Time for GUSA to go out on a Lamb

The Voice editorial board endorses Jeff Lamb (MSB ’10) and Molly Breen (MSB ’11) in this year’s GUSA executive election. Lamb and Breen’s collective leadership experience, focus on campus safety, and demonstrated ability and willingness to work constructively with University administrators on vital campus projects best qualifies them to represent the interests of Georgetown’s undergraduate student body for the next year.

Lamb and Breen both would bring significant leadership experience to GUSA. As President of the Georgetown University Student Investment Fund, Lamb has experience both working with administrators on behalf of a group of students and managing finances. Breen brings substantial experience initiating programs. She founded the Georgetown chapter of Party for a Cause, an organization which hosts fundraising events for lesser-known charities. As Chapter President of Party for a Cause, Breen’s role involves substantial fundraising efforts; the organization has raised $20,000 since its arrival here at Georgetown. This demonstrated ability to turn a program idea into reality would serve her well as Vice President.

Lamb and Breen have placed campus safety at the top of their priority list—exactly where it needs to be. This priority shows both maturity—this is not just another ticket promising an overhaul of the alcohol policy—and the recognition that, if students do not feel safe on and around campus, other initiatives must be treated as secondary. The candidates have proposed creative ways to enhance security on campus, including a SafeWalks program, which would recruit students to walk their peers home late at night and would use less money than a vast expansion of the SafeRides program or the hiring of additional DPS officers. The SafeWalks program shows that Lamb and Breen possess a keen sense of how to serve student interests while keeping costs low in a tough economic climate.

Lastly, Lamb and Breen have shown a degree of personal initiative unmatched by the other tickets. Recognizing the potential financial and environmental benefits of a set of functioning solar panels on the roof of ICC, Lamb contacted Karen Frank, Vice President for Facilities and Student Housing, to find out why the panels have not been repaired and what it would take to repair them. This keen eye for finding ways to reduce the University’s energy consumption and to cut costs is exactly what Georgetown needs as it watches its endowment rapidly shrink.

Possessing the requisite leadership experience and striking a healthy balance between creativity, self-motivation, and keen attention to campus safety, Jeff Lamb and Molly Breen deserve every student’s vote in this Tuesday’s GUSA presidential election.