“It wasn’t like I picked her it was more of a mutual agreement,” Kulangara said. “Together we’re very balanced.”
Kulangara began as a senator for the class of 2015 and has served as the USG vice president of GSB for the last year. For Kulangara, the step to executive board gave him a wider perspective of USG and the school, which he hopes to bring to his campaign.
“Thinking about decisions for the whole USG, taking more of a big picture look at it, thinking more about the direction of USG and what we want to convey as a whole, so I think [e-board’s] really given me that perspective,” Kulangara said.
He believes his experience on USG, especially chairing the Gabelli Dean’s Council has prepared him for his executive run.
“I’ve had to manage a group of people and get them to act like a think tank, because if I came in and chaired dean’s council with just my own initiatives like ‘this is what we’re gonna do’ and not listen to what people are doing, are saying to why people joined Dean’s Council in the first place, it’s kind of defeating the whole purpose,” Kulangara said.“When you enter into a leadership role, you can spearhead your own initiatives, but…it’s more about creating the right environment to foster ideas.”
Besides his work as USG vice president of GSB and chairing Dean’s Council, Kulangara is the founder and president of Fordham’s chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) and volunteers with the Edge SAT prep to help students from Mount Saint Ursula in all aspects of college prep.
Kulangara’s also going to chair the Gabelli Club Council, which hopes to unite all the business clubs under a council to provide more direction.
“We just felt that GSB clubs just kinda did their own thing and never really collaborated as much as they should,” Kulangara said. “They often hosted competitive events that they just should have held together.”
Kulangara and Skrobala hope to bring this collaborative effort to their campaign, despite the fact that the two have strong academic roots.
“Skrobala was very involved in FCRH Dean’s Council; I’ve been very involved in the Gabelli side,” Kulangara said. “At the same time, we’ve also worked on things, like Fordham Student Holdings – it isn’t a Gabelli thing, it’s a Fordham wide-thing. Sarah’s worked on budget committee, accessibility that’s for everyone. Having that core origination in academics, but also stepping out of that into student life, makes us a good team.”
Kulangara has been doing most of the “on-the-ground” work, while Skrobala has been doing the non-physical tasks while studying abroad in Spain. He has been in charge of gathering signatures and interacting with students, which he says it has been an eye-opening experience.
“The biggest thing, which is a huge concern, the most pressing thing, is that I tell people I’m running for president of USG and they say ‘what is that?’” Kulangara said. “They don’t know what the acronym stands for, let alone what USG does. I think what’s great about interacting is that you can share USG: what USG does, why it’s important to vote, why it’s important to know who the senators are.”
Formal campaigning begins after the official meeting with the election commission on April 2.
Kelly Kultys is Editor-in-Chief in The Fordham Ram.
