This year, two candidates with similar platforms will compete to be the next Duke Student Government vice president for community interaction, a position with a broad scope and vaguely-defined initiatives. Freshman Eileen Kuo and junior Thaniyyah Ahmad, whose experiences vary significantly, hope to attack specific issues like race relations, sexuality and gender, Duke-Durham interaction and campus safety.
Ahmad, a third-year legislator and member of the Community Interaction Committee, has had experience uniting students on both the campus and community levels. She tutors for America Reads, serves as co-chair of the African-American Mentoring Program and would like to improve students' interactions with the Durham community by having more programs that bring the community to campus.
"When you want to get to know people, you invite them into your home," she said.
Ahmad also serves as the Black Student Alliance executive vice president and cites desegregation of campus social life as one of her biggest goals. For example, she said student leaders could unite their respective constituencies by co-sponsoring programs and social events.
Ahmad also cited campus-wide safety as a pressing
Senior Bunia Parker, co-director of the Community Service Center and Ahmad's AAMP co-chair, said she would be an effective leader.
"She has a firm grasp of the issues facing the Duke community and an ability to work with a broad range of organizations and administrators to make sure that she provides solutions, instead of just stating problems," Parker said.
Kuo, a freshman legislator who also serves on the Community Interaction Committee, said she would like to use the position to address many of the same issues as Ahmad.
She has been involved in many different aspects of the community and does not see her limited time at Duke as a shortcoming.
"Finding the opportunity to interact with all sorts of different perspectives, added with my own, allows me to relate to the issues that affect Duke students here on campus," said Kuo, who is on the Bassett House Council and is a manager at Trinity Cafe.
Senior Carrie Johnson, vice president for community interaction, said Kuo has reached out to various groups on campus by participating in sophomore Mary Adkins' upcoming play on eating disorders and the Center for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Life's training for Students, Administrators and Faculty for Equality.
If elected, Kuo hopes to create a more comfortable environment for gay students.
As a member of the Asian Students Association, Kuo also wants to foster a relationship between the Asian community and the rest of campus. "You see Duke campus as pretty self-segregating and I'd like to, for example, break the barrier between the Asian table and the white table in the Marketplace."
She also plans to address campus safety.
"I think a lot stronger action needs to be taken. When it comes down to something actually happening, there could be a whole lot more done to make us really truly safe," she said.
Although neither candidate addressed the young trustee process as a priority, they said they would try to improve upon it after this year's selection, which was plagued by inconsistency and a bylaw violation. Kuo said she would focus her efforts on improving the bylaws' clarity, and Ahmad said she would focus on knowing her duties as chair of the Young Trustee Nominating Committee.
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