After a careful deliberation of each candidate and what each stood for, Duke Diya’s executive board has chosen to endorse Keizra Mecklai for DSG President, John Guarco for DSG EVP and Nikhil Gavai for SOFC Chair.
We believe that Keizra has the experience and the passion that is necessary to succeed as next year’s DSG President because of all she has accomplished in issues that we as an organization feel have been overlooked at Duke. Her work with the “What I Be Project” and “We Will Speak Up" campaign speaks wonders to the types of issues that she is fervent with and her ideas on promoting inclusion within campus for all individuals no matter what sexual orientation, race or gender they may be really stood out to us. Diya values creating minority rights to create safe spaces on campus, bridge ideas from all over the world and really make an impact on the community, and we believe that Keizra would be the best candidate to transform the Duke community in order to address these issues we as organization face daily.
John Guarco’s experience as a Senator on Equity and Outreach and his advocacy initiatives towards mental health awareness, sexual assault prevention and cultural consciousness resonated with the values of our organization. His ideas to transform the role of the EVP to not simply and internal position but also one that advocates in support or against certain issues that are more external stood out to us as a change we would like to see in the structure of DSG.
Diya has also chosen to support Nikhil Gavai in his campaign for SOFC Chair because of his experience working on SOFC as well as other large organizations and his passion to serve on a board that works with every student group on campus. His ideas to increase transparency through publicizing SOFC processes, to expand the board to represent a wider range of groups, and to support student groups obtain funding are some that Diya endorses and looks forward to next year.
Anshu Vipparla
President of External Affairs, Duke Diya
Trinity '16
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