Two candidates have announced their campaigns for the presidency of Duke Student Government—juniors Keizra Mecklai and Tucker Albert.
The election will be held March 3, and the elected candidate will replace current DSG President Lavanya Sunder, a junior. In addition to the presidential race, the election will decide the positions of Executive Vice President and the Student Organization Funding Committee Chair.
Sophomores Shaker Samman and John Guarco are running for Executive Vice President.
Junior Nikhil Gavai and sophomores Sanford Morton and Apara Sivaraman are running for SOFC Chair. Gavai is currently the DSG Treasurer and SOFC's vice chair of auditing. Sivaraman is SOFC's vice chair of new student groups, and Morton is a SOFC member.
Currently, no constitutional or by-law amendments are on the ballot, but this could change if the DSG Senate approves amendments which would restructure the Senate.
Attorney General Maxime Fischer-Zernin, a senior, explained the process for those who want to run for these positions.
“By 6:00 P.M. today [Feb. 16], they were required to give me a petition with 100 names and NetIDs of people who support them,” Fischer-Zernin said. “Once you have 100 names either written down or taken electronically, you are registered as a candidate.”
The campaigns have already begun for several candidates, including the two presidential candidates, who have started spreading the word through Facebook and other social media platforms.
Fischer-Zernin explained that he will try to solve some problems in previous elections, including student awareness of the ballot, which is sent out via the Duke email service the day of the election.
“In order to reconcile that, I will personally be posting in the different year groups on Facebook, as well as throwing up a Yik-Yak telling people how to access the polls,” he said.
Albert currently serves as DSG's Vice President for Social Culture. His campaign will center on increasing the sense of community on campus and improving campus safety, among other projects.
"I want to be president because I want to make a lasting impact on issues I feel strongly about. The last two years have seen a lot of great change—I bring the experience as well as the ideas," Albert said. "If you look at my track record on the committee, I think it speaks for itself. I want to bring my drive and passion for student issues to an office where I can make integrative change."
Albert's platform calls for initiatives such as increasing access to Prevent.Act.Challenge.Teach training—frequently referred to as PACT training, which educates bystanders on how to prevent sexual assault—and improving the police response time for the blue light system.
The housing system will be another area of focus for Albert. He hopes to bolster the independent house model by helping to create "super blocks," which would allow larger groups of students to block together and hopefully form stronger independent houses.
Mecklai, who is the current DSG Vice President for Equity and Outreach, plans on campaigning with a focus on the University’s sexual assault policy.
“As the Vice President of Equity and Outreach, somebody who’s literally spent this entire year trying to unpack what our sexual misconduct policy is, deliver it to students, work with faculty to make it make more sense, I think that when it comes to issues facing this campus in the year to come, I have enough of a hold on it to really be an intelligent and strong advocate for students in the best possible way,” she said.
Her platform against sexual misconduct includes clarifying and simplifying Duke's policy, in addition to increasing student awareness as to what that policy says about sexual relations.
Mecklai also hopes to work with administrators on housing guidelines, which she said are guided by the administration's attempt to bring the focus of social life back to campus. She added that she would also move to increase DSG transparency by getting house council presidents to rank DSG projects in order of preference.
Correction: A previous version of this article referred to Sanford Morton as a junior. He is a sophomore. The Chronicle regrets the error.
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