Senior Kaveh Danesh emphasizes an interdisciplinary and international Duke as he campaigns for Young Trustee.
For the past two years, Danesh has served as Duke Student Government vice president for academic affairs and sat on the Academic Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees. A math major with minors in English, philosophy, Chinese, chemistry and neuroscience, Danesh noted that he is passionate about the different avenues of learning that Duke has to offer. Through his positions and classes, Danesh has established connections with administrators all over the University.
“It’s going to take the eye of an undergraduate who understands the complex networks of the culture that exists on our campus and who knows how to relay that undergraduate experience to the Board,” Danesh said.
But Danesh’s decision to run for Young Trustee began not with his major leadership roles but with less prominent experiences. Picking up trash as a line monitor at basketball games, serving on the First-Year Advisory Counselor board and playing pickup games of basketball—these moments challenged him to understand Duke in a deeper sense, he said.
“These ground-up experiences made me think about Duke’s identity, and at the same time, made me very passionate about the University as a whole,” he said. “They made me want to go further, get back to the University and pursue different leadership opportunities.”
While serving on DSG, Danesh created three committees that focus on bridging the gap between students and faculty. The best way for the University to move forward is by having students and faculty come together and bounce ideas off of each other, he said.
“I don’t see the academic and cultural as disjointed,” Danesh said. “My vision is for them to be one in the same.”
While sitting on the Board of Trustees committee, Danesh stresses the need for students to connect all of their experiences at Duke—including experiences abroad—to create a coherent story. He presented to the Board his idea of merging the curricular and the co-curricular by further integrating programs, such as DukeEngage, into academics.
“We need to tie in our international and interdisciplinary ventures into our curriculum,” he said.
Danesh has worked with faculty and administrators to create innovative systems that foster an interdisciplinary learning environment. This past summer, he collaborated with Steve Nowicki, dean and vice provost for undergraduate education, on developing online course evaluations that will be used starting this Fall.
“Kaveh really cares about education, and he really cares about Duke, and this [project] is a place where those two things that he really cares about have come together completely,” Nowicki said. “Kaveh is smart, goal directed and a real collaborator.”
After working alongside administrators for projects both in and outside of DSG, Danesh has developed an understanding of how the University works and recognizes the subtle differences between all the roles that different administrators play, said Lee Baker, dean of academic affairs for Trinity College of Arts & Sciences and associate vice provost for undergraduate education.
“He is an experienced leader and has experience working with the leadership of Duke,” Baker said. “We know him, and we trust him.”
Danesh said he views the University as a place of teaching and learning, rather than a place where money is crucial to economic growth. To compensate for his self-proclaimed idealism, he added that he actively works to understand the fiscal aspects of Duke by seeking the help of administrators.
“I watch how they craft issues, think through things and frame them—and [watching them] has started to give me that same eye,” Danesh said. “It’s opened my eyes to how important money is to the management of the school.”
Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that Danesh is an English and philosophy double major. In fact, Danesh is a math major with minors in English, philosophy, Chinese, chemistry and neuroscience. The Chronicle regrets the error.
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