ICC endorses DSG referendum

The Executive Board of the Intercommunity Council is currently composed of 25 leaders of large student groups on campus and meets bi-weekly to discuss issues facing students on campus. Until now, the ICC has existed as part of Duke Student Government by virtue of the the fact that its chair has been a member of the DSG Executive Board. This connection has caused confusion and dissonance about what ICC’s purpose and mission are meant to be.

Assigning a DSG Executive Board member to chair the ICC as part of their official function raises questions about ICC’s intended role. The role could be interpreted as an independent one in which ICC sets its own agenda, its opinions affecting the operations of all of its representative groups, including DSG.  But it could also be seen as a supporting role in which the ICC is obligated to reflect upon items before DSG and return opinions on those issues. We feel ICC best fits the independent role, existing as a group whose purpose is to reflect upon the issues facing all of its member groups, including but not limited to DSG.

We, the ICC, are incredibly excited, both about the potential for change and about working together to increase collaboration and cooperation between our groups. We feel we can better achieve these goals when we can select our own chair and set our own agenda, without a formal DSG ICC position. Therefore, we are writing to encourage Duke students to vote in the elections and vote in favor of the referendum today. We also invite each of you to pose questions to student leadership through the ICC.  In the end, we answer to all of you.

Michelle Fang President, Asian Student Association Scott Gorlick President, Duke Hillel Adam Hinnant Chair, Duke Honor Council David Hu Chair, Student Organization Finance Committee Erika Manderscheid President, Panhellenic Council Adam Nathan President, Duke Partnership for Service Awa Nur President, Duke Student Government Ankit Prasad President, Engineering Student Government Alexis Rosenblum President, Duke International Association Stephen Temple President, Campus Council Amanda Turner President, Black Student Alliance Vivek Upadhyay President, Duke Diiya Paul Youm President, Inter-Greek Council