Learn more about Erika Green’s grassroots platform, ASA experience and disqualification.
Little else can be said about USGD President Joseph Grossman that hasn’t been said before — mostly by him.
During the two presidential debates this election season, Grossman focused on his experience from this year, highlighting his accomplishments at the Arizona Capitol and saving students money.
“I care enough for students that I’m going to work hard for students,” Grossman said. “I love this job. I love being a public servant.”
One of the current initiatives Grossman touted at the debate was his administration pushing for solutions to the issue of textbook affordability.
Vice President of Services David Bakardjiev said textbook affordability is one of the most important issues on the horizon for students.
Grossman said he has spoken with instructors at ASU about signing a pledge to use the same book for several years, allowing students to trade books and cut costs.
When an initiative to increase the technology fee came up, Grossman said he fought that as well.
“People think affordability is tuition, but there’s so much more than that,” he said.
Other than working on affordability, Grossman said he has tackled student problems on campus, too.
After a statistics professor was forced to leave in the middle of the semester, Grossman said he worked to make sure the College of Public Programs students enrolled could drop the class without having to get a “withdraw” on their transcript.
He said he also fixed a business class problem, where seniors couldn’t get into a class they needed to graduate.
During the Downtown Devil Presidential Debate, Grossman said he is also starting to work to fix scheduling conflicts within the School of Nutrition and Health Promotion.
Grossman’s Vice President of Services Leighana Moldrem praised Grossman’s attitude.
“I feel like he is a fighter and he doesn’t back down, he knows what he stands for and he doesn’t let anyone take that from him,” she said.
In the community, Grossman pointed to the Food Truck Fiestas as a place he positively impacted downtown Phoenix.
One of his newest proposals is a program where students can call up a cycle rickshaw and ride it for free around the downtown area.
He said this would help bring students out to places nearby that they might not want to walk to.
“I don’t think anyone can stand up and say we haven’t done anything for the city,” Grossman said.
During the debates, his opponent, Erika Green, said students have come up to her with plenty of issues around campus that need to be addressed, such as more parking around campus and eateries downtown that accept Maroon and Gold Dollars.
Nearly every time Green brought up something that needed to be changed, Grossman would rebut, saying his administration has already tried addressing that issue.
“Everything she brought up we’re already doing or working on,” he said.
Contact the reporter at connor.radnovich@asu.edu
Domenico Nicosia contributed to this report.
