University administrators have systematically intervened in Graduate Student Government, according to documentation provided by GSG leaders.
Kelly Baur, the GSG president and a doctoral student studying linguistics, and Michael Kintscher, the GSG Assembly president and a doctoral student studying computer science, accused University officials of interfering in student government proceedings to restrict staff from participating in GSG. Restricting University employees from running, as well as voting, in student government elections was decided by administration against GSG leaders' advice, Baur said.
"It's a made-up rule that doesn't exist anywhere written down," Baur said.
While GSG advisers Cassandra Aska and Jen O'Brien provided a statement, neither of them were available for an interview.
"We are aware of GSG's disagreement regarding the ineligibility of staff members who also take classes to serve in GSG leadership roles," Aska and O'Brien wrote in the statement. "As advisors, we will continue to work closely with GSG to address these concerns and clarify eligibility criteria. While our guidance has been based on existing frameworks, we remain committed to working collaboratively to improve clarity and communication."
Baur replaced former GSG President Nirav Shah — who took over after the impeachment of former President Ravi Teja Chopparapu, according to a joint statement released Sept. 9, 2024 — in January.
READ MORE: Graduate Student Government President Ravi Teja Chopparapu is impeached by Assembly
Once Baur was GSG president, she said she was hamstrung by the administration's inconsistency on whether University staff members could also serve on GSG after attempting to hire a University employee as her chief of staff.
In an email chain provided by Baur between her and O'Brien from December to January concerning the appointment of Baur's chief of staff, O'Brien wrote, "Typically we would not have someone who is primarily staff being in a student leader position."
The GSG public roster shows that the student Baur proposed appointing, and who O'Brien said could not serve as chief of staff, currently serves as an Assembly member and is a University employee. In the chain, O'Brien wrote that no University staff can be in student government, while the chief of staff candidate had been in a student leadership role prior.
"I know this would impact the current team and is something that impacts graduate student experiences in general," O'Brien wrote in January.
Additionally, Baur provided an email showing that a part-time staff member and enrolled graduate student was unable to vote in the 2025 elections, a distinction from past years. She said that has happened to multiple students.
However, there is no written preclusion of staff members for any GSG office in the organization's elections code, bylaws or constitution.
A GSG student government member has to be a student who is enrolled in at least one credit hour, according to the GSG Constitution.
Aska encouraged the organization to write a proposal to include staff in election eligibility during a publicly recorded GSG Assembly meeting on March 25. Baur and Kintscher repeatedly asked for clarification on the force of the administration's decision.
Kintscher said in the meeting that the administration's behavior was "most concerning."
"It sounds like a decision has been made without our input," Kintscher said. "We don't have any way to change that other than to beg whoever we're writing this proposal for."
Aska acknowledged the disagreement with Kintscher shortly after. Aska said the decision had already been made by the administration as Baur repeatedly pressed her for an answer, according to the meeting.
Despite the lack of explicit restrictions on staff in student government, Kintscher said at least two students were disqualified from running in the 2025 GSG election. When the GSG Assembly had their candidacies reinstated, one candidate continued to run and won their election.
However, Baur and Kintscher said University administration is now invalidating that victory.
Brandon Favre, a GSG Assembly member who has served in multiple roles since 2018 and is currently a doctoral student studying molecular and cellular biology, said the antagonism of GSG by administration has been unusual.
"Lately, it feels like these policies are coming out of thin air, which is disturbing," Favre said.
Favre said GSG benefits from the presence of staff members.
"Grad students who don't get paid enough become staff," Favre said. "We need their perspective."
Baur said the University's inconsistency on the issue, as well as the lack of clear articulation of its own policy and its insistence that GSG write a proposal that would not be considered by the administration, is intended to stall the graduate student body.
"What they do is waste your time until you give up or move on or burn out," Baur said.
In the recorded meetings, Aska justifies the decision to exclude staff on the basis that their inclusion would deny involvement opportunities to non-staff students.
However, Favre disputed that rationale and called it "disingenuous," particularly given the apparently recent nature of the decision.
Baur said GSG tends to pursue goals that can stand contrary to University interests, such as reducing or eliminating student fees and providing healthcare coverage to international students.
READ MORE: GSG renounces new fees proposed by Council of Presidents
Kintscher said graduate students are "more likely to speak out or protest or question decisions administration makes," and that administration's choices purposely "disempower our space."
For Baur, the administration's lack of clarity, and ultimate refusal to allow staff on GSG, is representative of a broader attempt to weaken the student government while still maintaining an appearance of student power.
"If they disagree with what you're doing, they don't say no because they want to continue to pretend like it's a student-led space," Baur said. "They want to continue to pretend that there's a facade of autonomy and sovereignty within the student government."
Edited by George Headley, Abigail Beck and Natalia Jarrett.
Reach the reporter at coyer1@asu.edu and follow @carstenoyer on X.
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Carsten is a freshman studying journalism and mass communication. This is his first semester with The State Press. He also worked as his high school's newspaper editor-in-chief.
