NEWS
WEDNESDAY
m 3, 2017
I
I !
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
BIT BY BIT
CONTINUING COVERAGE OF
INTERNATIONAL FACULTY AT ELON
Dean of business school
ties gap between
students and faculty
Olivia Zayas Ryan
Senior Reporter
@oliviazryan
Each month, Raghu Tadepalli —
in addition to his many responsibili
ties as dean of the Martha and Spen
cer Love School of Business — has
lunch with .senior business students
to discuss their praises and critiques
of the business school.
Tadepalli does not simply hear
complaints from students — he lis
tens to them.
At one of these monthly lunch
es last year, students voiced their
frustrations about the reporting
portions of the business schools
internship requirement. They felt
the essays and reflections required
in addition to the internship were
onerous and redundant.
So Tadepalli made changes. He
worked with his colleagues to mod
ify the internship requirements and
alleviate some of the work. This past
summer, he supervised around 20
interns because he wanted to see
first-hand the work students were
completing to receive internship
credit. Seeing that there were still
redundancies in the work, Tadepalli
helped revise the program further.
Meeting with and listening to
students is not only what Tadepalli
sees as the most important part of
his job, but is also his favorite part.
“I think a large number of stu
dents know my door is open, so
people drop in,” Tadepalli said. “I
think [the students are] really re
spectful and know that there are also
very busy. I’d say that they’re quite a
few students who feel comfortable
dropping in to chat.”
Kristin Barrier, director of op
erations and accreditation in the
Love School of Business, sits in an
office directly across from Tade
palli and witnesses these student
interactions daily.
“Dean Tadepalli has a true open-
door policy, and he often meets with
students who are looking for help or
advice,” Barrier said.
Tadepalli’s move to Elon
Tadepalli began his position as
dean of the Love School of Business
in July 2012. He from Babson Col
lege, where he previously served as
the Murata Dean and professor of
marketing in the E W. Olin Gradu
ate School of Business.
Tadepalli received a bachelor’s
and master’s degree in commerce
with a major in accounting from
Andhra University in India. He
then went on to complete his master
of business administration degree
with a concentration in marketing
from Arizona State University and
earned his doctorate from Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State Uni
versity.
After earning his doctorate,
staff... that we do. Students are real
ly at the center of what we do. Here,
there is no mistake about it: We
are about students. We are about
what students are learning and how
they’re learning and how we are
helping them develop into leaders
for tomorrow.”
Exemplifying leadership
His commitment to listening to
students is also reflected in his lead
ership style. For him, listening to
those he is leading is the most im
portant aspect of leadership.
“I think listening is very import
ant,” Tadepalli said. “When some
one walks into my office, the conver
sation is about them. It’s not about
me. So you have to pay attention to
I THINK A LARGE NUMBER OF STUDENTS KNOW
MY DOOR IS OPEN, SO PEOPLE DROP IN... I’D
SAYTHATTHEY’RE QUITE A FEW STUDENTS WHO
FEEL COMFORTABLE DROPPING IN TO CHAT.
RAGHU TADEPALLI
DEAN OF THE MARTHA AND SPENCER EOVE SCHOOE OF BUSINESS
Tadepalli had several job offers to
complete marketing research, but he
turned down the offers because he
“didn’t see much fun in it.” Tadepalli
wanted to continue doing research,
but was more excited by the idea of
teaching and interacting with stu
dents. This led him to begin working
in higher education.
Tadepalli held faculty and staff
positions at a few other universities
before arriving at Elon almost five
years ago. While it has been a long
time since he last taught in a class
room, he is still able to conduct re
search, and will have a new study
published in a few months.
No matter what position he held,
Tadepalli has always made students
his biggest priority. His dedication
to students is part of the reason he
enjoys — working at Elon; because
the university as a whole mirrors
that same commitment.
“It’s nice to be at a university
campus where there is such an un
divided attention on making sure
that students learn,” Tadepalli said.
“I think it’s a value that permeates
everything that we as, faculty or
what they’re saying.”
Barrier has seen this through
her interactions with him. Barrier
is responsible for general, behind-
the-scenes work and ensuring that
the Love School of Business is meet
ing all of the requirements for the
Association to Advance Collegiate
Schools of Business (AACSB) ac
crediting body. They work together
to meet the requirements and com
plete other projects in the school.
“[His leadership is] very laid-
back and supportive — he trusts
people to do their jobs, and he
makes sure they have the resourc
es needed to accomplish what is
expected in their job,” Barrier said.
