Joe VanGostein, Gabelli School of Business at Lincoln Center (GSBLC) ’22 and United Student Government (USG) secretary, was elected president of USG on April 14 in a 204-134 vote over USG treasurer Joey Moyer, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’22. VanGostein ran on a four-prong platform of fighting for racial justice, COVID-19 activism, sustainability and Lincoln Center pride. 

The president-elect’s policies aim to create a more progressive Lincoln Center campus and begin to correct some of the social and political disparities exposed by the coronavirus pandemic. 

VanGostein is best known as “USG Joe,” which comes from his Instagram handle that he started when he ran for Gabelli class senator in his freshman year.

As president, he believes that his @USGJoe Instagram account will continue to be an open and effective line of communication between him and Lincoln Center students. USG also plans to launch a website this year. VanGostein said the current USG president Loreen Ruiz, FCLC ’21, has been working on it for the last year. 

The president-elect’s main priority is environmental sustainability, something he’s been proud to fight for since his first year.

“It’s (the website) on the cusp of being uploaded; we’re just finalizing it, dotting our i’s, crossing our t’s,” VanGostein said. He thinks the site will help encourage involvement and publicize the government and its campaigns.

The president-elect’s main priority is environmental sustainability, something he’s been proud to fight for since his first year. Until 2020, Fordham was making strides in sustainability through a reusable cup and bag program, composting bins on the plaza and monthly meetings with environmental consultants. The implementation of COVID-19 regulations on campus, however, meant that “plastic has made its nefarious return to campus,” he said.

In the fall, VanGostein aims to reinstate and improve these programs.

“Even if it was happening, it wasn’t happening well,” he said. VanGostein criticized Argo Tea specifically, explaining that when students would bring their personal reusable cups to Argo, the workers would use plastic cups to measure out the drinks before immediately discarding them. 

He thinks the university’s composting plan can also be improved by placing bins in the dining hall “where they’d get the most use.” VanGostein hopes Fordham’s facilities can get to the point where “they don’t even need to order plastic cups.”

“My role would be to put these people on pedestals. I’m definitely cognizant of stepping into a role that was held the last two years by two women of color.” Joe VanGostein, GSB ’22

He is also committed to ensuring racial and social justice on campus. When dealing with the administration, he acknowledges that as a white man he wants to give a voice to those students marginalized on the basis of race, class, gender or sexuality. 

“My role would be to put these people on pedestals,” VanGostein said. “I’m definitely cognizant of stepping into a role that was held the last two years by two women of color.” 

Going forward, VanGostein said he wants Fordham to remember that Black lives still matter and that demanding racial justice was not a summer trend.

In order to accomplish anything next year, VanGostein said he will need increased involvement and attendance at USG meetings.

Last year, he helped start the Focused Initiative for Race Equity at Fordham, a cross-campus organization that reached out to all Fordham clubs to demand they be actively anti-racist in their communications and club activities. 

The lack of halal options on campus is another issue that VanGostein wants to confront. He said it is unacceptable given Fordham’s large Muslim population. To remedy the lack of halal options, he said he would like to replace Bon Mi, whose building Fordham owns, with halal food. If that doesn’t work, he said adding halal options to the Community Dining Hall would be the next best option. 

VanGostein hopes to see campus operations return to normal this fall, but even with the requirement for all students to be vaccinated, he acknowledged that “a lot of students are worried about coming back.” 

To ensure students’ well-being, he wants hybrid options to remain, given the uncertainty of new strains and the unsteady vaccination rate in other countries. 

In order to accomplish anything next year, VanGostein said he will need increased involvement and attendance at USG meetings. “Everyone’s invited to these meetings,” he said. “You don’t have to ever have communicated with us.” 

For students looking to make changes, VanGostein instructed them to “Email the deans, email Father McShane. If you want something done, don’t be afraid to do it.”

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article misstated that VanGostein was a GSB class senator; it has been updated to reflect that VanGostein was the 2020-21 USG secretary.