Last night's Duke Student Government meeting swept out the old and brought in the new, with the fanfare of a much-anticipated January election for a replacement executive vice president. In a contest of four candidates, DSG legislators voted junior Drew Ensign to fill the position junior Daryn Dodson abdicated.
With the unusual mid-year switch, Ensign acknowledged his role as executive vice president will, by necessity, be different than the experiences of those taking the office at the beginning of fall semester.
"Because there are only two-and-a-half months left, there cannot be any time for transition or awkwardness," Ensign said. "[The new executive vice president] needs to get off to a running start."
Ensign, who boasted the most DSG experience, became a legislator his freshman year, vice president for academic affairs his sophomore year and the Student Organization Finance Committee chair earlier this year. Ensign ran on his experience, which became a pivotal factor in the election against opponents first-year legislator Alex Barna, a freshman, and juniors David Cummings, a second-year legislator, and Henry Ho, DSG treasurer and a legislator last year. "I want you to judge me on how involved I have been this semester and what I have shown my commitment to be," Ensign said.
As his first order of business, Ensign plans to meet individually with all 50 DSG legislators to see how they are progressing in their roles within the organization. He will also meet later this week with DSG President Jordan Bazinsky to discuss his new position. "I've known Drew for awhile and know he will do a good job," said Bazinsky, a senior. "He knows what my expectations and DSG's expectations are for the job."
A friend of Ensign's, Dodson also promised to help Ensign ease into the office he just left. "I will be there to monitor the transition and make sure he has all the tools necessary to be the very best executive vice president he has the potential to be," Dodson said.
Dodson, who resigned after struggling all semester to effectively run DSG meetings, said last night that by relieving himself of the position's 15-hour-per-week time commitment, he could devote more work to his other priorities. He is assuming a new position called intercollegiate liaison, for which he will travel to about 15 academically competitive schools this semester to meet and brainstorm with other university students and student government officials. "I think I am in a position now where I can be most effective for the organization," Dodson said. "There's a lot of excitement in the transition to be a more effective component of DSG."
DSG legislators also elected eight new members from 15 candidates to fill seats left by fall's turnover.
All the new and old members received two pep-talks before the election-one from Bazinsky and an unexpected version from senior Jasmine French. French's comments surrounded a recent 300-person survey that she said showed that many students believe that DSG must communicate more with the student body to be a truly representative organization. "It's humbling to know what people feel about you," French said. "We have three months left to make improvements this year."
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