Three students will compete next week for the position of Duke Student Government president.
Juniors Chris Brown, Alex Swain and Strat Waldt are running to succeed senior Pete Schork as DSG president. Sophomore Patrick Oathout, senator for athletics, services and the environment, is running unopposed for executive vice president, the position currently held by junior Gurdane Bhutani. The election is April 12.
The remainder of the DSG executive board, which includes the DSG committee vice presidents, will be elected April 23. These elections have historically coincided with the presidential election but were postponed this year because of an atypically low number of candidates, Schork said.
As for the presidential race, Schork said he is pleased with the three candidates, noting their wide range of perspectives and experiences.
Brown, who currently serves as DSG’s external chief of staff, said he is running for the position of president because he wants to make the Duke experience the best it can be.
“I’m running for president because I love this place, I love Duke,” Brown said. “I have the leadership, experience and passion to make a difference for Duke next year.”
In the last year, Brown has worked to finish bike lane renovations, which led to national recognition for Duke as a bicycle-friendly campus. He also worked on developing Tailgate’s replacement.
Brown is well-connected with administrators and has utilized his relationships to deliver on projects for students, Schork said.
Swain, who currently serves as vice president for Durham and regional affairs, said the DSG president needs to be an advocate who engages the student body with decision making.
“I’ve loved all the experiences I’ve had here, but I don’t necessarily like the relationship between DSG and the student body,” Swain said. “We can engage more with students.”
Swain said her biggest accomplishment in the past year was creating a petition that collected more than 1,300 signatures in support of an on-campus early voting site for the May primary. She has also helped facilitate rides to municipal election polls and serves as a co-chair of the House Model Year Two and Beyond committee.
Swain is one of the most dedicated and organized members of the executive board, Schork said, adding that she has a strong record of student advocacy.
Waldt, who currently serves as a senator for residential life and dining, said he has spent the past year developing the relationships and experiences to be a successful DSG president.
“I want to improve this school for students,” Waldt said. “I want to lead this school, knowing that it’s been better having done that.”
Waldt has worked throughout the past year on rewriting housing bylaws and making them more lenient to student groups. He also served as DSG director of student outreach during the 2010-2011 academic year.
Schork said Waldt thinks critically about how DSG can improve—a quality necessary for a successful DSG president.
Oathout, who currently serves as a senator for athletics, services and the environment, is the only candidate running for executive vice president. He said he is running for the position, which he ran for last year, because it will be a great way to give back to Duke.
“I was very rules-focused last year,” Oathout said. “In having this additional year, you can see how I’ve grown. I’ve served on [a committee of] the Board of Trustees, interacted with administrators and expanded student services. This additional year has given me more experience and has changed the way I view the EVP role.”
Schork said he is certain that Oathout will succeed as executive vice president, which is a position that Schork held as a junior.
“Patrick is a phenomenal innovator and organizer,” Schork said. “He will do a great job managing DSG’s internal workings through this organizational structure shift into next year. He will also help all of DSG do a better job of executing on our vision.”
Candidates identified the implementation of next year’s house model and the future West Union Building renovations as the top issues that they would most likely deal with if elected DSG president.
“I’d like to see DSG take on more initiatives to bolster our sense of community on campus,” Schork said. “Whether this means advocating for our new tailgating plan, helping refine the house model, coordinating student input on the West Union Building or critiquing enforcement of party policies, I think DSG can and should work toward a cohesive vision of community building.”
The Senate will be elected in conjunction with the vice presidents of DSG committees April 23. The postponement of the committee vice presidents election is due to a low number of candidates and a need for more time to explain the new committee structure to potential candidates, Schork said.
“It indicated to us that we needed to better publicize the deadline and also better explain our new structure to the public,” Schork said. “We’re in the process of doing that in advance of the deadline.”
The new committee structure was approved March 22. Under the new structure, there are seven DSG committees: facilities and the environment; social culture; residential life; services; equity and identity affairs; academic affairs; and Durham and regional affairs. In the old structure, there were only five committees. The reorganization is meant to better centralize relevant issues and areas of the student experience.
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