Vote Giwa-Osagie for social culture

Social culture at Duke is a highly embittered topic, encompassing a wide range of issues. Including everything from hazing to alcohol policy, social culture refers to anything regarding social life, its regulation and its unfortunate excesses.

The expansive and controversial nature of social culture makes it a difficult domain for a Duke Student Government committee. Perhaps the problems of social culture are too entrenched for a small committee to solve in any meaningful way. This would explain why none of the four candidates for vice president for social culture offer truly insightful prescriptions for Duke’s social ills.

Nevertheless, sophomore Adesuwa Giwa-Osagie has the most comprehensive view of the position as well as the best leadership style. Giwa-Osagie takes a holistic view of social culture, which she believes is shaped by issues including housing, social programming and ethical considerations, like equality and access. Giwa-Osagie’s stints as senator for residential life and senator for equity and outreach have allowed her to understand the complicated ecosystem of Duke social life. Giwa-Osagie also aspires to broaden the purview of the committee for social culture.

Giwa-Osagie not only possesses a global vision for social culture, but she also understands smaller issues better. Concerning alcohol policy, Giwa-Osagie recognizes that proposed BYOB and bartending policies are likely to be ineffective and advocates a compromise with the administration on distribution policy. Giwa-Osagie—in partnership with President-elect Stefani Jones, a junior, and Executive Vice President-elect Nikolai Doytchinov, a sophomore—should think more about the feasibility of this policy, but she is on the right track. Regarding hazing, Giwa-Osagie was the only candidate to clearly prioritize student safety over concerns about arbitrary enforcement. Other candidates seemed more upset by the crackdown on minor incidents than the danger arising from extreme behavior. Giwa-Osagie wants to tackle both by focusing on “higher level” hazing, not smaller infractions.

Finally, Giwa-Osagie presents herself as a balanced, informed student advocate, which is crucial when negotiating over sensitive issues. Her previous experience on DSG, healthy relationships with administrators and focus on teamwork will promise to make her effective.

We were also impressed by junior Leilani Doktor’s experience and enthusiasm. But her policy ideas, while concrete, were off-base. A proposed 30-minute break for all students in the afternoon is not effective relief for widespread stress. Shifting disciplinary power from resident assistants to the Office of Student Conduct does not address the inconsistency of alcohol policy enforcement.

Freshman Bryan Dinner impressed us with a wealth of ideas about social culture, but some of them—especially those about hazing—betray a naive understanding of Duke life. With more experience, Dinner could be an excellent candidate for this position in the future. Freshman Banks Anderson, despite being the only candidate with experience on the social culture committee, also suffers from a narrow view of social culture that will likely improve with time.

Social culture is a fire to which fresh fuel is added every year. No single student government representative is likely to reverse the trend, but we believe Adesuwa Giwa-Osagie is the best person to try.