Tuesday’s official Undergraduate Student Government Downtown debate pitted incumbent president and criminal justice junior Joseph Grossman against nonprofit leadership and management sophomore Erika Green.
Grossman spent much of his time citing his previous student government experience, his contribution to uniting the campuses and his administration’s other accomplishments. He often referred to the intercampus Student Spirit Committee, an effort to organize clubs and student government across all four campuses.
“We’ve fallen in line more with the university mission as ‘one university in many places,’” Grossman said. “I’m the best person for the job because I work, I fight. This is the first year we’ve had presidents actively going down to the Capitol lobbying legislators.”
Green stuck to a core message of bringing a “fresh perspective” with “grassroots”-style organization to student government, and spoke about seeking out student opinions and highlighting the “uniqueness” of the Downtown campus.
“I believe I have the ability to bring a fresh perspective to this campus,” Green said. “I want people to see how great ASU can be. … We are ready to take on all of those challenges. We want to make sure we are representing students directly.”
Green emphasized her experiences speaking to students at Taylor Mall as an intern for the Arizona Students’ Association. However, Grossman challenged Green’s level of commitment and political experience.
“Standing at the mall is huge, very, very important,” Grossman said. “The only thing I disagree with is I don’t think you’ve done that at all this year, because I didn’t even know who you were and I’m the student-body president on the campus.”
In response, Green said, “I’m sorry that you didn’t see me out out at the mall, but I have been out there for multiple hours working to register students to vote so that they can voice their opinions, working to inform students on bills that are upcoming about guns on campus, about $2,000 minimum tuition.”
The candidates also discussed the issues of textbook affordability, unequal funding across Arizona universities and interaction with prospective college students.
Also speaking at the debate were the candidates for vice president of policy, vice president of services and College of Public Programs senator.
Grossman’s ticket includes current Vice President of Policy David Bakardjiev, a criminal justice junior, and political science junior Leighana Moldrem for vice president of services. Green is running with health sciences freshman Sally Lopez Bravo as vice president of policy and journalism freshman Travis Moore as vice president of services.
Both Moldrem and Moore spoke about the need to overhaul funding for the rapidly expanding Downtown campus.
“We are growing and it’s very important to allocate that money to the student (groups) that need it,” Moldrem said.
Moore agreed and tied the funding issue to student support of local businesses. “I feel it’s only a start. We have given funding and opportunities to organizations on campus and off campus, but we can do more. We have not gotten involved enough in the community itself,” Moore said.
Alec Tripp, a nursing senior, believed that Grossman had a stronger performance at the debate than Green.
“You could see Erika’s inexperience,” Tripp said. “The difference is very clear-cut. Joe can list specific examples of what he’s done for as long as you let him talk.”
After the debate, both executive candidates were confident about the performances of their respective tickets.
“I think it went great,” Grossman said. “In particular, I think (Moldrem) did an excellent job articulating her experience and why I chose her. I’m proud of who I’m running with.”
“I think it went very well, I feel like we’ve learned a lot for future debates,” Green said. “We’ve been completely preparing with each other, going over exactly what we believe. Next time, we’re going to make it more concise. We’re going to focus on specific issues. We’re here now, and we’re seeing where the campus is now. We have a better connection to represent all the students as a whole.”
Contact the reporter at bkutzler@asu.edu
