A new deal for Duke

This election year, Duke students had the privilege of being part of the political process in a battleground state. As the leaders of the Duke College Republicans and Duke Democrats, we came away impressed with Duke's capacity for political activism during campaign season. Now, the challenge is to sustain that interest. Whether or not that happens will depend on a dual commitment from the Duke administration and Duke student body to making political education for undergraduates a top priority.

As things stand, there is much work to do. No centralized source of funds currently exists for bringing political speakers to campus. Instead, disparate entities (political organizations, the Duke University Union, the Sanford Institute of Public Policy, etc.) work to bring speakers when they can afford to do so. But with current levels of funding, such programming is infrequent, difficult to organize and limited in scope.

Additionally, practically no support network exists for students pursuing summer opportunities in Washington, D.C. Duke seems to expect the Alumni Association to pick up the slack for organizing networking opportunities for students to meet and learn from political alumni, instead of making any investment of its own.

Harvard University's Institute of Politics provides a great model for Duke to replicate. The IOP hosts weekly "study groups" in which political professionals ("fellows") interact with and educate Harvard undergraduates on various areas of policy and politics. For example, study groups this semester featured former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and Romney media advisor Alex Castellanos, among others. The IOP also offers ample networking opportunities for its undergraduates during their summer stay in Washington. This is on top of the already extensive list of speakers that the IOP brings to its students every week.

Skeptics will note that Duke lacks the alumni base in politics possessed by universities such as Harvard and Yale, making these kinds of ventures more difficult. This is no excuse not to develop the relationships that do exist. In addition, by building connections with Duke parents involved in politics, Duke can broaden its networking base beyond the alumni community.

Moreover, Duke offers its own attractions to lure political professionals. N.C. presents fascinating dynamics in its local and state races, in addition to national contests. Furthermore, Duke is arguably the only top university that can claim to be in a battleground state.

The recently established Connect2Politics Initiative is a good start to reform efforts. Funds need to be committed to bring speakers in through a centralized entity that student organizations can work and collaborate with to encourage policy discourse on campus. Organizing social events between students and political alumni in D.C. would require just a minor investment but reap big rewards.

Duke can also develop links to the numerous local policy think tanks based in Raleigh, such as the John Locke Foundation and N.C. Policy Watch. Admissions recruitment can reach out to more politically-minded students. The more Duke puts into political programs here, the more politically-minded students will want to attend.