Courtesy of Liam O’Sullivan and Lily Short
To mend the ever-growing divisions between Goizueta Business School and the Emory College of Arts and Sciences, the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) Council needs a leader who not only promotes transparency and accountability, but can also lead Goizueta during a period of transition. Due to a lack of detail in both Liam O’Sullivan (24B) and Lily Short’s (24B) platforms, it is unclear which candidate will best advance the goals of the BBA Council. Thus, the Editorial Board does not feel strongly enough to support one candidate above the other and urges both candidates to release more detailed platforms to the student body that promote their plans for BBA Council.
While Short has extensive experience and a platform that references plans to establish a strong transfer community and better DEI practices in BBA Council, it lacks the concrete plans necessary to convince the Editorial Board of her ability to truly enact change. Short references terms like “Goizueta Mentor Program” and “Monetary Donations” in her platform which, without adequate explanation, mean little to voters. Short also emphasizes the importance of DEI, which the Board appreciates, but voters would also benefit from hearing more concrete ideas on how to make the business school more diverse and inclusive.
Similarly, O’Sullivan displays a willingness to listen to his constituents and raise the bar for clubs at Goizueta. His ideas include to create onboarding guides to promote inclusivity for new BBAs and nurture connections between BBA Council and the general business student body are strong, yet his spare platform and lack of experience on student government does little to assure voters that his vision can become a reality. O’Sullivan too would benefit from sharing a more in-depth platform with BBA students.
Both O’Sullivan and Short should supplement their platforms with action plans that convince voters. If candidates fail to do the research necessary to convince voters to cast a ballot in their favor, there’s no reason to believe that they possess the drive to enact necessary change in Goizueta.
Assistant Opinion Editor Ellie Fivas (24Ox) serves as Oxford-Atlanta Liaison for the Oxford and Emory Student Government Associations. She recused herself and was not involved in writing or editing this editorial. Editorial Board members with conflicts of interest with candidates recused themselves from the relevant endorsements.
The above editorial represents the majority opinion of The Wheel’s Editorial Board and Opinion Editor Sophia Peyser. The Editorial Board is composed of Isabelle Bellott-McGrath, Rachel Broun, Evelyn Cho, Ellie Fivas, Marc Goedemans, Aayam Kc, Elyn Lee, Saanvi Nayar, Shruti Nemala, Nushrat Nur and Sara Perez.
The Editorial Board is the official voice of the Emory Wheel and is editorially separate from the Wheel's board of editors.
