Neil’s Young Trustee Application Name: Neil Kondamuri Year: 2014 Email: [email protected] Phone: 219.384.7907 Class Year and School: Senior / Trinity College of Arts and Sciences 1. What is your perception of the role of Young Trustee? “The reason for including students on the Board of Trustees was ... to get younger members on the Board ... whose viewpoint, close to students, would be a valuable addition.” ­ Terry Sanford on the role of the Young Trustee The Young Trustee is a full voting member of Duke’s governing body for two years of a three­ year term. Thus, the Young Trustee is first a Trustee, with the primary goal of minding Duke’s best interests, and second, a Board member with the unique undergraduate perspective fresh in mind. Similar to Sanford’s perspective, I believe the Young Trustee’s role is to offer the unique perspective of a current or recently graduated student. A typical Duke student is engrossed in a fundamentally different environment in college and post­college than most Trustees were. This distinctive position allows him or her to offer new insights into various questions that a typical Board member may not have. An ideal Young Trustee understands the complexities of life at Duke and should be able to translate that viewpoint into actionable policy. It is important to note that a Young Trustee is not an advocate of any group or its mission, but rather serves as a representative for the general student body’s issues. He or she must embody a typical Duke student and must have an excellent comprehension of problems that concern the student body. An ideal Young Trustee is charged with three significant responsibilities. First, he or she must be able to integrate the wide range of experiences that encapsulate a Duke experience. In order to do so, a Young Trustee will engage him or herself in a diverse array of campus involvements. The breadth is particularly important, as Trustees should consider as many viewpoints as possible in their analysis. Second, a Young Trustee must be an active communicator. To sway discussion, he or she not only requires strong speaking abilities, but also an ability to judge when information is most valuable. Third, the Young Trustee must be able to project when and how a Board­level decision will affect students and must react appropriately. This requires a wealth of foresight regarding Board activities as well as an intuition on how to react to decisions. 2. Why do you want to be the Young Trustee? When I first visited Duke, I noticed something special in its students that I had not seen at any other school: a vitality noticeable in everything students here put their mind to. Many schools had an intellectual vitality; some even had a passion for sports. At Duke, we possess a vibrant intellectual culture, a healthy regard for athletics, and an inspiring vigor for tackling challenges. As I’ve spent time at Duke, this initial hunch proved truer than I could have imagined. In 2013 alone, students turned sign language into speech in a mere 24 hours, they set a world record for building a cardboard fort, all while researching cures for cancer, launching businesses and debuting singing careers in Los Angeles. They won a national championship in lacrosse and an ACC division championship in football. Somewhere down the line, these amazing students will have a brilliant idea that will change the world. By providing a nurturing environment that encourages students to be all they can be, this institution contributes to a lot of these successes. I am running for Young Trustee because I feel I am best positioned to represent these amazing students. I have come to appreciate the complexities that exist in a Duke experience. I understand how other students feel about their time here. I have learned an incredible amount over the past three years and I have always loved giving back to my fellow students. Over the last three years, I have enjoyed serving Duke in many aspects. My research sophomore year contributed heavily to selection of the GPS bus app, TransLoc, that now helps students find their way to class everyday. As a junior, my efforts to create a more inclusive Tailgate helped spark greater involvement in the event than ever before. I have served Duke in many different arenas, even serving on The Chronicle’s Editorial Board and as a member of the Wilson Recreation Center staff. I have lobbied on behalf of environmental groups in order to attain 15 additional recycling containers across West Campus. I have cherished my time serving Duke as an undergraduate and would love to continue post­graduation. I will be an effective Young Trustee. I have experience on the Board and have worked with multiple sub­committees. As a result, I understand what it means to be a valuable contributor at this level. Furthermore, I have a diverse set of experiences beyond the Board that help me better understand the needs of Duke students on campus. I have taken classes in a diversity of disciplines, including in both Trinity and Pratt. I’ve enjoyed staffing a pre­orientation program for three years as well as helping students learn how to rock climb at Wilson. I’ve tutored in Durham and engaged with students abroad through an independent DukeEngage in India. I’ve tented during basketball season and studied abroad in London. I’ve written for The Chronicle and lobbied alongside Duke Student Government. I’m writing an honors thesis and have conducted research in biology and public policy. I’ve discovered an academic passion in health care policy as well as developed a palate for tasting Durham foods. I want to be Young Trustee because I can combine my diverse set of experiences at Duke to contribute effectively at the Board level. My time at Duke over the past three years has given me much more than I could have ever expected and I would be honored to continue serving Duke. I want to ensure that the future of Duke is even brighter than the past. I want to make the Duke experience we had even more enriching for future students. 3. What personal qualities/values do you possess that enhance your ability to serve as a Young Trustee? What personal qualities/values do you possess that may limit your ability to serve as a Young Trustee? Please contextualize this through the lens of a specific past experience(s). Everyone deserves a voice Duke does not function via tyranny of the majority but instead as a culmination of many opinions resulting in a decision. Every student’s experience is incredibly meaningful and I believe the Board functions best when it harnesses these diverse experiences. The Young Trustee ought to consider as many points of view as possible. I believe in the same principle, as exemplified by my efforts to make student tailgates more inclusive and launch DukeStarter. As the Vice President of Social Culture in Duke Student Government, I took charge of operating one of the greatest hot button issues at Duke: tailgating. I worked extensively with various offices at the university, including the Executive Vice President’s and Student Affairs. In these negotiations, I successfully lobbied for groups without houses. I feel it is crucial to keep a keen eye toward unrepresented groups. These groups were allowed first registration for tailgating, creating a more inclusive environment. Seeing the debate team next to IFC fraternities next to religious groups next to new independent houses helped many people realize that the community aspect so cherished in Old Tailgate is replicable in our new version. As a sophomore, I often found myself frustrated by the lack of funding for ideas or projects that the average student thought up. If you’re not part of an official group, the Student Organization Finance Committee, or SOFC, is not designed to help you. However, at Duke, it is often unaffiliated students that have great ideas, either as part of a class or through casual reflections. Thus, as a junior, I gave students the ability to make these ideas a reality through DukeStarter. DukeStarter will eventually be a popular school­wide competition between three ideas with a grand prize of up to $10,000 to implement the winning idea. In its inaugural year, we were able to fund Duke Olympics on the main quad, which drew over 1,000 people and had great success... all conceived from one student’s great idea. Budgetary constraints Balancing the tension between finances and serving the best interests of Duke students is something I have experienced a few times. While the budgets I have dealt with pale in comparison to Duke’s annual budget, the lessons I have learned in the last four years will certainly be valuable. One of my summer experiences led me to help calculate whether Indiana – my home state – would expand Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act. Many experts believe that every state should expand it, so as to provide care to millions currently without access to healthcare. I certainly believe in this sentiment, but upon further examination of Indiana’s finances, I realized that Indiana would be forced to sacrifice public education funds amongst other things. I learned that with all expenditures – whether it is expanding Medicaid in Indiana or funding a library party in Perkins, there’s an opportunity cost: what aren’t we spending this money on? Translated to Duke, especially at the Board level, these tradeoffs are huge. Asking the right questions – what choice better serves the student body? What about Duke University as a whole? – is key to coming to solvent solutions.