Sophomore Brady Beecham was elected Wednesday night to serve as president of the Duke University Union for the 2000-2001 school year. The Union, Duke's largest programming body, supervises 10 committees, including those that oversee WXDU, Broadway at Duke, Cable 13 and Major Attractions.
"I think that Brady is an excellent choice for the Union," said sophomore Zach Robertson, chair of the Broadway at Duke committee. "She is a very outgoing and committed person. She is experienced in what the Union needs: contacts with administrators and student groups.... And she has the talent to reach these people."
Beecham said one of her top priorities will be to increase communication between the president and the 10 committee chairs and to articulate their needs and ideas to the administration.
In only her second year participating in Union activities, Beecham has worked with On Stage and Broadway at Duke and currently is being trained as a disc jockey for WXDU.
As president, Beecham must transition into a more administrative role, which includes the task of managing all the Union committees, working on several more and serving as a liaison to the administration.
"A lot of times it is hard from a committee perspective to know the big picture," said senior Pam Wells, the current Union president. "[Brady] had done a lot of research and everyone was really impressed about the knowledge [of the organization] she had."
Unlike past Union presidents, Beecham will serve during her junior year-a factor which was discussed throughout the interview process. However, Wells and On Stage committee chair Matt Lipsky said this could bring continuity to the organization, as Beecham likely will serve some role within the Union her senior year.
"The learning curve is always high, and maybe more so [for Brady] than with past presidents.... But there is no question that she will do a wonderful job next year," said Wells.
Another big challenge Beecham will face is getting the Union an edge in administrative conversations about upcoming Bryan Center renovations-a task which several Union executives say is a lot harder than it sounds.
But Beecham is optimistic about the possibility. "[The Union] can help make a place currently used for mail and McDonald's into a true student center."
Instead of waiting for administrators to approach the Union, Beecham promised she would be proactive in seeking ways to become involved.
Beecham mentioned several other ideas that interest her, including increasing graduate student and freshman participation, adding more programming on East Campus and working with the administration to aid WXDU in its efforts to be heard on campus. "It is possible to have sun and Union programming!" said Beecham, referring to the fact that the station is barely audible on West Campus, except on cloudy days.
Both Wells and Lipsky, who served on the council that selected Beecham, said the new president also must consider lobbying to obtain a larger budget from the University. Last fall, when administrators handed over more than $50,000 to the Alcohol Task Force to provide nonalcoholic programming, many Union officers felt snubbed for not being included in that effort.
Beecham said she would consult the Union's Program Council before asking for monetary increases.
Although all selection information is kept confidential, the Union raised questions about the competitiveness of the process when it extended the deadline for presidential candidates. But senior Nicole Hess, executive vice president of the Union, attributed this to the deadline itself, which came just 10 days into the spring semester. Hess added that the deadline has been extended several times in the past.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.