Students from Utah’s private and public colleges rallied to fight a large tuition increase on the steps of the state Capitol Wednesday, but the rally received little attention from state legislators.
Rep. Afton Bradshaw, R-Salt Lake City, said the major problem with the rally was poor planning.
The legislators were invited to a luncheon in downtown Salt Lake at noon, which happened to be the same time the rally began. The half-dozen lawmakers who attended the rally were gone more than 10 minutes after it began.
The state’s ever-sliding tax revenue shortfall has forced lawmakers to make deep cuts in the state’s higher-ed budget. Many presidents of state institutions believe raising tuition is the only hope for adequate funding next year.
Student leaders organized the rally to inform the Legislature of student issues. These leaders rank tuition as their No. 1 priority, but they are also concerned about state financial aid and capital facility funding.
Less than 130 students attended the rally, about half of whom were U students.
Bradshaw believes the poor attendance may be a result of a “feeling that there is not much anyone can do” to improve the state’s bleak economic picture.
Snow College student Geoff Neil agrees that the rally, and the student lobbying effort lacks the planning it needs, but he attended the rally anyway.
“In my honest opinion, we are too late. Our approach needs to be more personal. The legislators aren’t going to come out of the Capitol to see us,” Neil said.
In 2001, Neil was involved with the student-lobbying process as a member of the statewide student government called the Utah Intercollegiate Assembly.
“Last year, many legislators told us they did not even know we had a rally. Students must meet their lawmakers to make a difference. It is harder to be turned down in person,” he continued.
Minority Whip Patrice Arent, D-Salt Lake, said although rallies are an important part of the process, there are other more effective ways to inform and influence legislators. Arent suggested that higher education learn about lobbying from public education’s successes.
Public education officials have started a large campaign to get students, parents and teachers to email their legislator or speak to him or her on the phone, or in person.
At the rally, Steve Palmer, Utah Student Association president, announced the organization of a Web site created for this purpose?www.utahstudent.org. The site is scheduled to start Monday.
When the Web site is completed, students will be able to find the email address, as well as other contact information for each senator and representative. The Web site will also track bills affecting higher education, enabling students to track their lawmakers’ decisions regarding them.
“The Web site is still in its infancy. Eventually it will hold legislators responsible to their constituent?the student,” said Ben Lowe, U student body president.
Students from as far away as Dixie State College of Utah, attended the rally.
Eight students drove two hours to represent the students of the College of Eastern Utah. CEU student body representative Braydon Neilsen said 120 minutes in a car is a simple sacrifice to help decrease a potentially large tuition increase next year.
More than 80 percent of CEU’s 3,000 students pay for college with the help of financial aid, Pell grants or scholarships, he said. “A large increase in tuition would limit students’ ability to pay and they would not be able to go to college,” he continued.
At the rally Sen. Carlene Walker, R-Salt Lake, encouraged students to find a well-paying summer job.
“Tuition is going to go up,” she said, but that should not discourage students from taking an active role in the tuition fight.
Bradshaw, who is co chairwoman of the Higher Education Appropriation Committee, believes the students still have some time.
“It’s early. This is the first week of the session,” she said.
Because of the split legislative session due to the Olympics and the economic situation, the efforts of this year’s student leaders can’t be compared to any previous year.
“We still have some time and we can’t stop fighting until the end of the battle,” Lowe said.
After the budget is finalized in at the end of the legislative session in March, the presidents of all state institutions and the state Board of Regents will decide a final tuition increase for each college and university.