Mike Wolanin | The Republic Sean Burton, candidate for Columbus Mayor, waits in line to check in for the Put People First Town Hall by the local chapter of Hoosier Action at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Columbus, Ind., Monday, Oct. 9, 2023. Members of the public listened to and engaged with candidates for city council and mayor about issues facing people living in Columbus.
An error has been reported regarding a mayoral candidate’s educational background.
The Republic previously reported that independent candidate Sean Burton had a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Indiana Wesleyan University.
Burton’s exact words were that he had studied business administration at the school. However, his LinkedIn profile indicated that he held a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
Burton notified The Republic of the error over the weekend.
“I wanted to clear something up about my education,” he said in an email. “When we spoke I had indicated that I studied business administration at Indiana Wesleyan University. Which is true. Tonight, however, a friend of mine showed me a small profile in the paper that indicates that I have a Bachelors in Business Administration. Which is not true. While I definitely value my time at IWU…I stopped taking classes because, at the time, I couldn’t afford it. I got myself into the work force with full intentions of finishing and just never did. I certainly apologize if any of my commentary was misleading. Nobody in my spot wants to come right out and say that they didn’t finish college. However, it would be an insult to my integrity to allow that to go unchecked.”
When told about what his LinkedIn profile stated, Burton said he was “not sure why I indicated that on LinkedIn at any point.” He added that he has not been on the social media site for “a number of years.”
