2 | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 2013
THE CHRONICLE
DSG vice presidential candidates launch campaigns by Amy Cheng THE CHRONICLE
Thirteen students are running for Duke Student Government vice president positions. The vice presidents for the seven DSG committees—Durham and regional affairs, equity and outreach, facilities and the environment, residential life, social culture and services—will be decided in the April 11 election. The four contested positions are vice president for social culture, vice president for residential life, vice president for equity and outreach and vice president for academic affairs. Two candidates, juniors Caroline Hall and Jacob Tobia, are running for the equity and outreach position. As former DSG senator for student life, co-director for gender relations in the cabinet and an intern at the Women’s Center for gender equity and leadership, Hall said she has a background in gender issues. Her goal is to change the social culture on campus and the way gender violence issues are viewed, mainly through the Prevent Act Challenge Teach bystander intervention training program, she added. After speaking to numerous DSG senators, Hall said she wants to make equity and outreach an “actionary committee.”
Now, she noted, the committee is often perceived as reacting to issues after they happen, as opposed to anticipating problems and implementing solutions before problems occur. Tobia, a current DSG senator for residential life and former director for LGBTQ policy and affairs in the cabinet, said he wants to provide minority students a space to speak with a unified voice and to encourage greater cooperation among different communities composed of minority students. “When any individuals within our community feel excluded or marginalized, we all lose out,” Tobia wrote in an email Tuesday. “For me, that’s what the equity and outreach position is all about—ensuring that DSG reaches out to those communities and works to make Duke a more inclusive space.” His main vision is to establish a new campus body called the Equity Council, which will be composed of leaders from groups that represent historically marginalized communities, he said. Such groups would include the Black Student Alliance, Asian Students Association, Blue Devils United, Duke Disability Alliance, Diya and Mi Gente. Freshman Prashanth Ciryam, SEE DSG ON PAGE 6
DSG vice presidential candidates Durham and Regional Affairs
Social Culture
Banks Anderson Adesuwa GiwaOsagie
Derek Rhodes
Fedja Pavlovic
Lavanya Sunder
Jacob Zionce
Academic Affairs
Prashanth Ciryam
Bryan Dinner
Equity and Outreach
Services
Residential Life
Leilani Doktor
Jacob Tobia
Caroline Hall
Facilities and Environment
Ray Li
James Kennedy
CHRONICLE GRAPHIC BY PHILIP CATTERALL
Thirteen students are competing for various vice presidential seats in Duke Student Government. The student body-wide election will take place April 11.
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