Junior Avery Boltwood, the sole candidate running for executive vice president of Duke Student Government, wants to make students better informed of DSG's role and the resources that it offers.
By focusing on individual students rather than specific organizations, Boltwood aims for every student to know what DSG does and how to contact DSG officials if the need arises. Boltwood noted the importance of allocating resources for students in independent houses since they believe students should not have to be part of a larger organization in order to have their voices heard.
“I have overarching views of how DSG can be improved that aren’t just confined to committees and projects," Boltwood said. "The main thing is that I want to create more points of contact for students.”
Boltwood expressed support for all three candidates running for DSG president, and is confident that all of the presidential candidates will support their idea for DSG officials to be “direct points of contact."
Unlike the role of DSG president, Boltwood noted that the position of EVP is not as strictly defined, so it can be re-invented so that the role to be more of a direct point of contact for students.
“If the president is the administrative person, I want to make the EVP the outward-facing person," Boltwood said.
Boltwood thus proposed a systematic approach—which could entail casual information sessions, panels and forums—to inform the student body about the role of DSG and how to access the resources that DSG has to offer.
“I want to think about how I can set up the system so that it generally does better, rather than a one-time thing I can do, put on my resume, then graduate," Boltwood said.
Georg Vanberg, professor of political science and chair of the department, has known Boltwood for three years, ever since Boltwood participated in the Visions of Freedom Focus Cluster. Vanberg described Boltwood as someone who is thoughtful and committed.
“I’m very glad that Avery is running [for EVP],” Vanberg said. “It is important to have a voice that can advocate on behalf of all students. Avery really wants to listen to what other people have to offer.”
Boltwood is currently the president pro tempore of the DSG Senate and has previously served in a number of other positions, such as chair of Senate Judiciary Committee.
“Running the Senate as [president] pro tempore and being a member of the DSG executive board gave me a view of what could be done and what needed to be done," Boltwood said. "I want us to look at what we actually are, what we’re actually doing and how we can refocus that.”
Junior Cade McCurdy, who also participated in the Visions of Freedom Focus Cluster, has been friends with Boltwood since the beginning of their first year. He described the EVP candidate as dedicated and passionate, and said that he thinks Boltwood will be a great fit for the position.
“Avery will fight for the students," McCurdy said.
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