- One goal for the year involves establishing a wall in the new West Union building to be dedicated to student art.
- Another goal is to create a Duke Encyclopedia aggregating information about various facets of student life.
- Individual Vice Presidents presented their goals for their committees this year.
In a short meeting, Duke Student Government confirmed this year’s Executive Agenda.
President Lavanya Sunder, a junior, and each of the seven committee vice presidents presented their objectives for the year. Goals included everything from the creation of an LGBTQ Focus group to DevilsGate expansion, and the agenda was unanimously approved by the Senate.
Sunder’s goals included devoting a wall in the West Union to student art upon the building's completion in 2016. The wall would feature art created by interdisciplinary student groups and would incorporate themes present throughout the University.
“It’s going to connect the West Campus Union to the current class, which I think is really important to give the the chance to leave their legacy and get involved with this new building. It’s also going to encourage interdisciplinary arts on campus, which is an initiative that the administration has been working really hard on,” Sunder said in an interview following the meeting. “I’m a big advocate of student input, and I think it would be incredible to have student input in a visual manner.”
Sunder also proposed the creation of a “Duke Encyclopedia,” which would include information about the University and its many programs and student groups in one centralized location.
“I feel like I have a good source of knowledge of what goes on around campus, but I can’t imagine having any of this knowledge coming in as a first-year. There are so many things that you only hear about by virtue of knowing friends in those programs,” she said. “It’s to level the playing field, and I think information does that in an incredible way.”
In addition to Sunder’s ideas, the committee vice presidents presented their goals for the year. Vice President for Academic Affairs Ray Li, a senior, proposed the creation of a new LGBTQ Focus program for first-year students, along with the reworking of the summer reading program to include more than a simple reading component.
Vice President for Durham and Regional Affairs David Robertson, a senior, explained that his committee aims to continue working with the Duke Political Union and the North Carolina Public Interest Research Group to increase political participation through voting and awareness, as well as working on the rebranding of Durham for Duke students to increase the city's accessibility.
The agenda described by Vice President for Equity and Outreach Keizra Mecklai, a junior, include Greek Ally Week, a mental awareness week, medical leave reform and an information sheet about Counseling and Psychological Services and sexual misconduct policy. She also expressed support for the creation of an LGBTQ Focus program.
Vice President for Facilities and Environment Ellie Schaack, a senior, said that her goals are to minimize construction impact around campus for current students while also raising Duke’s sustainability, improving residential facilities and increasing disability access around the University.
Vice President for Social Culture Tucker Albert, a junior, said he wants to expand DevilsGate to foster student community and to increase Prevent. Act. Challenge. Teach. training on campus to prevent gender violence.
Finally, Vice President for Services Billy Silk, a sophomore, described several goals for campus dining. His committee aims to increase healthy dining options and late-night options, along with evaluating the freshman meal plan to make sure that students on financial aid can add food points to purchase meals on West Campus. The creation of an advisory committee to assist Student Health was also proposed, as was a plan to increase emergency contraceptive access on weekends.
Finally, Student Organization Finance Committee chair Davis Treybig, a junior, said that SOFC would audit the DSG budget for the first time and would continue to analyze student group funding data, particularly with the help of the newly created Duke Student Government Research Institute.
The DSG cabinet was also present at the meeting for the monthly cabinet question session. Chief of Staff Michael Washington, a senior, said that he is working on a guide for seniors, similar to the Blue Book that incoming first-years receive to help them through their first year at Duke, and Policy Advisor Derek Rhodes—also a senior—said that he is working on a transportation program similar to Uber exclusively for Duke students. Director of LGBTQ Affairs and Outreach Daniel Kort, a senior, said that he is working on a lecture series on subjects topical to the LGBTQ community at Duke.
In other business:
Senior Cynthia Wang was selected to be the Senate Judiciary Committee Chair.
Funding for the Korean Undergraduate Students Association was passed. Approximately $2,000 was allocated to the group for the presentation of a documentary about sex-trafficking in Seoul.
The resolution concerning the first topics of study for the DSGRU was tabled until next week after the inaugural groups of investigators are chosen.
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