Evans seeks to improve graduate student unity

Will Evans is a second-year master’s candidate in Slavic and Eastern European and Eurasian studies.
Will Evans is a second-year master’s candidate in Slavic and Eastern European and Eurasian studies.

Although it is only his second year on campus, Will Evans wants to restore the University’s commitment to academic integrity and liberal arts education if elected graduate Young Trustee.

Evans, a second-year master’s candidate in Slavic and Eastern European and Eurasian studies with a focus on contemporary Russia, said problems in the graduate and professional schools could best be addressed through a focus on interdisciplinary relationships among graduates and between undergraduates, as well as by improving career and alumni resources.

“We need to re-evaluate the relationship the school has to its graduate students,” he said. “Graduate students are a majority on campus now, and there are still some things to be done to make sure the needs of graduates are met the same way we approach the needs of undergraduates.”

Since arriving at Duke in 2010, Evans has worked as the graduate student representative for the Duke Alumni Association, the Council for the Arts, the Parking and Transportation Board and the Library Graduate Student Council. Evans is also a member of the Duke Cycling Club.

Evans said his humanities background gives him the skills to approach problems from a broad perspective and work within other people’s expectations—an attribute he said differentiates him from his opponents.

He works with Daniel Griffin, a doctoral candidate in classical studies, on the alumni association board. Griffin said Evans’ approachability compels others to take his ideas seriously.

“[Evans] is a very smart guy,” he said. “He’s very good at listening to people, and he’s very good at being able to convey multiple viewpoints and come out with either a compromise or a best solution to a problem.”

Annual Fund Coordinator Kurt Cumiskey said Evans’ commitment to the University library system shows his understanding of Duke’s needs on a broader scale.

“People who meet [Evans] are immediately drawn to him,” he said. “He has such a great natural way about him.”

Evans is the only candidate for graduate Young Trustee to be enrolled in a two-year program. Although the other candidates have been on campus longer, Evans said this is not an obstacle. His experiences as a student in a two-year program will help him ensure that Duke’s graduate students in one and two-year programs feel integrated into the Duke community with their social and academic needs fully addressed.

“I find it really amazing how quickly [Evans] was able to become an integral part of the community,” Griffin said. “He just recently joined us but managed to become someone that is well-respected at both the graduate school level and the alumni level.”

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