Lack of female Young Trustees disconcerting

The position of Young Trustee was instated in 1970 to incorporate Duke undergraduate community members into the governing board of their University. Forty-one years later, women have remained conspicuously absent from the ranks of this role. The last female Young Trustee to serve on the Board, Katie Laidlaw, concluded her term in 2006; she remains the sole woman to take this position in the first decade of the 21st century. Unfortunately, there have been only three women in this role in the past 17 years.

Today, our student body is divided nearly equitably between men and women, and the applicant pool reviewed by the Young Trustee Nominating Committee this year mirrored this ratio: There were nine women out of 20 total applicants. Yet, just two women were selected in the group of eight semi-finalists. The basic criteria for the selection of a Young Trustee, as enumerated in the YTNC’s bylaws, are gender neutral, and it is doubtful that any one female candidate has ever been explicitly eliminated on account of her gender. However, for the past two decades the selection bias in favor of male students is undeniable. As individual applicants we respect the committee’s decisions, but as women we are concerned about gender discrimination in the vetting process. This is a significant problem, and it is one that must be met head-on in the following ways:

First, female students who are passionate about Duke and its future must continue to apply for Young Trustee. Women at Duke must not be complacent in allowing male students to be selected more frequently for the position. If this year’s crop of applicants is indicative of the years to come, then female applications will not be few and far between.

Next, the YTNC must approach candidates with a modern lens of what makes a strong candidate for Young Trustee. In recent years, the YTNC has equated leadership in Duke Student Government with a strong potential to be fruitful on the Board. Christine Larson, chair of the nominating committee, told The Chronicle on Tuesday that a student with DSG experience makes a “more qualified” Young Trustee candidate. Yet, it is common knowledge that DSG is a predominantly male organization. Therefore, if the YTNC continues to prioritize DSG leadership, the committee is inherently biased toward putting male candidates through to future rounds of finalists. Furthermore, putting DSG on a pedestal as the ideal experience for an aspiring Young Trustee discredits the dozens of other student organizations across campus that also offer incredible leadership opportunities and represent the forever growing and changing Duke identity.

Most importantly, the problem of gender discrepancies in the Young Trustee selection process cannot remain unaddressed. Leadership within the YTNC must take this fact into account and work toward new methods of candidate evaluation that will eliminate this annual bias in the future. Simply put, given the historically low number of female Young Trustees, this role is not fully representing the Duke undergraduate community.

Young Trustee Applicants

Becki Feinglos, Trinity ‘11