After a total of 3,048 students cast their votes in the third student-wide election for undergraduate Young Trustee Friday, senior Kaveh Danesh secured the position over seniors Olly Wilson and Michael Mandl.
An instant runoff vote between Danesh and Wilson determined the winner. Danesh received a total of 1,623 votes, and Wilson received 1,376 votes after the instant runoff. The results were announced around 11:30 p.m. Friday, an hour and a half after polls closed at 10:00 p.m.
Danesh currently serves as the vice president for academic affairs for Duke Student Government. For two years, he has been part of the Academic Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees. He is also a line monitor and has served on the First-Year Advisory Counselor Board. Danesh said he is eager to share his ideas about an international and interdisciplinary Duke with the Board.
“When I was waiting to hear the result, I had no concept of how likely I was to win,” Danesh said. “I just knew that we were all very deserving, and that’s why I was taken aback when I heard that I had won. It was in many ways humbling to know that I had the confidence of so many.”
DSG President Pete Schork, a senior, said he has witnessed Danesh’s intellect, drive and concern for campus issues while serving with him on DSG executive board for the past two years.
“He has an incredible range of experiences at Duke, and he’s going to captivate the attention of Trustees in a powerful way,” Schork said.
The election went more smoothly than those in the past two years, though there was one bylaw violation in the Young Trustee Nominating Committee’s process, said DSG Attorney General James Lee, a senior and current co-managing editor for online at The Chronicle.
“This year we tried to avoid violations from the start,” Lee said. “We’re more transparent about the rules with the candidates, and the entire process has become more streamlined.”
During the campaign process, Danesh received six official endorsements. Wilson secured nine and Mandl did not receive any endorsements.
“I’m immensely grateful for all the support that I received from so many different people throughout the campaign,” he said. “Much of my motivation came from that support, and I really can’t be thankful enough.”
Like the other candidates, Danesh met with various campus organizations while campaigning to discuss specific issues and concerns of each group and how they can be relayed to the Board. Danesh said these meetings defined his campaign and shaped his ideas about presenting student concerns to the Board.
“Meeting with groups made me think a lot about how the everyday things, people and groups have the ability to relate to the Board, because at the surface, there are a lot of issues that we hear about everyday that aren’t immediately Board-level issues,” Danesh said. “The challenge is to see how they can be seen as such.”
In his campaign, he also created a website and reached out to students, encouraging them to vote.
“I wanted to make sure that I was doing everything that I could, and it all paid off,” Danesh said.
Looking forward, Danesh said he will draw from his personal undergraduate experience at Duke to advise and contribute to the Board. He will serve a three-year term as a Trustee—one year as a nonvoting member and two years as a voting member.
Wilson said he believes that Danesh will be an asset to the Board and a great Young Trustee.
“Kaveh is extremely smart and has a great understanding of how academics play a role in the undergraduate experience,” Mandl added. “He will bring good insight into the Board.”
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