Joshua Jean-Baptiste is not a man to be trifled with. At the height of his competitive weightlifting career in high school, he could bench-press 310 pounds, even while weighing a mere 169 pounds. But more recently, Jean-Baptiste has also flexed his muscle in the political realm.
Since arriving at the University in 1999, Jean-Baptiste has tackled several political positions, including Duke Student Government legislator, vice president of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and current DSG vice president for student affairs. He now hopes to claim one of the most influential student positions on campus--DSG president.
As vice president for student affairs, Jean-Baptiste has worked on such undergraduate issues as residential life and the campus social scene, and said he hopes to continue doing so as DSG president. With the addition of the West-Edens Link and the housing reorganization next year, for example, he said he worries that unforeseen problems may develop.
"You're going to have an additional 350 students on [West Campus]," said Jean-Baptiste. "Cultural dynamics on campus [will change], and... it will change student life as a whole. Being involved with DSG, you want to make sure that if there are problems, you want to approach them and solve them as soon as possible."
Jean-Baptiste said he is also concerned about the gradual shift of the social scene off campus, a trend he hopes to reverse in the long term. In the meantime, he has worked with administrators to institute a Friday and Saturday night bus service into Durham to prevent students from drunk driving.
"Josh seemed to be very in touch with students and he seemed to have strong feelings about what would and would not work," said Sue Wasiolek, assistant vice president for student affairs, who worked with Jean-Baptiste on the project.
In addition to the weekend bus service, Jean-Baptiste has been integral in bringing Duke's rivalry with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to the big screen at the Marketplace this year. He has also worked with the Duke University Union and administrators to bring pool tables to the Bryan Center and student bands to the Armadillo Grill.
As a DSG insider, Jean-Baptiste acknowledged that the organization's reputation has been tarnished in recent years. He said the young trustee process and the legislative and executive elections are three critical points where DSG has encountered difficulty.
"Since I've been involved [in DSG]," he said, "no president has been able to pass all three." Nonetheless, Jean-Baptiste said he is confident that his experience in the organization will enable him to run smooth elections.
Most students who have worked with Jean-Baptiste said his excellent leadership abilities will allow him to do just that.
"He is by far one of the most hard-working and committed people I have ever met in my life," said Jason Porter, current vice president of Alpha Phi Alpha.
DSG Residential Life Liaison Sean Young said Jean-Baptiste is very open to outside input, but is also willing to speak his mind when he disagrees.
Not every campus leader is as enthusiastic. Vik Devisetty, president of Campus Council, said he did not appreciate Jean-Baptiste's remark during a DSG meeting last week that Devisetty was on a "power trip."
"I think his personal attack on me speaks volumes about what kind of DSG president he would be," Devisetty said.
Jean-Baptiste said the remark was a "bad statement on [his] end" and that Devisetty has been a strong leader on campus this year.
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