Trinity freshman Ben Kennedy and Trinity sophomore Bianca Motley ascended Wednesday night into the Duke Student Government vice presidential offices of academic affairs and student affairs, respectively. Twenty-nine percent of the student body voted in the run-off contests.
Kennedy received 53 percent of the vote, while his opponent and future roommate, Trinity sophomore Jeff Pavlovic, tallied 47 percent. Kennedy will succeed Trinity junior Dan Segal.
Motley, who will assume Trinity junior Chris Lam's executive post, garnered 52 percent of the ballots cast, outdistancing her challenger, Trinity junior Todd Sears, by a little more than five percentage points.
DSG held its annual elections last Thursday, but was forced to conduct run-off contests for the two aforementioned positions because neither Kennedy nor Motley satisfied the DSG bylaw that states that a contender for any electable DSG post must earn at least a 6-percent margin of victory over his or her nearest competitor.
Kennedy, whose race originally featured four contenders, described his victory as
Kennedy emphasized a panoply of issues he said he wants to start working on as soon as possible. Foremost on his agenda is learning more about the pending curriculum review, attempting to provide financial aid for international students, helping to incorporate student input into the tenure process and altering the ways in which the University Writing Course is taught.
Motley, who has served as a DSG legislator for the past two years and co-chairs the Duke University Student Dining Advisory Committee, said she believes her experience with DSG will prove to be invaluable next year.
"We're going with an executive team that's relatively inexperienced," Motley said. "And I think I can round out the team."
Noting that she and Trinity sophomore Sarah Mitchell-the current DSG executive vice president who was elected to a second term-probably have the most experience of anyone elected, Motley said the two would collaborate next year to channel others' initiatives in the right direction.
Hoping to bring to fruition one of her preeminent campaign promises, Motley, who was involved in the renovations of the Devil's Den and Oak Room, said she "thinks it is really feasible that we can get a fix on a late-night eatery."
DSG President and Trinity senior Takcus Nesbit-who has worked with both Kennedy and Motley on the Achievement Index and Chinese food on points initiatives, respectively-said he has confidence in the two victors. "I think they will bring a lot of experience, charisma and positive energy to DSG," he said.
Kennedy, who will be the youngest member of the executive committee, affirmed that he is looking forward to the challenge of being a DSG vice president. "It's a good group," he said. "It has a lot of potential; I hope we can realize it."
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