Currently chief of staff for Duke Student Government, sophomore Kushal Kadakia is running unopposed to be next year's DSG executive vice president.
In a recent vote, the DSG Senate voted to change the powers of this position, but voted down proposals to change its name. The EVP has the power to create ad-hoc legislative committees, enforce by-laws and provide information on the legality of legislation. The newly-defined EVP is expected to help execute his or her own policy agenda in coordination with the president and will no longer chair the Senate.
"I was really excited to run for student body vice president this year because of how the role has changed," Kadakia said. "The role is really more of an external role, it's really focused on policy development, and a lot of it is supposed to be connecting campus leaders to administrators."
Kadakia cited his efforts in coordinating DSG steering committees and working with current president Tara Bansal as preparation for the role.
He noted that he hopes DSG can become more connected to the student body this year, and that his biggest goal is to improve the organization's communication with students.
He also plans to institutionalize the new steering committees, which bring together students and one senior-level administrator each month to discuss various themes. Topics so far have included the underrepresentation of international students in Greek life and developing new programs for intellectual engagement.
"I think that's a way for us to tackle these big-level issues," Kadakia said.
Editor's note: This article was updated at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday to clarify the position of EVP.
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