This post has been updated.
Enushe Khan (MSB ’17), Georgetown University Student Association senate speaker and unopposed candidate for GUSA president, will not be on campus this summer if she and Chris Fisk (COL ’17) are elected, as she will be completing a 10-week internship at Goldman Sachs in New York.
The GUSA president and vice president typically stay on campus during the summer to meet with administrators and neighborhood residents about various projects. This summer, the university and neighborhood will engage in negotiations related to the ratification of the 2017-2037 Campus Plan, a 20-year contract between the university and the neighborhood that will dictate future construction projects and neighborhood relations.
According to Khan, Fisk and a seven-person staff would remain on campus to do the work required for GUSA.
“I’ve been getting a firm idea of what would be happening during those 10 weeks and really it’s attending those meetings, meeting those administrators and having that face contact,” Khan said. “Chris will be here all summer. This will be what he will be doing, and he will be working on those issues that need to be advanced, and there are specific policy or issue areas that he himself would like to really initiate.”
Khan said she plans to travel to Washington, D.C., every Saturday, and participate in an hour-long Skype call with Fisk and Alex Bobroske (COL ’17), their campaign manager, every night during the week.
“I have committed myself to at least an hour Skype session each night, whether that be 2 a.m., whether that be 4 a.m., Chris and Alex are both willing to work with me around my schedule on that. … It’s just a matter of making sure we are on the same page and touching base,” Khan said.
Khan said she will attend the monthly Georgetown Community Partnership meeting required for campus planning, and will seek to arrange meetings with administrators and her staff for Saturdays.
However, according to current GUSA President Joe Luther (COL ’16), administrators are often unavailable to meet on weekends.
According to Luther, even with a plan in place, the workload will be difficult for Khan to balance.
“While Healy will not burn down if the President is not in D.C., it is a suboptimal situation. From what I understand of finance internships, it will be extremely difficult for a student to juggle both responsibilities,” Luther wrote in an email to The Hoya. “Considering the long hours and attention required by an internship at Goldman Sachs, the student body will be losing its central advocate and will leave administrators and neighbors unsure of who to call. It is important that the president be on top of issues and critical they be able to respond to matters as they inevitably pop up.”
Luther wrote the Khan-Fisk campaign should put forth two candidates who will be on campus for the summer.
“GUSA’s reputation has for a long time been marred by those who think it is ineffective and filled only with those who seek titles; this situation does not help the matter,” Luther wrote. “I urge their ticket to put forth two candidates who will be on Georgetown’s campus for the summer.”
Khan said Goldman Sachs is aware of her responsibilities at Georgetown, and the company has guaranteed that her Saturdays will be free for GUSA-related duties.
“The thing is, I know what I am getting myself into, so I have some flexibility,” Khan said. “I have two obligations, I just have to make both work, and they are going to have to be understanding of that.”
Trevor Tezel (SFS ’15), the former GUSA president in 2014, said Khan and Fisk should be able to advocate on behalf of students over the summer effectively with adaptation.
“I think Enushe will be the first to say to you that it would be more ideal to have the president on campus, but at the same time I think anything is possible,” Tezel said. “It will and would require many more hours and quite a lot of work on her behalf and on Chris’ behalf in order to do it effectively, so that what is lost in not having the president on campus doesn’t affect GUSA.”
Correction: A version of this article, and as it appears in print, mistakenly attributed the quote beginning “GUSA’s reputation has for a long time been marred…” to Connor Rohan. This was actually written in an email from GUSA President Joe Luther. This online version has been updated. We sincerely apologize for this mistake.