Spanning three classes and presenting three distinctive plans for action, the 2007 candidates for Duke Student Government vice president of community interaction are about as diverse as the campus they hope to represent.
What junior Genevieve Cody, sophomore Brandon Roane and freshman Lee Strasburger share, however, is a desire to create a better Duke community and to improve Duke-Durham relations as chair of the InterCommunity Council.
Cody, who has served on DSG's community interaction committee for the past two years, said one of her goals is to make the University's diverse student body more cohesive.
"There is a lot of social segregation on campus," she said. "While people have a tendency to form cliques on campus-and that's not necessarily a bad thing-there needs to be more outreach between those groups."
Cody also said Duke needs to encourage professors to take greater initiative in getting to know their students. "I think a lot of the science majors and engineers are trying to get recommendations and having a really tough time because their classes have all been around 150 people or more," she said. "I know it sounds crazy, but I had a Chem 21 teacher who learned people's names-that was her goal, and it was great."
Cody said that her biggest challenge will be improving Duke-Durham relations, which she hopes to achieve by providing transportation from campus to downtown Durham and allowing students to use food points off campus.
"I think it's a shame that we can go to Duke and feel like we have never really been a part of Durham," she said. "That doesn't happen at other schools."
Roane, the current chair of the Black Student Alliance's outreach committee, said he hopes to translate his experiences as a Duke-Durham liaison into the role of vice president of community interaction.
"I have made extensive connections in the Durham community," he said. "I got my name and BSA's name out there."
If elected, Roane said he will spend the summer in Durham to assess what the community needs and how the University can better collaborate with the city.
"I think one of the major things we have to look forward to this year is DukeEngage," Roane said. "I definitely want this year to be geared towards engaging the Duke community in general."
Strasburger, the youngest contender, said he stands out because he has fresh ideas and is not politically allied as older students might be.
"I can honestly say that I don't have a certain fraternity here or a group of people in my back pocket that I am on DSG to lobby for," he said.
Strasburger said one of his main goals will be to extend the use of food points to off-campus venues, which would encourage students to interact with the community.
"Lots of colleges have it," he said. "The way it has been done in the past is so that the Duke dining program doesn't lose money, and I don't think that serves us as Duke students."
Since the candidates were first announced, the field of contenders in this race have been reduced from five to three.
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