Duke Student Government executive vice presidential candidate Jason Joannou withdrew from consideration Thursday night, leaving junior Justin Ford as the sole candidate in the race.
Joannou, a junior, could not be reached for comment, but DSG Attorney-General Elizabeth Kreul-Starr confirmed that he had dropped out of the election.
"I'm excited that I don't have to campaign anymore," Ford said. "I think he went through a lot of soul searching, and I can't second-guess the decision he made, so I wish him the best."
A public policy and economics double-major, Ford served as a DSG legislator his freshman year and as a member of the Student Organization Finance Committee during his sophomore year. In fall 2001, he served as CEO of Devil's Delivery Service, Inc.
As executive vice president, Ford would be responsible for running DSG meetings, which requires extensive knowledge of the bylaws, and for motivating legislators to complete their legislator individual projects.
"I think [the LIP program] works as well as its administration, and since all LIPs have to be approved, the strength of the program lies in the strength of the approvals," Ford said. "I'd make sure projects that are approved are good projects for legislators to be doing."
Ford said that, although he does not know the rules of order extensively, he will work to acquire an intimate knowledge this year and over the summer.
"My role is to make sure that the Legislature and the requisite committees and DSG as an organization is run as efficiently as possible. I see my role as being a facilitator," Ford said.
Ford said he would likely advocate the weekly meetings current DSG President C.J. Walsh began this year, given the amount of items on each agenda. In previous years, the Legislature met on a bi-weekly basis.
John Njoku, a junior and current DSG treasurer, worked with Ford as a member of SOFC last year.
"Justin has a strong and assertive personality that would be great for the executive vice president position. Furthermore, his experience within the DSG infrastructure should enhance his success," Njoku said.
To make the organization more efficient, Ford said he hopes to examine the bylaws closely at the end of the year to streamline some processes.
Although he said he has no major changes planned, he said he would like to explore the idea of basing legislative elections on residential location, making legislators more accountable to their constituents. And he also hopes that more proposals will be considered by individual committees before moving to debate and a vote by the entire Legislature.
In addition, Ford said the current conflict between DSG and Campus Council should be resolved efficiently.
Although he said he is unsure whether the two should be autonomous, he said student leaders should define their respective roles.
"I will work towards collaboration with Campus Council so that we don't step on each other's toes," he said.
Although Ford will not have a policy-making role, he said he would speak out on issues he feels strongly about. For example, he said he is concerned that the recent plan for a residential smoking ban violates students freedoms and that greek life will become less prominent in the coming years.
Ambika Kumar contributed to this story.
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