Duke Student Government’s Durham and Community Affairs committee has purview over community service, Durham city and county governments, North Carolina state affairs, relations with local universities, Durham cultural life, off-campus mediation, and engagement in elections. As a collaborator, Durham and Community Affairs works on projects like Democracy Day to facilitate voter registration and enthusiasm on campus; fireside chats to engage Duke students and Durham residents with local politicians; and the Durham welcome box to ensure Duke students are productive and well-informed Durham residents. Durham and Community Affairs is a transformative space where you can make a tangible impact on the Duke and Durham community.
Projects
- Democracy Day: Coordinates an annual civic engagement fair & a campus-wide celebration of early voting for midterm & presidential elections. Set an early-voting record at Duke in 2024.
- Collaboration with the Durham and Community Affairs Office: Facilitated conversations with administration and local leaders regarding community affairs, collaborated on grant-writing for local organizations, promoted the community engagement center on campus
- DPAC Program: Obtained and distributed DPAC tickets free of charge or at discounted rates for students to interface with the Durham community in conjunction with the DUUrham committee. Have sent Duke students to productions of Six, the Sound of Music, and Wicked.
- Party Safe @ Duke: Introduced a house party safety system to protect students living off-campus and encourage Duke students to be respectful residents in Durham neighborhoods.
- Off-Campus Advisory Board: In collaboration with Duke DCA and Student Affairs, convened an advisory board of off-campus fraternities, sororities, and selective living groups (pending addition) to discuss off-campus safety surrounding party culture.
- Durham Days: This project focuses on building relationships with Durham small businesses and bringing them onto campus. Last year, this culminated in a “Durham Days” on campus that brought numerous partners to West Campus for students to try samples from restaurants, get free Durham swag, and ask questions about venturing out into Durham.
- Fireside Chats: Fireside chats seek to provoke conversation between Duke students and Durham community members over dinner. This project was taken on by Duke DCA and was in the final stages of its focus group phase, but the coordinator who was leading the program left over the summer. Project members will need to restart conversations with Duke DCA and/or consider how to pilot the program solely through DSG or with other partners.
Committee
Liv Schramkowski – VP
As VP for DCA, Liv is responsible for leading her committee and assisting with projects, managing the DSG policy agenda, and serving as the chief advocate and administrative contact for her committee.
Nate Jones – AVP
Nate is a sophomore from Durham, NC (go, bulls!) majoring in Economics with a finance concentration. Nate is continuing his previous roles from last year, those being DCA Senator and Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. In these roles, Nate was able to help organize programs such as Durham Days and founded the DPAC Arts Engagement Program to promote local performances in the Durham community. Nate’s main goal for this year is to work on expanding DPAC Arts Engagement Program.
Lawson President – Senator
Lawson is a sophomore from Upper Marlboro, MD, majoring in Psychology with a minor in Chemistry. Lawson has always had a genuine passion for community service and giving back, he will bridge the gap between Duke and Durham, specifically by creating initiatives to seamlessly connect first-year students with various volunteering opportunities and streamline information to get involved in the Durham community. Also, he would love to find ways to connect Duke students with local organizations or students in Durham public schools to further foster mentorship opportunities within the Durham community. He hopes to impact the Duke community by offering a creative and organized approach in providing Duke students with opportunities in a way that feels not overwhelming but rather authentic, and ensuring that they feel inspired and compelled to continue to support and give back to the amazing city of Durham.
Cooper Herrett – Senator
Cooper is sophomore from Wilmington, NC double majoring in Public Policy and undecided Neuroscience or Biology with a minor in Chinese. This is his first time serving in DSG and is excited to bring his perspective as a native North Carolinian to his projects as he works to better understand Duke’s relationship within Durham and strive to strengthen it.
Charlie November – Senator
Charlie is a junior from Boston, MA, majoring in Economics with minors in Political Science and Computer Science. His goal this year is to help foster mutually beneficial partnerships between Duke students and the broader Durham community where he is particularly focused on exploring how Duke can play a more active role in addressing food insecurity in Durham.
Theresa Kiki – Senator
Aviv Stabinsky – Senator
Emily Wang – Senator
Emily is a junior from Houston, TX majoring in Economics and Public Policy and minoring in Global Health. Emily has been a senator on DCA for two years and has spearheaded an initiative to connect students with local business owners. Her main goal for this year is to continue developing partnerships with local businesses.
Noah Bean – Senator
Noah is a freshman from Henderson North Carolina planning on majoring in Public Policy and Political Science with a Markets & Management certificate. Henderson, North Carolina N/A This year, I want to focus on breaking the bubble and building a bridge between Duke and Durham by creating more chances for students to connect with local vendors, nonprofits, and cultural organizations, and making sure those connections grow into lasting relationships. My hope is that students will leave Duke not only with strong campus memories but also with a real sense of belonging in the broader Durham community.
Anson Stine – Senator
Anson is a freshman from Baltimore, Maryland planning on majoring in Philosophy and Public Policy. His goal this session is to bridge the gap between Duke students and the incredible work of local non-profits, actively working to bring more of these organizations to campus and increase awareness of their opportunities. Additionally, he aims to establish the foundational framework for a campus bike co-op.
Josh Duby – Senator
Josh is a freshman from Deerfield, IL. He is excited to help support a civically engaged student body and continue to foster relationships between Duke and Durham. In doing so, he thinks this will open exciting new opportunities for Duke students to have a positive impact in Durham!
Emily Wang – Senator
Emily is a junior from Houston, TX, majoring in Economics and Public Policy with a Global Health minor. She has spent two years as a DCA Senator connecting Duke students with local businesses and increasing visibility of Durham businesses on campus.
Benjamin Kagan – Senator
Benjamin is a sophomore from Chicago, IL, majoring in Political Science with a minor in History. Throughout his time in DSG he hopes to strengthen the relationship between the Durham community and Duke. I also want to help Duke become a more civically engaged campus.
Shrihaan Chaudhary – Senator
Shrihaan is a freshman from Clarksville, MD planning on interdepartmental majoring in Chemistry and Public Policy with a Global Health minior. This year, he hopes to deepen partnerships between Duke students and the Durham community by expanding service and civic engagement opportunities, and to make local collaboration a more visible part of campus life. Through his role on DCA, he aims to strengthen mutual trust and show how Duke students can contribute meaningfully to Durham’s growth and wellbeing!
Ariel Baiye – Senator
Ariel is a freshman from Waxhaw, NC, planning on majoring in Public Policy. This is her first year as a senator, and one goal she hopes to achieve is to help provide funding for students to access community service sites off campus. A second goal he hopes to achieve is to support yearly DCA initiatives such as Democracy Day. She hopes to inform the Duke community about current Durham affairs and create ways to realistic student engagement outside campus.
David Llera – Senator
David is a freshman from Clifton Park, NY, planning on majoring in Public Policy and Economics with a certificate in Innovation & Entrepreneurship. His first goal is to help students more actively see Durham in front of them as the community they’re a part of. He wants to strengthen the Duke-Durham relationship through projects that bring local businesses onto campus and advocate for institutional purchasing that prioritizes Durham vendors. His second goal is to expand opportunities for local connection and learning through fireside chats and neighborhood history walk & talks planned for the spring.
Nigel Cooper – Senator