Blue Devils United is proud to endorse Olly Wilson for Young Trustee. While we feel that all three candidates have the breadth of experience that makes them deserving of the position, we believe Olly shows he is the most knowledgeable about the unique challenges facing our University in the years ahead and successfully articulates why he would be the best student representative on the Board of Trustees.
Olly has had many leadership positions on campus that give him a unique perspective into different student groups at Duke. As the chair of the Council for Collaborative Action, Olly currently works with student leaders of the largest organizations on campus. This role allows Olly to have the most expansive knowledge of issues facing our University from a student perspective. When Olly was the president of BDU during his junior year, he led our group to win the Established Student Organization of the Year award. We feel his varied and successful leadership experience lends him a unique ability among all the candidates to understand what it means to be a Duke student on this campus.
Olly effectively merges the three big issues that face Duke in the coming years: our global strategy, the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration and our continued focus on entrepreneurship. As an international student, Olly holds a unique perspective in moving forward with Duke’s global strategy, such as our stake in DKU. Additionally, Olly successfully discusses Duke’s role as a relatively young institution and considers its unique ability to break down the walls between different departments, a position that will continue to push academic progress in the coming years. Finally, Olly conveys the need for Duke to continue being a major entrepreneurial hub for the Research Triangle, much in the same way that Stanford is at the center of Silicon Valley. This platform, which considers a progressive future for the University, makes Olly Wilson the best candidate for Young Trustee.
Ari Bar-Mashiah Trinity ’12
President, Blue Devils United
Editor’s note: Olly Wilson is the former president of Blue Devils United.
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