This is the final installment of a three-part series profiling each of the three finalists for the position of young trustee.
Reclining in his swivel chair in the Office of Duke Student Government, Trinity senior Takcus Nesbit, president of DSG, said he would like to be the 1997 young trustee so that he can continue to tackle the onerous issues of financial aid and community development.
"The single most important thing... facing the board in the next three years is the Capital Campaign," Nesbit said, referring to the administration's mammoth fund-raising initiative that is currently in its silent phase. "Within that, even more importantly, is establishing priorities within the Capital Campaign because you can't really go into [it] without having some set priorities. For me... one is maintaining financial aid as a priority."
A long-time advocate of maintaining both the University's need-blind admissions policy and 100 percent demonstrated need clause, Nesbit said he would also like to see the administration become more dedicated to expanding its wealth to the Durham community.
"The University is only as healthy as Durham is, sometimes, because things that are external... really can affect the University community," Nesbit said. "There are things that we can do by investing in the community, through community development and economic development, to improve the entire situation of Durham."
Janet Dickerson, the vice president for student affairs who has worked with Nesbit extensively both this year and last year when he served as DSG vice president for student affairs, said Nesbit's wit is perhaps one of his greatest attributes, especially in clutch situations.
"I think that Takcus has been very attentive to the needs of students and has listened carefully to the different communities within the University," Dickerson said, adding that she has worked with Nesbit on several matters-the most notable of which pertain to event advising, financial aid and changing students' perceptions of the Trinity Park residential area. "On a personal note, Takcus uses humor effectively, and is gracious even when being sharply critical of ideas. He is open and conciliatory. I think it is very nice he is from 'Welcome, N.C.'-sort of like being from Hope, Ark."
Although Nesbit's post-graduation plans remain ambiguous, the life-long North Carolina resident said he is not limiting himself to his home state of 21 years.
Nesbit has applied to six law schools, including Duke, but said he may choose not to attend even if he is accepted to one or many of them. Regardless, Nesbit said the University and issues pertaining to it would only be an e-mail message away, so he is not worried that he will lose touch with the student body or its concerns.
Nesbit said that-by virtue of the breadth of knowledge holding the position of DSG president requires-he felt from the outset as though he might have a "decent shot" at being a young trustee finalist. But Nesbit said he knew "there were a lot of other good folks applying... and just stiff competition, so I knew that it was going to be tough."
Still, he said he was "elated" when the Intercommunity Council-the body whose duty it is to select each year's finalists-notified him Feb. 6 that he would be one of the final three contenders for the post.
DSG will nominate one of the three young trustee candidates for the position at their regularly scheduled general body meeting tonight. A young trustee serves on the University's Board of Trustees for three years, during the first of which he or she is ineligible to vote.
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