Welcome to the crazy world of Massachusetts politics, where every election cycle produces its own heroes. The Tufts Democrats would like to introduce you to one of our heroes, Democratic candidate for state treasurer Steve Grossman.
Over his life, Steve Grossman has displayed the necessary experience and leadership we need during these tough economic times. After graduating from Princeton University and Harvard Business School and completing his military service, Steve became the president of his family's small business, Grossman Marketing Group. Under Steve's leadership, the company has grown eightfold and remains a small business that represents the best of American values. Steve values and invests in his workers by supporting paid-leave legislation both here in Massachusetts and nationwide. I hope to have a boss as kind and fair as Steve when I graduate from Tufts.
While Steve has never been publicly elected before, he is no stranger to active citizenship. In fact, he was a founding board member of Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth, where he helped commission public policy research that would help grow the middle class. Steve has always been someone who cares deeply about all levels of our community and has worked on many scholarship programs to enable more Boston-area students to complete high school and attend college. He has also been incredibly active in the Boston Jewish community as the chair of the board of trustees at Brandeis University, a former campaign chair of Combined Jewish Philanthropies and a leader in the fight to help free Soviet Jews back in the '80s.
Steve has also been incredibly dedicated to the growth of the Democratic Party over his career. Here in Massachusetts, he was elected party chairperson in 1991. Coming in after the rough elections of 1990, Steve led the party to reclaim many of the lost House and Senate seats in 1992, and he was a key fund-raiser for President Bill Clinton in the presidential election that same year. In 1997, Steve was appointed chairperson of the Democratic National Committee. During his two-year term, Democrats managed to gain seats in the House without losing any seats in the Senate despite scandals in the White House. As a result of this impressive and complete background, Steve is clearly a leader who is committed to social justice and giving a voice to the unheard.
In my opinion, these values fit in remarkably well here at Tufts. But Steve's connections on the Hill go a little further than that. His wife is Professor Barbara Wallace Grossman, the former chair of the Department of Drama and Dance. Anyone who has ever interacted with Barbara knows that she is an amazing leader who has been inspiring Jumbo actors and actresses for the last 19 years. Despite his very busy schedule, Steve always makes time to be on campus for Barbara's shows.
We are extremely honored to welcome Steve Grossman back to Tufts for the Tufts Democrats Kickoff event at 9 p.m. tonight in Braker 001. It is very rare for a student group to hold a kickoff before the student activities fair, but this is not a normal situation. Steve's primary against another Steve, Boston City Councilor-at-Large Steve Murphy (D), is coming up next Tues., Sept. 14. Therefore, we are very fortunate that Steve Grossman is going to spend time with us so close to his election.
To make this event even more enticing, we are incorporating a key element of Steve's campaign: ice cream. Since March, Steve has been going around the Commonwealth visiting different local creameries to find the best scoop in Massachusetts. While I doubt Steve will reveal his favorite ice cream parlor, who is really losing when we are all enjoying ice cream? Therefore, we are going to be scooping out free ice cream from Colleen's in Medford, where Steve launched his Ice Cream Tour. We'll have one of Steve's favorite flavors, mocha chip, in addition to other classic flavors such as vanilla, chocolate and cookie dough.
So I invite you to meet one of our heroes, Steve Grossman, tonight at 9 p.m. in Braker 001. There will be plenty of ice cream for everyone!
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Seth Rau is a junior majoring in International Relations and political science. He is also the president of the Tufts Democrats.
