A message from your student leaders

As you have likely witnessed, Duke has been entangled in an ongoing discussion of the activities of the Duke College Republicans and the behavior of the group’s senior leadership dating back to last spring. The Chronicle has already reported much of the story, and we invite you to search the Chronicle archives to learn more about the events that have unfolded here. Rather than retell the story’s past, we want to share our vision for the story’s end.

The Duke community has read the hateful words sent in e-mails between the leaders of the DCR and heard allegations of crimes ranging from vandalism to discrimination and even threats. It is tempting to assume the worst and seek swift remediation. The language used in what we have seen is unacceptable and unbecoming of any members of our community, let alone student leaders. But as these recent weeks have shown, the picture is complicated, and we must be careful to consider the full implications of our response.

Frustrating though it is, we must separate the DCR, whose membership includes an extraordinary number of sophomores and now a new class of freshmen, from the offensive behavior of past leaders who have since resigned. If individuals are guilty of punishable offenses, we must leave it to the Office of Student Conduct to pursue those cases. To take sweeping action against the DCR would be to punish more than 400 students who are guilty only by the remotest association.

Meanwhile, the DCR will hold a fresh election to find a new chair. Contrary to previous statements, this election will be absolutely open to all applicants, and any member of the group who has attended three meetings in the past calendar year may vote. The Student Organization Finance Committee will oversee the election directly and remain in close communication with all members to ensure the integrity of the process.

These internal changes represent significant steps towards fostering a renewed culture of openness and respectful political discourse, which are the shared end goals of Duke Student Government and all parties involved.

At the same time, the Senate is considering a number of actions to give DSG and SOFC greater oversight in the activities of student groups, with special attention to the DCR. Tonight, as the Senate considers this well-crafted legislation, we hope we can close discussions over DCR and be assured that the Duke community will never again allow such behavior to occur within our ranks.

Like many who have spoken out, we look forward to a revitalized DCR that is held to the highest standards of openness guaranteed by its SOFC charter and led by a new generation of campus leaders.

Trinity ’11

Pete Schork

DSG Executive Vice President

Trinity ’12

Andrew Schreiber

DSG Chief of Staff

Trinity ’11

Gurdane Bhutani

DSG VP for Student Affairs

Trinity ’13

Kaveh Danesh

DSG VP for Academic Affairs

Trinity ’12

Ubong Akpaninyie

DSG VP for Durham and Regional Affairs

Trinity ’12

Chris Brown

DSG VP for Athletics and Campus Services

Trinity ’13