Ooha Reddy is a Duke Kunshan junior who matriculated in Fall 2020 and has spent every semester at Duke since. Recently, DKU administration released a directive forcing all DKU international students to “return” to China for the Spring 2023 semester and through their graduation, with only exceptions for extraordinary cases.

While many DKU students are finding themselves forced into a situation where they have to leave the relationships they’ve built for the past 3+ years and move to a country that they have never visited, Ooha’s situation is unique. DKU, despite calling itself Duke University in Kunshan, deceived her by failing to grant her already intended major of Computation and Design—despite previously claiming explicitly it was an option for her. Ooha planned her 4 years at Duke based on this promise; because of DKU’s negligence to properly communicate what is arguably one of the most important components of her college experience, she can no longer graduate within 4 years as a DKU student. This means, that not only would she unfairly pay extra years of tuition and complete a new major that she doesn’t want, but that she would have to communicate to employers that it took her extra years to graduate—something that could get her unfairly disqualified from future jobs. Administration’s inflexibility and unwillingness to help their students shows exactly where their priorities are: tuition, rather than the futures of their students.

Ooha is a beloved member of our Duke Community—her impact on Duke Diya, the South Asian Students Organization on campus, alone has been immeasurable. Ooha started her journey with Diya as a sophomore DKU Liaison and soon stepped up to become our Treasurer in the middle of the 2021-2022 school year. She quickly mastered the role and helped us accomplish incredible achievements, like getting Hasan Minhaj to speak at Duke University. Aside from various research and intern positions both in Durham and at the Marine Lab, she is not only Vice President of Duke Dance Council and the DSG Director of Racial and Multicultural Diversity and Outreach, but also an Opinion Managing Editor for The Chronicle. She is also a member of Maxwell, an undergraduate performer in Professor Michael Klien’s experimental dance praxis showcases, and a former dancer and choreographer on Duke Rhydhun. Whether you know her personally or not, chances are you have benefitted from her impact here at Duke. If Duke were to send her “back” to DKU, Duke University would truly be losing one of its brightest students. 

Please sign, share, and advocate for Ooha's academic rights.

Read Ooha’s Chronicle column here.