In yesterday’s editorial, we endorsed candidates for three vice presidential positions in Duke Student Government.
Services
The services committee oversees an odd mélange of campus institutions including aspects of Duke Dining, Parking and Transportation Services, The Office of Information Technology, Counseling and Psychological Services and Student Health. The vice president of services sits on top of the committee, helping individual senators implement improvements to those institutions.
Of the candidates, we strongly endorse sophomore Moses Wayne. In his platform, Wayne put forth practical, inclusive ideas that are innovative in a fashion atypical of the standard DSG member. He demonstrated a high level of conscientiousness about unresolved problems that plague many students on campus. His authenticity is apparent in the excellent work he has done in increasing service accessibility for students of low socioeconomic status. We were impressed by his openness to new ideas and his ability to give them traction against the bureaucracy of DSG.
Turning to the other candidates, we appreciated the attention paid by Shivani Shah to the need for improvement of the first-year meal plan, but felt that Wayne offered an overall better package as a candidate. Our feelings were similar with regards to freshman Will Hardee. Although he brought up salient subjects, we felt that Wayne showed more experience and forethought. We were unimpressed by Courtney Scoufis's, director of Fix My Campus, headline proposal for a subsidized Uber service. Although the proposal is flashy, a subsidized Uber service would be redundant on our campus considering the extant safe ride services at Duke.
Social Culture
For vice president of social culture, we cautiously endorse Shelby Wailes, a third-year senator responsible for the creation of the Project Arts program. Wailes presented herself as a leader passionate about the Duke community and we hope to see her attitude inspire senators in her committee. We appreciated the focus on long-term policy reform of sophomore Kayla Thompson, but were unable to discern goals of the reforms beyond more flexible alcohol policies.
We were ultimately disappointed by the failure of all candidates to account for the range of Duke's student body. While they revelled in discussion of plans for concerts and DevilsGate, they displayed a less nuanced understanding of what more introverted students needed. Furthermore, they were silent on issues dealing directly with the health of campus culture. As is evident in posts from the "You’re Not Alone" Facebook page, many Duke students feel they lack genuine relationships. Students ought to consider whether the vice president of social culture is responsible for bringing to light and addressing such issues. In the future, we hope to see the social culture committee focus equally on creating traditions and campus programming and policies that are inclusive for all.
Not unlike student governments at other universities, DSG is continually thought of as ineffective or regarded with apathy. More often, as president-elect Tara Bansal has said, "the dominant narrative is that 'DSG doesn't do anything.'" In this election and next year, we urge students to reflect on what true solutions look like and to vote for candidates who stand for improving DSG along with the student experience.
Tanner Lockhead and Michael Norwalk were unable to attend endorsement meetings for vice presidents of Durham and regional affairs and facilities and environment, respectively. Both are unopposed.
Co-chair Surabhi Beriwal recused herself from the services endorsement for personal ties. Max Kramer, Tim Kowalczyk and Leonard Giarrano recused themselves from the social culture endorsement for personal ties.
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