With the resignation of Élie Lubendo as MUS President, the undergraduate students of Desautels will soon be casting votes to determine a new President. Three candidates – Michael Fishman, Aarushi Kumar, and Alan Liu – have stepped up to vie for the position. Here are the profiles of these three outstanding candidates, brought to you exclusively by The Bull & Bear.
Michael Fishman
Michael Fishman describes himself as ‘the MUS guy’ around Bronfman. Throughout his three years at Desautels – where he is doing a major in Honours Investment Management – he has been involved in the intricacies of the MUS since he first stepped into McGill. If elected, Fishman has three priorities he will push: first, he plans on reformatting the entire MUS financial policy to prioritize the greatest stakeholders of the MUS – the students. Second, he plans to emphasize the transparency of the MUS amongst the students of Bronfman. According to Fishman, the MUS should place the fiscal priorities of students before those of corporations; otherwise, the trust the students – the primary, and most important stakeholders – have placed in the MUS would be, in a way, denounced. He, by no means, undervalues the role of corporate relations – he’s served as VP Corporate Relations in the MUS for the past two years. It is his experience and intimate understanding of relations between corporations and the MUS that drive him to re-prioritize students. He also plans on using his extensive experience to reform and modernize the ways by which the MUS partners with corporations, standardizing each portfolio and ensuring its efficiency. His third and final priority as MUS president would be to ensure that the MUS brand “grows without bounds.” Distinguishing between high-risk and low-risk events, Fishman highlights the importance of re-emphasizing all the academic and career initiatives expounded by the MUS – all the while without compromising the already-established, social aspect of B.Com life. Fishman is committed to campaigning as genuinely as possible – as someone with extensive experience in the various different portfolios of the MUS, he says he is the choice for those who want to see improvements in the MUS without compromising its well-established reputation.
Aarushi Kumar
A third year student studying International Management, Aarushi Kumar says that she would not be running for the MUS presidency if she didn’t believe herself to be the best person for the job. Kumar’s platform consists of five points summed up into one convenient acronym: S.Q.U.A.D. SQUAD stands for Sustainability, Quality, Uniformity, Acknowledgement, and Dedication. If elected as MUS president, she vows to ensure the MUS is sustainable, both in the long-term and short-term; to uphold the quality of MUS events and functions; to integrate and ensure uniformity amongst different groups all around Bronfman; to acknowledge the incredible achievements of her constituents; and show dedication to the responsibilities of the office. Kumar emphasized her vast experience with the MUS, pointing to her experience as VP Academic and her experience working with a diverse number of portfolios throughout the years. Kumar plans to improve student life through reaching all the avenues through which MUS students express themselves, whether it be academic, philanthropic, or social. As for internal restructuring of the MUS and the Board of Directors, Kumar plans to continue a previously-proposed five-year-plan.
Alan Liu
Alan Liu, a fourth year majoring in economics with a concentration in accounting, centres his platform on three tenets he believes are essential for MUS students: Good Grades, Good Job, and Good Life. With “Good Grades,” Liu seeks to focus on the academic experience of B.Com students through the expansion of MUS Tutorial Services to include a wider range of classes. As MUS President, he also vows to initiate of discussion with the faculty on raising the current 65-74.99% class average for all Management courses. With regards to “Good Job,” Liu hopes to establish a “Job Committee” for students with secured employment to connect previous alumni with current students seeking summer or full-time employment, to not only aid Desautels students in their career search, but also to strengthen alumni relations. Finally, Liu aims to improve relations with external groups as they pertain to MUS events to ensure smooth operation of these events in the future, as well as focus on reducing the environmental footprint of Desautels, to ensure a “Good Life” for all B.Com students. In all of these areas, Liu intends to collaborate with parties and individuals with previous institutional knowledge and experience. Liu also pinpoints the conflict of interest with the MUS President’s role as head of the Board of Directors, as well as the improvement of the two-way relationship between students and professors, as issues he plans to address. Despite being the only candidate with no prior MUS Executive Council or Board of Directors experience, Liu believes that this should not be an issue in his efficacy as MUS President. He cites his experience in extracurricular involvements such as Financial Open, the Desautels Case Competition, the McGill Management International Case Competition, and many other leadership roles as relevant experiences that will aid him in effectively fulfilling the President role.
