Watching President Barack Obama's inauguration Jan. 20 was especially inspiring and rewarding to senior Sunny Kantha-after all, he worked at Obama's campaign headquarters last summer in Chicago.
That summer job and many other opportunities like it at Duke are some of the things Kantha, one of three finalists for the undergraduate Young Trustee position, said he is thankful for. He said he sees the Young Trustee position as a chance to be a spokesperson for the undergraduate experience.
"I realized early on that this University gave me opportunities I could have only dreamed of," Kantha said. "I want to use the skills I've acquired to give back to other Duke students."
Given the current economic downturn, Kantha said he believes that it will be important for the Young Trustee to understand how the University works, and to know how budget cuts in certain areas will affect students.
"A balance must be struck between capital projects and projects for students," Kantha said, adding that New Campus, renovations to the West Union Building and preservation of student social spaces will be key areas of focus in the coming years.
Kantha said he has poured his heart into the University over the past four years, especially through his roles in Duke Student Government, serving as vice president of the Athletics and Campus Services committee last year and as executive vice president of DSG this year.
It is through these experiences, he added, that he has gained not only familiarity with Duke, but also built meaningful relationships with administrators- something he believes will be helpful when lobbying for undergraduate interests.
During Kantha's tenure in DSG, he has helped the carpooling initiative, the Wilson Recreation Center climbing wall and other projects come to fruition. Additionally, last year, Kantha had a seat on the Board of Trustee's Facilities and Environment committee as a nonvoting member in the plenary session, where he said he successfully advocated for more playing field space on Central. The experience taught him to how to get his thoughts through to the Board, he said. He added, however, that because he never attended a full Board meeting, he still has the outsider's perspective critical to the Young Trustee role.
Black Student Alliance president Brandon Roane, a senior, has known Kantha in both friendly and professional contexts in his workings with DSG.
"One of [Kantha's] biggest strengths is his down-to-earth nature," Roane said. "It's one of the things I noticed about him right away. There are no barriers when it comes to Sunny and the people he works with."
Roane added that students can rest assured that as Young Trustee, Kantha would represent the student opinion well.
"[Athletics and Campus Services] has been one of the more successful departments during my time working with DSG," Roane said. "Sunny received one of the highest reported approval ratings in DSG, which is evident in the work he did. He led his senate members very well."
In addition to Kantha's roles in DSG, he traveled to Kenya with DukeEngage funding in 2007 to do research for the Women's Institute for Secondary Education and Research, and has since served as vice president of WISER's microfinance committee. He has also volunteered by teaching English to Hispanic adults in Durham. Experiences like these, he said, are important to student growth at Duke.
"It is critical to fund programs fostering student interaction with the world," he said.
Kantha is a person who is always thinking ahead, said his academic adviser, Jay Hamilton, Charles S. Sydnor professor of public policy studies and professor of political science and economics.
"I've been struck by his ability to balance so many different activities at Duke while pushing himself in the classroom too," Hamilton said. "I think that would be helpful as a Young Trustee because it shows he values all the dimensions of Duke."
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