Junior and Duke Student Government executive vice presidential candidate Devan Desai has a commitment to the Durham community that runs deep.
Desai, a junior studying public policy with minors in biology and chemistry, became involved in campus life as a DSG senator for academic affairs. He was elected to his current position as DSG president pro tempore after serving as a senator for two years. Outside of his work in student government, he’s also a tour guide, a member of the Honor Council and part of Duke Sangeet.
A proud Durham native, Desai has focused his platform on enhancing community connections, both on and off campus.
“I want to make sure that students are being more mindful of the community that we reside in, just exploring all the different things that Durham has to offer, whether that’s service projects, the different amazing restaurants, local businesses that we have and even some of the resources and places that Durham has,” Desai said.
With respect to on-campus life, he is mindful of the developments to Duke’s social scene that have taken place during the past year. With Duke implementing its new QuadEx housing system, Desai acknowledged that it will be a “very new environment” on campus and that he “[wants] to make sure that students are being included in the conversation to evolve those issues.”
Desai also hopes to place an emphasis on mental health. Health and wellness advocacy has been a large part of his work as a DSG representative, particularly as the University has moved through the pandemic. In spring 2021, he directly advocated for student mental health days through conducting research and comparing Duke’s policies with those of peer institutions.
The second part of Desai’s platform aims to strengthen the ties between DSG and other student groups. As EVP, he would adopt a hands-on approach to bridging these gaps. His priorities include listening in on student organizations’ meetings, attending more events and being more mindful of on-campus happenings.
“I want to take DSG in a direction to where we're building relationships, where we're building communication and skill sets, where we're working with student groups—not when we need something, but when we're just being proactive,” Desai said. As EVP, he hopes to assist groups in achieving their goals with “whatever resources and support that we have to uplift the project and be there as a supporter.”
One of Desai’s most important aims as EVP would be to enhance equity on Duke’s campus. He has already begun working towards this through his current project with the Karsh Office of Undergraduate Financial Support. Desai is also working with other senators to create a student advisory board.
“We’re really just trying to find ways in which students are able to increase engagement with their financial aid advisors, increase transparency with their office and hopefully, at the end of the day, inform students of different ways that they can better manage their money or even save money,” he said.
He emphasized that the resources available at Duke are often underutilized and hopes that this initiative would be able to benefit low-income students. “I think that it's small services like this that I really want to emphasize through an equity perspective,” he said.
Amanda Soydan, a learning consultant at the Academic Resource Center who has collaborated with Desai to improve advising services at Duke, wrote in an email that he is “decisive, mature and extremely responsible, as well as compassionate, practical, and innovative—all excellent leadership characteristics.”
Junior Morgan Biele, a close friend of Desai, described him as the embodiment of the “Duke community.”
“Devan so consciously makes efforts to connect with people,” she wrote.
This quality, she believes, makes him an ideal candidate to serve the student body.
“He gives terrific hugs, brings you sweets, remembers about your important meetings and asks you about how they went, and leans into listen whenever you need it, without having to say a word to him,” she wrote.
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Sevana Wenn is a Trinity sophomore and features managing editor of The Chronicle's 118th volume.