The legacy of a former Young Trustee candidate lived on in Wednesday night’s Duke Student Government Senate meeting.
DSG President Tommy Hessel, a senior, walked senators through changes to the Young Trustee nominating process, which were developed by DSG, previous Young Trustees and the Duke Office of the Secretary to the Board of Trustees.
Previously, undergraduate finalists were selected by the Young Trustee Nominating Committee (YTNC), which was made up of undergraduate students. The finalists would then campaign in an election cycle facilitated by DSG.
The process is now led by the Office of the Secretary and the chief of staff to Duke’s president. Instead of having all undergraduate students eligible to vote, there will be an open forum with the finalists and students, who will be able to submit feedback to the YTNC. The YTNC will recommend a Young Trustee, and President Vincent Price will approve the decision.
Hessel mentioned that the YTNC will abide by “stricter standards” this year, including bias and discrimination training and having to recuse themselves in situations where they’re friends with one of the candidates.
The changes arose due to issues such as candidates feeling drained during the months-long campaign cycle and creating a divisive environment among students.
Additionally, Hessel said the campaigning process does not align with the Young Trustee’s role as a University fiduciary.
“You’re being a young person in the room, not a representative for a constituency on campus,” Hessel said.
Last year’s Young Trustee election highlighted calls to change the selection process. Tim Skapek, Trinity ‘20 and a 2020 Young Trustee finalist, said in a speech to DSG that “this is a political process.”
“It’s become a political process for a strictly nonpolitical position,” Skapek said.
Hessel also referenced an opinion piece by junior Ari Drabu that called for the nomination process to be less of a “popularity” contest.
In other business
An extended hours pilot program at the Brodhead Center—where Farmstead, Sprout and Ginger & Soy will be open until 9 p.m. until Feb. 7—has launched, but the program will only continue if Duke Dining feels there is enough traction.
Additionally, the Duke Marriage Pact—an online,
algorithmically driven matchmaking questionnaire—closes Monday. Junior Shrey Majmudar, DSG vice president of academic affairs, noted that there is a gender deficit, with around 350 more female-identifying students having completed the survey than male-identifying.
Members of the executive board gave updates on their latest work. DSG President Tommy Hessel, a senior, has been trying to “increase communication around the president’s office” and moderated a leadership conversation with Price on Tuesday.
Leaders of various Senate caucuses gave updates on their recent work. The Asian/Asian American Pacific Islander and LGBTQIA+ Caucuses are having discussions about dissolving due to overlapping work with other groups and potentially not being productive. The Disability Caucus, led by sophomore Swetha Rajagopal, is working to turn on captions for Zoom recordings for hard-of-hearing and deaf students.
Sophomore Drew Flanagan, chair of the Student Organization Finance Committee, introduced two pieces of SOFC-recommended legislation for the senators to vote on. The Senate recognized Duke Remote Area Medical, a nonprofit that provides medical and dental popup clinics in underserved communities, as a new student group. They also funded TedxDuke $2,000 for an upcoming virtual event.
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Leah Boyd is a Pratt senior and a social chair of The Chronicle's 118th volume. She was previously editor-in-chief for Volume 117.