ASU President Michael Crow participated in an open forum telecast hosted on the Downtown campus Tuesday afternoon to answer questions from students on all four campuses.
The forum was held in the auditorium located in the College of Nursing and Health Innovation II building, where Crow addressed a variety of inquiries from students, including the implication of the facility fee, the current state of ASU athletic performances and raising tuition.
When asked about his opinion about the possible effects of the facility fee, Crow responded by noting the importance student government plays in helping to create a successful and well-rounded university.
“When students say to others, ‘Please, I want the university to be better; I want the quality of the university to be enhanced; I want the brand name to be approved; I want education to come forth more over time as I go out into the world,’ this is when (student government) can say, ‘This is what we are investing in with such options as the facility fee,’” Crow said.
Crow also spoke about the importance of unwavering fan support of the football teams and their efforts.
“I find our fans to be overly fickle, and what I mean by fickle is that you don’t stand by your team only when they win, you stand by your team to help them win,” Crow said. “My biggest disappointment in football is to see our team playing at the highest possible level, playing Georgia, playing Stanford, and then seeing fans booing our own players. I have never seen anything like it.”
Director of Student Engagement for the Downtown campus Cassandra Aska said the depth of Crow’s explanation regarding the efforts of the ASU football team was a reflection of all of his responses.
“Crow was genuine in answering the student questions,” she said. “He was thorough and patient, which was important in allowing the students to really see what Crow is like as a person and as a leader. Crow did an excellent job of fully explaining himself.”
Golf management sophomore Mike Bojorquez said he thought Crow’s answers were helpful to better understand questions surrounding the cost of tuition in upcoming years.
“It would be very helpful for tuition to stay where it is, keep it stable,” he said. “I doubted they could reduce (tuition,) but it’s nice to know that ASU is trying to keep the cost more constant instead of raising it more and more.”
Crow said, in terms of raising the cost of tuition, ASU’s first priority was to maintain accessibility.
Crow outlined three main criteria in the quest for maintaining accessibility at ASU.
“With or without the legislature we will make it work,” he said. “However, we believe the legislature has a constitutional, moral and civic duty to invest in high education.”
Editor’s note: Jessica Abercrombie is an ASASUD senator representing the Walter Cronkite School.
Contact the reporter at jmabercr@asu.edu
