-year Duke students is underway. The book will be mailed to members of the Duke Class of 2017 in July.

Past summer reading selections include “A State of Wonder,” by Ann Patchett; “Eating Animals,” by Jonathan Safran Foer; “Everything Matters,” by Ron Currie, Jr.; “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,” by Junot Diaz; “What is the What,” by David Eggers; and “The Best of Enemies,” by Osha Gray Davidson.