After multiple semesters of suspensions and complications for the Graduate Student Government, its new president is looking to reset.
Ramachandra Kulkarni, a graduate student studying information technology, is the organization's fifth president since Fall 2024, according to GSG's public records and prior reporting by The State Press. Each of ASU's four undergraduate student governments only had two presidents in the same time span.
Two of those GSG presidents faced impeachment proceedings. Ravi Teja Chopparapu, the organization's president at the start of the Fall 2024 semester, was impeached, and a petition for impeachment was filed against Bhagvan Reddy Vemula before he resigned from the position this year.
READ MORE: Graduate Student Government President Ravi Teja Chopparapu is impeached by Assembly
That rotation in leadership has been accompanied by impacts on the University's graduate students.
After threatening to freeze GSG in summer 2024 over policy compliance issues, the University paused GSG in summer 2025 and froze it this January, records and past reporting show.
Kulkarni said a freeze is placed on student organizations to stop their operations until certain criteria are met. During a pause, there are no criteria that the student organizations can work toward to lift the pause.
Gia Quintero, a doctoral student studying advanced nursing practice and president of the Graduate Nurses Organization, said recent suspensions of GSG have impacted funding for club events like its fall social.
"Being able to host that event increases engagement and membership for sure," Quintero said. "Building those meaningful professional and community experiences for our members and future members is so important."
READ MORE: Investigation into GSG concluded as students express concerns about dysfunction
Quintero said funding requests were denied during the summer pause, and the Graduate Nurses Organization had to draw from its own funds for the fall social.
"Fortunately enough, we were able to sustain that," Quintero said. "However, after this previous fall social, it definitely did take a hit to our funding efforts. It just really shows how impactful the funding is for us."
Kexin Tang, a doctoral student studying East Asian languages and civilizations and an officer of the East Asian Studies Graduate Students Association, said in a written statement that the January freeze did not affect club events.
"However, the pause last semester required us to cancel our annual gathering for the student body," Tang said in the written statement.
Kulkarni was confirmed as president on Jan. 24. In a letter, a University administrator said his confirmation helped GSG lift the freeze.
Following Reddy Vemula's resignation, Kulkarni became the next president of GSG through the succession process outlined in the organization's constitution, which states that the president shall be succeeded by the vice president of internal affairs, he said.
However, Kulkarni said the vice president of internal affairs at the time declined the position, and as vice president of external affairs, he was next in line.
To prevent more suspensions in the future, Kulkarni said GSG is currently implementing plans to create standard operating procedures and improve documentation of financial information. A major reason GSG was paused over the summer was misuse of funding and improper documentation, according to a letter from the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities to GSG.
"The process is clear, if somebody is trying to spend X amount of money on a travel, they'll understand what part of that money goes to actual travel, and what part goes to the taxes, and what part can be utilized as food, what will be per diem and other things," Kulkarni said.
READ MORE: University investigation alleges misuse of funds, hostile culture in GSG
GSG did not previously have documentation of spending, Kulkarni said. If there is documentation, GSG will be able to more easily lift a future suspension and give the University records of its spending.
In his term, Kulkarni said he also plans to settle ongoing financial issues by providing students with services that have already been approved, like expanding the availability of campus bike co-ops to graduate students.
"We transferred out a couple thousand dollars to both USG Tempe and USG (Polytechnic), making them provide that particular service for the graduate students as well," Kulkarni said.
According to Kulkarni, GSG was not well known among students or communicative enough in the past. He encouraged graduate students to reach out with any issues they may have.
"We are your fellow students," Kulkarni said. "No student should have a second thought while reaching out to us."
While GSG has duties it must fulfill, Kulkarni said its officers will still do their best to help resolve student issues.
"I cannot guarantee that everything will be corrected in this time, but we can at least start the process to correct it," Kulkarni said.
Edited by Carsten Oyer, Henry Smardo, Sophia Braccio and Pippa Fung.
Reach the reporter at msweador@asu.edu and follow @miasweador on X.
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