As the Student Association vice president, Duane Ford has seen firsthand that being the leader of a large student organization is a thankless job.

“I’ve seen the day-to-day ins and outs of being president, and I will tell you, it is not worth it,” he said, laughing. But the junior policy studies major said he’s running for SA president because he sees it as his duty to students who may be uncertain of their ability to change the university. 

“I think there’s a general apathy and fear to tackling these issues. Students see these initiatives we want to work on and say, ‘There’s just no way that anything can be done at all,’” he said.

Ford’s campaign slogan is “Speak Up,” and his platform addresses tuition, academic advising and diversity. Ford’s involvement and connection with diverse groups on campus has allowed him to understand the needs of the student body. 

Ford said he decided to run for president after realizing he was the right person for the job.

“I call it a ‘moral imperative’; I don’t know how else to say it,” Ford said. “Whenever I go to a place that I’m in or a part of, I like to make it better than it was when I first got there. And so, for me, at Syracuse, getting involved in student government was the best way to make the school better.”

Since his freshman year, Ford has assumed responsibility in several organizations on campus, from women’s issues to fraternity leadership.

“There are so many people who don’t do much, who live day by day in that monotone lifestyle. Duane is everything that is opposite of that,” said Raja Ram, a senior finance and television, radio and film major, who has worked with Ford through SA and Phi Delta Theta since Ford’s freshman year. “The amount of time and effort he’s put into things is testimony enough.” 

From the moment Ford knocked on SA President Allie Curtis’ door, she knew that he was two things: one of the goofiest kids she’s ever met, and destined to succeed in SA.

“Flash-forward a year from now, he will be able to do so much more than he’s done, which is a lot at this point,” Curtis said.

Curtis said Ford’s reasonable, impartial approach during impeachment proceedings against Curtis last spring proved that he can make the most out of a difficult situation. While Ford was reluctant to speak in detail about the proceedings, he said he tried to stay unbiased when others were becoming partisan.

“I didn’t come in with any hurt feelings,” Ford said. “I was able to see the situation from a bird’s eye view, looking straight and directly at the facts. That’s how I made my decision.”

Eric McGriff, a junior political philosophy and women and gender studies major, said he noticed Ford’s ability to bring people together the day they met. 

“There were a bunch of people in a lounge, and Duane started singing,” McGriff said. “He sang with a smile and people joined in and, for me, that makes me think of Duane because he has always been one to bring people together, whether it is through music, advocacy or just in conversation.”

The campaign’s slogan, “Speak Up,” seeks to promote proactivity to transition the campus from a culture that complains to friends to one that lobbies the university into tangible change, he said.

“I don’t feel that students think they can go up and talk to a dean or a chancellor at any given moment and feel that their voice will be heard,” Ford said.

Ford said he views SA as an intermediary between students and the upper administration, adding that his knowledge of the organization from the bottom up lets him see how representatives should serve students.

“People forget this university is a business, and just like any business it has to cater to its customers. Its customers are its students,” Ford said. “So if there’s enough support and enough activism from the students, then the university has to listen. We’re their customers. Without us, there is no business.”

Published on November 7, 2013 at 1:59 am