Members of recent Young Trustee Nominating Committees have said the selection of YT finalists is hampered by a limited applicant pool, conflicts of interest and inter-committee "power politics."

Meredith Ypma, a senior and chair emeritus of the Honor Council who served on the 2005 YTNC, went so far as to describe the conduct of last year's selection process as "unethical" and a "failure."

Many former committee members refused to comment, citing confidentiality clauses in the committee's bylaws. Several former members also said they see no serious structural problems with the committee.

"I can't conceive of any good strict set of rules that would best govern the process," said Kevin Parker, Trinity '05, former president of the Duke University Union and a 2005 YTNC member.

But others who served on the nominating committee said the loose nature of the YTNC's bylaws and the personal ambitions of some committee members have interfered with the fair conduct of the process.

Only 13 students applied this year-down from about 30 last year-and the majority of applicants had served on either the YTNC or InterCommunity Council, a group that includes leaders from Campus Council, Duke Student Government and other student organizations.

"It needs to become more transparent," junior Damjan DeNoble, former vice president of Campus Council and a member of the 2005 YTNC, said about the process. "It needs to become more open. It needs to be more advertised."

The position and committee

The Young Trustee is the most prestigious University position an undergraduate can attain. YTs serve on the Board of Trustees for three-year terms: The first year they act as non-voting observers, and for the remaining two years they are full-fledged trustees with voting rights.

The YTNC whittles down the field of candidates to eight semifinalists by evaluating each applicant's resume and written statement. After interviewing all eight semifinalists, the committee picks three finalists. The finalists speak before DSG committees and the Senate, and a joint DSG-YTNC body votes to select the Young Trustee.

The nominating committee is composed of members of ICC plus an additional DSG senator and chair of the Honor Council. The Chronicle's editor and the ICC Executive Secretary are council members but do not serve on the YTNC.

Because the ICC is composed of some of Duke's most ambitious students, former committee members often run for Young Trustee. When ICC members apply they are asked to appoint a surrogate to the nominating committee, typically the second in command of their organizations.

Candidates from ICC and YTNC are markedly more successful in the competition than other students.

This year, seven of eight YT semifinalists and all three finalists had served on one or both of the committees, the combined memberships of which represents about 0.4 percent of the undergraduate population.

The strong correlation between ICC/YTNC experience and success in the YT process leads some students to believe that applicants who have not served on either committee are unfairly handicapped.

One former nominating committee member noted that the process "has a lot of challenges to overcome for a candidate who isn't involved in one of the main organizations of the ICC."

Conflicts of interest

As the body selecting YT finalists, the ICC is a double-edged sword.

The council's members are reservoirs of institutional knowledge, and they are thus well-qualified to evaluate a candidate's credentials and savvy.

But they are also the students most likely to have personal connections with the candidates-or become candidates themselves. As a result, they are more likely to face a conflict of interest than the average Duke student would when selecting a YT.

"Everybody knows everybody, and if you don't know anybody you don't know what's going on [at Duke]," said one committee member who asked to remain anonymous. "If you're qualified then you have a conflict of interest."

The appointment of surrogates in the process can create potential conflicts of interest. The YTNC's bylaws read, "The choice of replacement must adhere to any replacement provisions in the organization's constitution. If there are no provisions, the replacement should be a logical choice given the organization's structure."

Because the meaning of "logical" is open for interpretation, the committee chair plays a large role in defining whether a surrogate is acceptable or not.

"I don't think that that can be tightened up," senior Logan Leinster, DSG vice president for community interaction and ICC chair, said of the bylaws. "We expect some honesty on the part of people who withdraw from the process and on the part of their replacements.... I'd like to think all the members are voting for the candidates based on their qualifications and not on either personal or organizational relationships."

When Interfraternity Council President Jay McKenna, a senior, decided to run for Young Trustee this year, it was his responsibility to pick a surrogate from his organization to serve on the YTNC. McKenna ended up skipping over the IFC's executive vice president and six vice presidents to choose senior Frank D'Angelo, the IFC Judicial Board Chair and his Sigma Nu pledge brother.

D'Angelo declined an interview, saying, "I have no comment across the board." McKenna explained his choice by noting that many of the other IFC officers had fraternity brothers who were other YT candidates.

"There was never a strict recommendation made to have a second in command," McKenna said. "I figured [D'Angelo] knew me the best."

D'Angelo was accepted as a substitute by the ICC and the DSG Judiciary. Leinster said D'Angelo participated in the process up until the final round, in which McKenna was cut. D'Angelo did not show up for the final vote.

"I can't speak for Frank," McKenna said of D'Angelo's absence. "I know he would have showed up if he could."

The chairs of the 2004 and 2005 YTNCs-Andrew Wisnewski, Trinity '05, and junior Joel Kliksberg, respectively-expressed surprise that D'Angelo was accepted as a replacement.

"I would still think that even if that scenario occurred, the other 14 to 15 people on the committee would be able to see the situation at hand and quell any blatant favoritism," Wisnewski wrote in an e-mail.

Kliksberg noted that last year he only permitted organizations to send their second in command as replacements.

Potential reforms

One proposal to make the process less insular is to advertise the Young Trustee position more aggressively.

Some ICC veterans said entrusting the council with advertising the competition is a mistake, since ICC members who consider applying may be hesitant to publicize the process and increase the number of competitors they face down the road. "The people who pick should not be the people who run," one former committee member said.

DeNoble said he wishes the nominating committee would advertise to and advance more applicants who do not fit in the ICC paradigm.

"Many times the people that are in the leadership positions aren't the most qualified to represent Duke as a whole," he said. "Why not have an athlete, or a member of Hoof N' Horn, more than just someone who is familiar with [Residence Life and Housing Services] or DSG issues?"

Leinster said the committee struggles with an advertising budget that "really only funds a Chronicle ad."

Alice Williamson, Trinity '05, served on the 2005 YTNC with DeNoble as the representative of the Community Service Center. "Getting the word out in the Chronicle with an ad or two is not enough," she wrote in an e-mail, noting that increased advertisement and education could attract more diverse applicants.

Lackluster ICC attendance also plagued this year's nominating committee. At Monday's ICC meeting, Leinster chastised the heads of ICC organizations for failing to send representatives to the nominating committee meetings.

She hinted that truant organizations could lose their spots on the council.

"There wasn't enough diversity represented, which isn't fair to the candidates," Leinster said. "I'm not going to terminate five or six memberships, but I'm really pissed."

She added that the number of representatives "just kept dwindling throughout the process" until the final vote, when she estimated only 10 of the original 20 committee members were in attendance to pick the 2006 Young Trustee.

After openly addressing attendance issues, the council turned to discuss potential revisions to the Young Trustee Nominating Committee bylaws. "The bylaws are abstract and all that," Leinster said. "We'll work on that."

The discussion of possible revisions to the YTNC bylaws was closed to the public.