DSG President Keizra Mecklai reflects on year’s progress

Mecklai's successor will be elected Wednesday

<p>DSG President Keizra Mecklai noted that freshmen senators have been a bright spot for the organization this year.</p>

DSG President Keizra Mecklai noted that freshmen senators have been a bright spot for the organization this year.

With the election of a new Duke Student Government president Wednesday, The Chronicle’s Rachel Sereix spoke with current president Keizra Mecklai to discuss her time in office.

The Chronicle: Was the presidency what you expected it to be?

Keizra Mecklai: One of the things that I learned this year is that little things you want to accomplish are definitely possible, but only if you work together. The teamwork on the executive board is essential. Being president is about helping to inspire and convince people to work harder, and this is only possible when you work with your senators and executive board. Working as a unit is what helped us achieve the most.

TC: Which of your campaign promises have you followed through on, and what difficulties have you encountered in actually fulfilling those promises?

KM: One of the ones that I worked on a lot is creating a forum called Fix My Duke, which was executed in conjunction with junior Tanner Lockhead, vice president of durham and regional affairs. In the Fall, we brought in all the House Council presidents—first years and upperclassmen—and then we compiled all the projects that the VPs planned to work on and had the students vote on what they were most interested in seeing happen. We now have the vice presidents look back at those results to see what students care about. A great example of that is when the Vice President of Residential Life started working on the mold problem on Central because a student brought it up at this forum. Last year, the 30-10 housing proposal caused a lot of drama. I worked with the junior George Mellgard, vice president for residential life, and Dean for Residential Life Joe Gonzalez to create an alternative solution so that groups could keep their houses without requiring seniors to live in section.

TC: What changes have you seen in student government between this year and last year?

KM: There are a couple of changes. The first-years in DSG are unbelievably engaged, and it is incredible. We now think twice before we pass something unanimously because the first-years have been asking a lot of questions. They have also had us review the internal DSG structure. I have also made sure that the executive board is a hardworking and cohesive unit so that they can impact the change that they want to. For the first time this year, the executive board has gone on two retreats to discuss their role in DSG and has worked on getting feedback from their committees. They were also required to sit down and make a poster of all the things that they have accomplished. This inspires senators to work harder and realize that it’s not that we haven’t accomplished things, it’s that we are poor at communicating them to the student body.

TC: What campus events have been most difficult for your administration to deal with during your time as president?

KM: Right after I got elected, the noose was hung. This was such a tragic, scary and emotionally charged time. I had to sit down and think about whether or not DSG did anything to promote racial insensitivity and create a system where a racist incident like this could occur. I had to think about the shortcomings of an organization for which I hadn’t yet had the opportunity to fix. I worked with junior Ilana Weisman, vice president of equity and outreach, to discuss ways to communicate better with minority groups on campus and preemptively start conversations that promote inclusivity and determine how we could hold ourselves more accountable to a system that allows for racial inequality.

TC: If you could go back and be president again, what would you do differently?

KM: I would try to work on the way I campaigned. One of the things that I am frustrated with is that there is a weird race to the bottom where every candidate feels that they have to have a long list of things they want to accomplish. The presidents have agency to inspire their vice presidents to make meaningful change, but it is not the job of the president to do everything and work on every project, and it is facetious to imply otherwise, but that’s what campaigns demand. One of the biggest things you need is to have a good relationship with administrators. You need to be able to think on your feet and reflect the sentiments of undergraduates, because the Duke leadership will depend on you for that. To be an incredible president, you have to be able to inspire your VPs to make the change you want to see.

TC: What do you want your successor to know about the DSG presidency and what do you want to see them work on?

KM: I would love to see them work to not base their self-worth and success in the position on their list of accomplishments. I think that motivating a VP and seeing them accomplish a task should be the most rewarding experience. It makes an individual less effective individual to consume themselves with just having their names on things. Motivating others to succeed and not just focus on their own success is important.

TC: We saw that you endorsed Tara Bansal publicly—is that normal for a current president to endorse a candidate?

KM: The DSG executive board had a long discussion on the matter. There has been precedent where the DSG president endorses a candidate. I made it clear in my post that it is my opinion and not DSG as a whole endorsing. Each DSG executive member voted as to whether or not the DSG president should be able to endorse a candidate, and we held a two hour long discussion on the question. They voted for me to have agency to endorse if I chose to. My biggest problem with the university-wide sentiment that the president can’t endorse someone is that you are silencing the one person that knows what the role entails and the type of person that will thrive in that role.

TC: What made you most proud during your tenure as president?

KM: The little moments when I felt I had agency to make change on things I was concerned about in a timely manner were incredible. The bus routes changed during summer 2015 so that there wasn’t a connection between East and Central during the day. It was incredible that less than a week after [Chief of Staff] Annie Adair discovered that change, we were sitting with Parking and Transportation drawing out new bus routes. It is an incredible responsibility to represent the universal student opinion, and I have done everything possible to not take that responsibility lightly.

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