556 Facebook friends at Duke and counting. Clearly, this achievement establishes senior Anthony Vitarelli as an influential campus leader—that, and the fact that he also happens to be one of this year’s final three Young Trustee nominees.
From the first days of his freshman year, Vitarelli established himself as a veritable force to be reckoned with. Starting off as 2001-2002 vice president of Aycock Dormitory, he has since reached lofty heights, including two-time Campus Council President, Truman Scholarship recipient and co-founder of the Duke University Greening Initiative. The New Jersey native has majors in both public policy and economics and hopes to spend a year abroad in Chile after graduating.
If chosen as the new Young Trustee, Vitarelli wants to set in motion a specific long-term planning process for Duke. Developing Central Campus as “an active university space for the next 50 years,” re-emphasizing Duke’s international studies program and promoting increased recruitment of international students are among his most pressing goals.
After completing a law degree at Yale University, he has his sights set on returning to his home state of New Jersey and eventually becoming attorney general.
With so many accomplishments and such a clear direction for his life, it would be easy to cast Vitarelli as a squeaky-clean overachiever, when in reality his interests are much broader. In addition to being a member of the Wayne Manor selective living group and the “Willy Wonka Cult” on thefacebook.com, he is passionate about Duke basketball as well.
“I think tenting is one of the most amazing experiences Duke has to offer.... Everyone should do it!” he said. “It was the most memorable experience of freshman year. There’s nothing like experiencing the UNC game after sleeping in the cold for a few months.”
Vitarelli’s fellow residents in Wayne Manor don’t hesitate to fill in the blanks in terms of his quirky personality. His, next-door neighbor, senior Jason Griffin, recalled one of what seem like thousands of stories about one of Duke’s most visible faces.
“Vitarelli was playing this ridiculous music in his room,” Griffin said. “I went over there to complain, and he reaches into this drawer. Then he gives me a double-handed handshake and slips me his Campus Council business card, saying ‘I appreciate your concern on this matter.’ And the thing was, it worked. He appeased me!”
Junior Wayne Manor member Donovan Bass corroborated on Vitarelli’s distinctive personality as well. “He’s a big Eagles fan—he has this weird homemade Donovan McNabb jersey,” Bass said. “He also uses words like ‘phenomenal’ and ‘tremendous’ all the time, instead of just ‘great.’”
Nonetheless, the overall consensus amongst the inhabitants of Wayne Manor seemed to be that Vitarelli is a “good guy” who deserves to be this year’s Young Trustee.
Despite his current dedication and love for the University, Duke was not always Vitarelli’s first choice. But he doesn’t hesitate to add that “once you step on this campus, it’s hard to go anywhere else.” In his mind, taking the initiative to go after what you really want is key to getting the most out of college.
“It’s all about making the effort to create fun social experiences,” he said. “I have a great group of friends who are interested in creating a fun time.”
In regard to the emotions that accompany this type of high-profile competition, Vitarelli said, “I still get excited at the prospect of sharing why I think Duke is so great and how I can make it better. It’s definitely nerve-racking, because the competition is exceptionally capable and qualified.”
Vitarelli is competing against fellow Trinity seniors Jonathan Bigelow and Andrew Wisnewski. On Feb. 16, the Young Trustee Nomination Committee will select one of them as the new trustee.
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