In preparation for its merger with Campus Council, Duke Student Government confirmed eight at-large senators and an interim vice president for the new Residential Life and Dining Committee.
Junior Ben Goldenberg, an at-large member of Campus Council, was confirmed as the committee’s interim vice president by a vote of 22-5.
Goldenberg has been involved with Campus Council since his freshman year, and he said his work this year prompted him to communicate with DSG about the possibility of a merger.
“I did an internal analysis of Campus Council and found a vast amount of inefficiencies,” Goldenberg said.
The Senate also confirmed eight at-large senators for the Residential Life and Dining Committee. The new senators are juniors Esosa Osa, Jeremy Moskowitz and Isaac Mizrahi, sophomores Chris Carroll, Cristy de Obaldia and Cole Vertikoff, and freshmen Mia Wise and Walter Gurzynski.
In addition, the Senate also repealed funding for DukePie, a peer-to-peer file sharing service originally proposed by Vice President for Student Affairs Gurdane Bhutani, a sophomore. The Senate voted 34-2 to repeal the $2,265 originally allocated for the program.
In other business:
Duke College Republicans Chair Stephen Bergin, a senior, addressed the Senate about the status of DCR since the organization was placed on probation by the Senate in September. The Senate had originally moved to defund and decharter the group after last year’s impeachment of former DCR chair Justin Robinette—who graduated Fall 2010—which was allegedly because he is gay. DSG President Mike Lefevre vetoed the Senate's move to defund DCR.
“Over the past six months, it’s been clear that we’ve been running a fine organization,” Bergin said. “There are no whispers of any issues.”
Bergin said attendance at general body meetings has increased this year, with as many as 24 members attending meetings as opposed to 10 to 12 last year.
Senior Max Tabachnik, chair of the Student Organization Finance Committee, proposed that Duke Students for Justice in Palestine be recognized as a student group. This stirred debate in the Senate.
“There is no Palestine [recognized as a country] on the map—there are Palestinian people,” said senior Greg Halperin, an academic affairs senator. He added that there are already student groups at Duke that fulfill the proposed group’s purpose.
Other senators were in favor of approving the group, arguing that the Senate should have approved it because of issues with freedom of speech.
“It’s kind of pompous for us to say that Palestine is not a nation when the Palestinians see themselves as people,” said freshman Patrick Oathout, also an academic affairs senator. “This is an advocacy group for a specific niche. I think we’re trying to bring political views into a freedom of speech matter.”
The group was ultimately approved by a 33-3 vote.
Four additional student groups were unanimously approved by the Senate including the Duke Architecture Club, Duke Local Advocacy Initiative and Outdoor Action for Social and Intrapersonal Strength.
The Senate also allocated $3,100 for Roots and Shoots’ event Conservation and Art, $6,695.71 for Duke Africa’s Jabulani—a week-long event to increase student awareness of African culture—$4,270 for Habitat for Humanity’s Spring Ball and $9,194.40 for TEDx Duke.
This article has been modified to clarify the fact that the Duke College Republicans were put on probation by the Senate in September, but were not defunded.
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