Students rally in Harrisburg for state funding

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Staff Writer

It began with a beat and a whisper, and it grew from there, until the… It began with a beat and a whisper, and it grew from there, until the thunderous sound of 200 voices reverberated off the domed ceiling at the Pennsylvania State Capitol building.

“Lean on me, if you’re not strong. I’ll be your friend. I’ll help you carry on,” the students sang.

Students from Pitt, Penn State, Temple and Lincoln joined together Tuesday in Harrisburg for the Pennsylvania Association of State-Related Students rally. They made the trip to protest further cuts to state allocations for higher education before Gov. Tom Corbett announces his 2012-2013 budget proposal on Feb. 7.

At 7 a.m., 45 Pitt students boarded a bus outside the William Pitt Union to make the three-hour trek east.

While students made a significant showing, only three members of the legislature attended because the rally was held on a day when the state assembly was not in session. Organizers of the rally said this was because they wanted the rally to happen before Corbett’s budget announcment.

But students at the rally organized by PASS — which has centered on taking student concerns to lawmakers in Harrisburg — did not seem discouraged by the lack of attention from lawmakers. The rally culminated in the heartfelt singing of fight songs and Alma Maters, along with a good bit of dancing.

Robert Beecher, SGB’s Governmental Relations Committee chair, said that Pitt students’ goal was to show legislators how important state-related schools are to the people of Pennsylvania.

“Pennsylvania schools can provide a unique and well-rounded education that’s affordable, and that’s because of their relationship to the state government,” Beecher said.

Matthew Parido, chief of staff for state Sen. Lloyd Smucker, said that funding for higher education is high on his office’s list of priorities. Even so, he predicted spending slashes across the board in the 2012-2013 budget.

“There are going to be cuts at every level of state government,” Parido said.

PASS, an interscholastic organization, was formed in December 2010 in response to Corbett’s election and prospective education budget cuts. PASS advocates for the students from the four state-related schools that are not in the state system of higher education but receive subsidies from the state government.

“We knew that, united, we were stronger,” said Molly Stieber, a former SGB president who helped found PASS. “If you want to work with these legislators, you need them to take you seriously.”

Last February, PASS held its first rally to protest budget cuts. While Corbett originally proposed funding cuts of more than 50 percent to state-related universities, the state budget that passed chopped Pitt’s funding by 19 percent.

To help fill its $40 million budget gap, Pitt raised in-state tuition by 8.5 percent and out-of-state tuition by 4 percent.

Many of the speakers at Tuesday’s rally recounted Corbett’s 2011-2012 budget proposal with palpable scorn.

“It was really hurtful,” Stieber said in reference to the effect of the budget cuts. “That’s the reason there was a lot more negativity this year.”

SGB president James Landreneau, Board member Julie Hallinan and editor of Pitt Political Review Tom Visco spoke on behalf of Pitt students at the rally. Each speaker highlighted the importance of funding higher education by extolling the benefits of the Pitt experience.

“Pitt is an institution that pushes students to strive for the truth in the pillars above us,” Visco said, referencing the four pillars painted on the ceiling of the Capitol Rotunda that represent art, justice, science and religion.

In the spring, PASS will meet again in Harrisburg to hold a second rally. Pitt, along with the other state-related schools, will demonstrate at the Capitol, with University student leaders holding one-on-one meetings with legislators.

But Tuesday was about sparking discourse concerning the looming state budget proposal.

Ryan Brown, president of the Black Caucus of Penn State University, gave an impassioned speech, calling for assistance from elected representatives when it comes time to vote on the budget.

“We aren’t just a quota; we aren’t just a student ID number. We are the future,” he said.