College junior Brian Fuller started his career in Student Government Association (SGA) as a sophomore representative, worked his way to vice president a year later and now, the Wheel believes he is most fit to serve as SGA president next year.

As SGA’s current vice president, Fuller fulfilled each initiative he proposed on his platform last year. We believe that this responsibility and accountability displayed by Fuller over the past year makes him a strong candidate. During his term, he sought to increase SGA’s transparency and bridge the gap between students and SGA via his brainchild “Chill ‘n Chats,” an open-forum program where students could express their concerns in exchange for a frozen treat.

He hopes to continue this trend of increasing visibility by continuing to offer “Chill ‘n Chats” several times throughout a semester. In addition, he hopes to increase legislator presence during their in-house office hours, at events and tabling during Wonderful Wednesdays; he also wants to revamp SGA’s social media presence, utilizing the world wide web to spread awareness to the fullest extent possible.

While he was a sophomore representative, Fuller also observed a serious structural issue within SGA: at the time, many legislators were not attending mandatory meetings. As vice president, he successfully changed the attitude within SGA to make legislators feel more accountable for their participation. Issues with maintaining quorum at these meetings have since been resolved.

Fuller’s role as vice president was to serve as the link between the president and the legislators. We believe that his successful experience forging connections within the organization will be extremely beneficial in aiding him to bridge the gap between undergraduate and graduate members within SGA, to ensure that SGA addresses graduate concerns as well as those of the College. Fuller plans to promote unity and collaboration among SGA, College Council (CC), Student Programming Council (SPC) and Graduate SGA by increasing the number of times the leaders of these organizations meet face-to-face to discuss the issues at hand.

He expands his concept of a united community to include the entire student body; he aims to plan events that will allow all University students to connect with each other while simultaneously fostering school spirit.

An especially noteworthy aspect of Fuller’s platform is his initiative to advocate for the creation of a Student Leadership Scholarship. This scholarship would provide $5,000 to $10,000 to a student who demonstrates a positive contribution to the Emory community and a financial need surpassing their ability to attend this institution. He proposes that while some of the money will be put down by SGA, he will pursue outside funding from deans and University President James Wagner, among other sources. We commend Fuller’s attitude and believe that, if instituted, the Student Leadership Scholarship will be a wonderful addition to the already established Student Hardship Fund.

While the Wheel endorsement committee struggled to decide between the candidates, we ultimately feel that Fuller is the best candidate for SGA president. Fuller has the commitment, enthusiasm and experience necessary for a competent and effective SGA president.