DSG Endorsement Policy

The Chronicle will be running endorsement letters for the 2013 Duke Student Government elections. From March 4 to March 6 we will publish endorsement letters for the positions of president and executive vice president. No endorsements will be published Thursday, March 7, the day of the election. The final deadline for endorsements will be 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 5.

We will accept letters from any and all student organizations, so long as the groups adhere to the guidelines below. We will not accept personal endorsements from individuals.

1. Organizations must meet with all candidates in the office(s) for which they choose to make endorsements. Organizations may not endorse without meeting with the candidates or if they only meet with some of the candidates running in a given race.

2. In the endorsement process, organizations must give equal speaking and questioning time to each candidate. No candidate may receive more time than another.

3. Members of organizations who decide they want to participate in endorsements must remain in the room for every candidate’s appearance. Members may not leave and return, or arrive late. If they do so, they may not participate in the endorsement voting for the office of the candidate(s) they did not hear speak.

4. The Chronicle trusts that members of organizations with significant personal or professional attachments or associations with candidates will remove themselves from the endorsement process.

5. If an organization then wishes to endorse candidates in a Chronicle letter, the president of the organization must email Editorial Page Editor Maggie LaFalce (mfl5@duke.edu). The email must include an attached endorsement letter and the following statement: “I, the president of [organization name], certify that all required endorsement guidelines were followed in the formulation of this letter. I understand that failure to adhere to the guidelines undermines the election process, as well as the integrity of my organization and The Chronicle.”

6. Endorsement letters must be signed by the leader of the student organization, including his or her full name, school and graduation year, on behalf of the group.

7. There is no guarantee that endorsement letters will be published. The letters with the greatest likelihood of being published are those that arrive earliest and are concise. Letters may not exceed 325 words.