Abhi Gulati, junior in software engineering, is one of two candidates for SGA treasurer. The questions and Gulati's responses can be seen below. Elections will be held Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Q: What specifically do you think SGA has done in the past year that you would look to build on or reform moving forward?
A: One of SGA’s major accomplishments this last year, thanks largely to the current Treasurer Dixon Simmons, was opening up the Personal Finance course to all students. As I explained, I would love to build upon this progress by offering more resources for help students to become financially secure, including potentially opening more sections for the personal finance course.
Q: Why do you care about Auburn University as a whole?
A: For most of my adolescent life, I have strived to live by a quote from Chuck Palahniuk: “Don’t do what you want. Do what you don’t want. Do what you’re trained not to want. Do the things that scare you the most.” Auburn is special to me because it has constantly challenged me to get out of my comfort zones by meeting new people and trying new experiences. The Auburn community makes you feel welcomed and valued wherever you are, whether in SGA or the Be Well Hut. There is not a prevailing sense of superiority when you are in a certain group or hold a certain position: Auburn’s students genuinely want to learn from each other and make each other feel welcome to an extent that I have not seen at other universities. Auburn has provided me with more valuable experiences and friends than I could have imagined, and I’d be honored to be able to give back to it.
Q: What are the top priorities in your platform?
A: My top two priorities are Financial Literacy and Sustainability.
Auburn has historically lagged behind competing schools in metrics measuring students’ access to and knowledge of basic financial literacy topics. These include personal budgeting, investing for retirement and paying off student debt. This year, I have spent much of my term contacting and researching how other universities, including Indiana University and USF, have implemented their financial literacy programming. I want to build upon this research by working with the administration to explore the feasibility of opening an Office of Financial Literacy on campus, complete with resources such as professional and peer advising and hosting regular seminars.
Last summer, I worked for a group called Students for Carbon Dividends (S4CD), a nonpartisan group tasked with advocating for free-market solutions to climate change. As a team leader, I worked closely with researchers from Yale to develop and advocate for an Internal Carbon Charge on college campuses. This incentive system has already been employed by many Fortune 500 companies, and it has only recently started to be employed at universities. I want to use my experience and connections from S4CD to explore bringing an Internal Carbon Charge system to campus. This is truly a great opportunity for Auburn to become a national leader in sustainability and partner itself with top research institutions.
Q: What experiences have had the biggest impact on your Auburn experience?
A: Probably my favorite single Auburn experience was my participation in LeaderShape in 2017. At the end of my Freshman year, I was disillusioned with Auburn’s community, having been rejected from Freshman Leadership Program and other groups I wanted to join. LeaderShape opened my eyes to people from all over campus that I never would have met otherwise, and it forced me to self-reflect and decide what I really wanted from my college experience. The friends I made, perspectives I saw, and self-realizations I had made LeaderShape my favorite part of my Auburn experience.
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