Alex Swain, candidate for vice president for Durham and regional affairs, is well connected in the Durham community, having been involved in Durham through her position as a senator on the Duke Student Government Durham and regional affairs committee. Her professionalism and political savvy make her an ideal candidate for this position and for interacting with Durham leaders.
Swain’s platform focuses on awareness of what Durham has to offer Duke students. She proposes to do this by partnering with the Durham Convention and Visitors Bureau and advertising Durham events in The Chronicle and using social media. In terms of collaboration with other local universities, she intends to band together with students at other universities in the area to organize community service projects and to form a lobbying force.
Her ideas, though theoretically sound, are somewhat nebulous. We would like to see her platform focus more on small tangibles. Establishing relationships with Durham leaders is well and good, but she should have more concrete ideas for collaboration between Duke groups such as the Duke Partnership for Service and Durham organizations. Swain’s challenge in the upcoming year will be to encourage Duke students to identify more personally with our city.
Alex Swain is a knowledgeable and invested candidate for the vice president of Durham and regional affairs position. The Chronicle’s independent Editorial Board formally endorses Alex Swain for vice president for Durham and regional affairs.
Precious Lockhart and Katherine Zhang recused themselves from this edit due to their roles in DSG.
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