In the history of Duke University, there has never been this much pressure to reexamine the nature of drinking. With that said, the consequences of leaving the debate unsolved could possibly be extremely detrimental to the University’s prestige. As stated before in the DukeDrinking Blog, American society has come to value prestige over content, including education. Therefore, a drop to Duke’s prestige would then suggest a drop in Duke’s academic content.

If this is true, and the recent drop in prestige suggests a drop in Duke University’s academic content, it may have powerful effects on Duke. The effects will first be felt in Duke’s admissions process. High school students are looking for the University with the best character, both academically and socially. And in a society that correlates content with prestige, it the top high school students are looking for the school with the most prestige as well. Duke, being viewed as a University that is not as prestigious as others, will suffer in attracting the top students to Duke, as they will prefer going to a more prestigious University than Duke, or rather a school that is ranked higher.  That trend was already noticed in last year’s matriculation rates for the class of 2010 when the Duke reputation took a severe blow after the lacrosse scandal. Following the investigation of the Duke Lacrosse Team, a record number of A.B. Duke and Robertson Scholarship applicants rejected the offer of free admission to the University. Those students, who are considered some of the most talented across the nation, rejected the scholarship, implying in their rejection that they would rather go somewhere else, possibly even paying tuition, over the opportunity to attend Duke for free.

If Duke’s prestige continues to suffer as a result of alcohol-abuse related incidents, its admissions may possibly continue to travel in that path.

That would be incredible unfortunate for Duke, as the University may possibly regress to the point where the student body at Duke will then consist of, on average, less qualified students than many of its higher-ranked competitors. In turn, Duke students will begin to suffer when applying for post-graduate work or jobs against students of higher quality at other institutions. These lower rates of graduate success will in turn have a circular affect by hurting Duke’s prestige even more by reflecting another drop in content, lowering Duke's place in the rankings again and in turn lowering admissions rates yet again, creating a potential circle of mediocrity for Duke University.

The situation described above is by no means a destined path for the University. If Duke is able to settle its alcohol-abuse issues and avoid future controversy as well as continue to improve academically, Duke’s prestige could very well rebound from 2006 and go on to great success.

Of course, nothing is set in stone. Yet at the same time, that is really the biggest source of hope for the University following this unfortunate year in Duke History. Nothing is set in stone. And Duke still can be the best college in the nation.