Senior Ben Abram stepped into the role of undergraduate Young Trustee at the Duke Student Government meeting Wednesday night.
Abram, who was selected over fellow seniors David Snider, Chrissie Gorman and Jimmy Soni, will serve a three-year term as a member of the University's Board of Trustees, earning voting rights for the last two years.
"I'm truly excited to be able to serve Duke in this way," he said following his win.
Abram, senior class president of the Pratt School of Engineering and an active member of Duke Conversations, said his many campus activities have helped prepare him for the position.
Abram cited his double major in public policy and civil and environmental engineering as an asset in taking part in a broad spectrum of the Duke experience.
"What Pratt has given me is the knowledge of what it's like to be in one school and take classes in another," he said.
He added that some of his favorite experiences at Duke included his job as a residence assistant in Alspaugh Dormitory and a public policy teaching assistant, because he enjoyed interacting with younger, incoming students.
Abram also emphasized the importance of improving traditions at Duke and highlighted the mentorship component of Duke's current strategic plan, "Making a Difference."
"I'm really excited the Board of Trustees chose that as a focus," he said.
Each of the four candidates was allotted 10 minutes to give a short speech and answer questions. Only 10 members each of DSG and the InterCommunity Council were allowed to vote.
Abram won the majority of the votes and was proclaimed the new Young Trustee amid applause and congratulations.
Sophomore Jordan Giordano, chair of the nominating committee and DSG vice president for community interaction, said the process went smoothly this year, despite the departure from the typical number of three finalists.
"The process went almost impeccably-there were no major issues throughout the entire thing," Giordano said.
"The candidates were excellent," he added. "Everyone said to me in the subcommittees of DSG and ICC, 'These candidates are so much better than we've seen in previous years, they're all so strong, I don't know who I'm going to choose.'"
DSG President Elliott Wolf, a junior, said the implementation of new bylaws adequately addressed concerns that past selections were marred by unfairness and cronyism.
"Jordan did an incredible job coordinating everyone, and we had significant participation from DSG and ICC," Wolf said. "All of the candidates would have done an amazing job in the position, and I'm very satisfied we've come to a conclusion."
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