The Emory Wheel’s Editorial Board endorses BBA Junior Representative Natalie Spitzer (23B) in her bid to become the next BBA Council President.
Foremost, Spitzer’s student government and community involvement speak for itself. Among other positions, she has served as a BBA orientation leader and the Goizueta Investment Management Group’s (GIMG) Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Marketing. Her experiences and platform provide a clear framework to lead Goizueta and integrate the business school with the broader Emory community. Whether through her promise to promote tutoring resources or tackle points of academic concern like the business school’s infamous grading curve, she will undoubtedly elevate voices throughout Goizueta with an attentive and open-minded outlook.
Throughout Spitzer’s time at Goizueta, she has immersed herself in cultivating an inclusive environment by welcoming incoming students as an orientation leader and championing the new promotional process program. Spitzer helped implement this initiative as the marketing COO of GIMG, and plans to help other clubs do the same as BBA president. Having in-depth knowledge about the promotional process will permit Spitzer to champion the initiative and provide feedback on potential alterations to the program, allowing students from all backgrounds to participate in Goizueta clubs. Given the centrality of student organizations to BBA student life and the Council’s role in coordinating with them, Spitzer’s hands-on experience as both a legislator and club leader will help her build bridges with BBA students.
Spitzer will also prioritize transparency, something student government sorely needs. This year, she oversaw the creation of GIMG’s new website, and she plans to create one for the BBA council in pursuit of accountability and transparency. Her guarantee to do so sets a premise of good-governance grounded in Goizueta clubs and students at-large to keep track of and work with the BBA council on pertinent issues, as well as unveil any malfunctions within the system.
But Spitzer will not merely keep BBA Council’s gears turning. She’ll also change it for the better with well thought out and concrete ideas. First, she will push to implement what she calls “GPASS,” a student-run tutoring program for BBA and pre-BBA classes structured like Emory College’s EPASS program. Spitzer took up the issue after hearing students' desires for additional resources in Goizueta that are found in the College for the most fundamental classes. Despite the logistical roadblocks like securing funding and setting up the parameters for the program, she contends that the implementation of GPASS is necessary to provide a safety-net framework to aid students, chances to ground their knowledge and, importantly, offer opportunities to connect with fellow Goizueta students. Spitzer’s ardent commitment to advocate on behalf of increasing the resources available to Goizueta students and place them on par with the College renders her the best candidate for the job.
Another big-ticket item involves her readiness to confront the Goizueta curve. Because of the curve, success in most BBA courses means beating your peers. Spitzer’s competitor, BBA Council Junior Representative Dani Nakash (23B), has argued that the curve is too ingrained in Goizueta’s culture to change, but this is an abdication of moral responsibility. Hypercompetitiveness and toxicity pervade the business school’s student body, and Spitzer has demonstrated that she is willing to take a stand against the curve’s complicity in these problems.
But Spitzer’s platform is not without flaws. This year, the Goizueta Business School admitted transfer students for the first time in its history, and given their unique needs, Spitzer has proposed a new outreach chair position on BBA Council to advocate on their behalf. However, she envisions this position working to benefit transfer, international and Oxford students alike. These are three very different populations with very different needs and assigning the role to one person is unfeasible, especially if they do not belong to more than one of these groups. On this issue, Spitzer would do well to listen to Nakash as her idea of a dedicated transfer representative position on the Council could improve Goizueta’s inclusivity significantly.
At the core of Spitzer’s campaign lies a will to use her voice to uplift others on the council and empower them to take action. The reformist spirit permeates through her big-ticket items about integrating Goizueta to the broader Emory campus, making progress on representation in the school, and critically, fighting fiercely on behalf of students to the administration. Goizueta students may rest assured that with Spitzer at the helm, BBA council will run down a more versatile, open-minded and out-reaching path. Therefore, we urge any BBA student to cast their ballot for Spitzer.
The above editorial represents the majority opinion of the Wheel’s Editorial Board and Opinion Editor Sophia Peyser. The Editorial Board is composed of Rachel Broun, Jake Busch, Kyle Chan-Shue, Demetrios Mammas, Daniela Parra del Riego Valencia, Sara Perez, Ben Thomas, Chaya Tong and Leah Woldai.
