For two years, Duke Student Government has been under the control of a handful of straight-'A' Angier B. Duke scholars.
Junior Jordan Giordano is ready to change all of that.
"We have a unique opportunity to go in a different direction next year," said Giordano, who is DSG's current executive vice president. "Two years of the exact same thing has put us on one track, and it's hard to veer off that track."
Chief among his laundry list of priorities is to fix the lack of collaboration between DSG's leaders and the Senate, as well as with other major student organizations.
His experience has made him confident in pursuing large-scale changes for DSG next year, such as developing a tax-deductible endowment for DSG.
Giordano is a double-major in economics and sociology and insists donors for the endowment can be found. He also wants to streamline DSG's ability to cosponsor programming initiatives and last-minute events, slashing the process from a few weeks to a matter of hours.
Temporary space for sororities and a tracking system for the buses are just two of his other plans.
A vice president for two years, Giordano is promoting his experience as evidence that he has the best chance to produce tangible changes.
"I love bylaws," Giordano said, only half jokingly.
His lack of "baggage," in his words, means Giordano can sit down with administrators to advocate for students. A memo he sent to top University officials was the main reason why Tailgate was preserved last fall semester, he said.
"There is a lot of flak from the leadership style of Elliott, and I think Paul has seen that flak," he said, referring to former and current DSG presidents Elliott Wolf and Paul Slattery, both seniors.
Giordano's commitment to campus life does not stop with student government. Next year, the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity member will serve as executive vice president of the Interfraternity Council.
Giordano said his main goal for IFC will be to bring a new fraternity to campus, and that he would represent all undergraduates as DSG president.
His close friend and colleague, junior Sunny Kantha, acknowledged that Giordano's IFC position presents a "bias," and that he will have to push extra hard to make sure that non-greeks are represented well.
"It's going to be easy for him to ignore all the non-greeks," said Kantha, the current vice president for athletics and campus services and sole executive vice president candidate. "But I've worked with Jordan since first semester of my freshman year, and he just shows a true dedication to DSG."
He has also been dedicated to his position on the First-Year Advisory Counselor Board and has been a student representative to two Board of Trustees committees.
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