“He is incredibly easy to work
with, values my opinions and,
in my view, a great leader for the
business school.”
Junior Franki Filandro had
the opportunity to witness this
leadership and work closely with
Tadepalli when she brought the
business fraternity Delta Sigma Pi
to campus.
Filandro said Tadepalli “suc
ceeds in making himself available
to students,” explaining that he is al
ways around to meet with students
or reach out to them if he hasn’t
seen them in a while. Listening and
staying connected to students is a
part of Tadepalli’s leadership style.
“His style is certainly very open
and almost a backseat kind,” Filan
dro said. “He gives you a chance to
figure it out for yourself and then
guides you in the slightest of ways.
I believe that the whole time he
knows where you should be going,
but he let’s you find it on your own.”
Diversity as a priority
Though many members of the
Elon community believe that in
creasing diversity on campus needs
to be a greater priority, Tadepalli
recognizes this need and works to
bring diverse voices into the busi
ness school. He believes that un
derstanding how to manage diverse
groups is important to excelling in
business and that diversity is one of
the business school’s core values.
He has worked to uphold that
value by implementing diversity ed
ucation initiatives into various class
curriculums and recruiting diverse
faculty and staff members. Current
ly, he said the business school has
about 60 faculty members repre
senting 16 different countries.
On a personal level, of the six
deans at the university, Tadepalli is
the only dean of color; so he sees
the need for diversity first-hand. It
is not uncommon for him to be the
only person of color in a room.
“Yesterday morning I was in a
meeting, there must have been ten
people there, and I was the only
nonwhite in that room,” Tadepalli
said. “Sometimes, you know I kind
of have an out of body experience
and I’m thinking, ‘Wow if I were
looking down upon me, if there
was a picture that was taken, how
would this look?’ And I think, in
that respect, I came here from
Babson College in Massachusetts,
which is very diverse. And so. I’d
say, at Elon I think the values are
there and the respect for diversi
ty is there, but we need more de
monstrable
programs ONLINE
m that re-
gard.”
Former Sigma
Phi Epsilon
president used
racial slur
Alex Hager
Web Producer
@awhager
Elon University junior Owen
Gaffney, former president of the NC
Mu Chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon,
used a racial slur toward a black Elon
senior, according to multiple sources
close to the situation.
According to junior William El-
lick, current president of Sigma Phi
Epsilon, Gaffney and senior Austin
Meekins, who is black, had a dis
agreement at an off-campus frater
nity party over academic standards
with Gaffney, who is white. While
Meekins was outside the party,
which took place the weekend of
April 13, Gaffney indirectly called
Meekins the N-word after he had
left Gaffney’s vicinity.
The fraternity held an emergency
chapter meeting about the incident.
Since the meeting, junior Jordon
McRae, who is black, left the orga
nization and Gaffney stepped down,
both on April 24.
“Three weeks ago, I made a mis
take that deeply hurt members of the
Elon community and those close to
me,” Gaffney said in a statement. ‘Af
terward, the only thing 1 knew to do
was to own up to my mistake. Shortly
after the event, I personally contacted
Austin and apologized to him. I have
since resigned as chapter president. I
am sorry for hurting my fellow stu
dents and my SigEp brothers, and I
am committed to better representing
my university and my fraternity —
which both value a diverse and inclu
sive campus. To those whom I have
offended with my words and actions,
I deeply apologize and ask for your
forgiveness.”
In a statement, Eliick said that “in
a moment of anger, Owen chose the
most hurtful word he could find, and
he unfortunately succeeded in caus
ing deep pain.” Eliick said that he and
the the organization believed Gaffney
was remorseful. He also said this in
cident is not representative of Sigma
Phi Epsilon as a whole.
“This incident does not represent
who we are as a student organization
and member of the Elon community.
We’re committed to earning back the
trust of our peers, faculty and staffi’
Eliick said in the statement.
Elon’s Black Student Union issued
a response to the issue in a letter to
ENN, saying that the incident threat
ened the very existence and agency
of their community, emphasizing an
“unyielding commitment to unity
and a perpetuation of resilience.” In
the letter, which they called a “state
ment of solidarity,” the BSU encour
aged students who feel unsafe to
speak out.
Dan Faill, director of Fraternity
and Sorority Life, said in an email
statement that according to his
knowledge, “the matter has been
referred through the appropriate
University channels.” Faill said that
the incident would fall under the
purview of
J studt: M ONLINE
Conduct.