Students Take Their Message to Capitol Hill
Feature Story by Eddy Morales, Vice President, USSA - 4/6/2005
Students from 60 college campuses in 17 states descended on Capitol Hill in late March, demanding easier access to higher education through lower costs.The Annual National Student Lobby Day, sponsored by the United States Student Association (USSA), brings advocates together to lobby members of Congress on issues that affect all students.
"The U.S. Senate heard students and prioritized higher education with the passage of the Kennedy amendment which restored 5.4 billion dollars in education funding for students across the country," said Ajita Talwalker, president of USSA. "They will continue to hear our voices ring loudly throughout the budget and appropriations process."
Frustrated with attacks on their right to an education, Lobby Day participants insisted that Congress restore the proposed cuts to higher education. They also demanded that reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA) defend and expand federal programs that make college more accessible.
Students say that federal legislation plays a large role in whether American families have the financial support and programs necessary to be able to pay for college.
"Many of our elected officials just see numbers when we talk about the need for increases to higher education," said Jenn Pae, president of the Associated Students of the University of California-San Diego and a USSA board member. "When you think of the Pell Grant, when you think of LEAP, when you think of the Perkins Loan, remember me. I am a face in the numbers."
Prior to the Lobby Day, students attended USSA's 36th National Grassroots Legislative Conference. The three-day conference included workshops on Social Security, HEA reauthorization, and election reform. Students also attended legislative briefings and skills-building presentations.
"USSA's Grassroots Legislative Conference empowered and gave me the skill to lobby legislators on Capitol Hill," said Fernando Ramirez, a student at the University of California, Santa Barbara. "This conference was crucial to students, especially in a time when higher education is on the cutting block."
The conference featured a panel addressing the current challenges to financial aid funding, that included Robert Shireman, director of the Institute of College Access and Success, and Stephanie Giesecke, director of Budget and Appropriations for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.
Another event honored members of Congress for their work on increasing access to higher education. The Congressional awardees included Rep. Tom Petri, R-Wisc., Rep. Dale Kildee, D-Mich., Sen. Susan M. Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
Founded in 1947, USSA has been recognized as the voice for students on Capitol Hill, in the White House, and the Department of Education. The groups advocates that education is a right, and works on building grassroots power among students to win concrete victories that expand access to education at the federal, state and campus levels.
