Duke Student Government adopted new procedures this week for student groups to endorse candidates for DSG Executive Board elections, which will take place March 31.
Under the revised guidelines, campus groups that want to formally endorse candidates for the six positions on the ballot will be required to tell DSG they are conducting an endorsement meeting, allow a member of the DSG Election Commission to attend the meeting and mandate that organization members can only vote for the endorsement if they hear all of the candidates speak. DSG will also ask each group to submit its endorsements to the Election Commission for certification before sending it to The Chronicle for publication.
In the past, groups endorsed candidates without a DSG member present and gave The Chronicle endorsement letters without DSG oversight.
DSG Attorney General Elizabeth Ladner, a senior, said the seven-member Election Commission voted to implement the changes because there was a need to streamline the endorsement process and remedy problems that do a disservice to candidates. Ladner said there have been instances of groups inviting only some candidates to endorsement meetings, not giving candidates adequate or equal time to talk or making endorsement decisions before meeting with the candidates.
“We’re trying to make sure that each group gives a fair hearing to each candidate so that they don’t come in with preconceived notions and run with that,” Ladner said.
The Election Commission members will make sure endorsing groups follow set time and voting guidelines in their meetings. After receiving the endorsement letters, the commission will certify only those from groups that meet the new requirements, tell the candidates decisions have been made and inform The Chronicle of whether an endorsement has been approved. Ladner said DSG will also ask The Chronicle to print acknowledgment of a letter’s certification.
“In the past, groups have sent their endorsements directly to The Chronicle, and the first DSG has known they have made a decision was when it was published,” she explained. “We want to know when they are releasing it so we can communicate: This is valid endorsement.”
Ladner said 15 major campus groups have been notified of the changes by e-mail. Ladner added that the commission “will not be sitting in on every meeting” with other organizations because “there are just too many groups on campus.” Candidates will be required to tell the commission who they have contacted, but only groups that request a formal endorsement process will receive DSG certification.
“Candidates are free to contact the smaller groups on their own, but since those are not going to be formal endorsements as the larger groups regularly are, we’re not regulating them as much,” Ladner said. “This has been in our bylaws for quite a while: If they want to do formal endorsements, they have to contact DSG.”
Ladner was quick to note that the guidelines are meant to keep DSG as “hands off as possible” in the endorsement process, even as they add an extra level of oversight to their interactions with endorsing groups.
“We are not dictating who they choose in the end. We are just making sure each candidate is heard fairly,” she said. “I don’t think it’s hindering their decision.... We are just being cognizant of what is occurring.”
Senior Pascale Thomas, president of Black Student Alliance, said she received an e-mail from Ladner announcing that changes had been made. The message, however, did not specify what the changes were. After learning of the guidelines, Thomas said she had not expected them to be so “stringent” and noted that they could “impose” on student groups who have set procedures for the endorsement process. She also expressed concern that time constraints associated with the requirements could discourage student groups—including BSA—from endorsing candidates.
“We might have to endorse through our listserv instead of in The Chronicle, which would be unfortunate,” Thomas said.
Nonetheless, Thomas said groups submitting their letters to DSG for formal approval “might be a good idea” if they have already agreed to and abided by the guidelines. “If you’re okay with these new DSG-enforced policies... then I don’t think you could have a problem with legitimizing the endorsement with a stamp of approval,” she said.
Junior Jay McKenna, president of the Interfraternity Council, also said he received Ladner’s e-mail about the changes but did not know the specifics of the new guidelines. After hearing about the procedures, McKenna said he generally sees the changes as “good” developments.
“It’s definitely a positive thing to give each person due time and make the system of elections more equitable,” he said.
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