Cheyney University students walk out!
by Chris Carter
On April 20, 2011 Cheyney University of Pennsylvania students organized and executed a protest in the form of a walkout against the proposed budget cuts from PA Governor Tom Corbett. Organized by campus student leaders, the goals of the event were to educate students about the budget cuts and what they mean for Cheyney University, and sign up students to go to the NAACP March for Education rally in Harrisburg on Tuesday, April 26. Over 250 students participated in the walkout. Faculty and senior administrators walked out of their meetings to support the student effort on the Historic Quadrangle. A small list of speakers welcomed the crowd, sharing information and testimonies.
To the students, the current agenda of our governor is an attack on their future. On March 8, Governor Corbett proposed a budget that slashed the higher education state funding by more than half for the 2011-2012 fiscal year. Simultaneously, he specifically targeted Cheyney University by proposing the elimination of the institution’s two flagship scholarship programs: the Keystone Honors Academy, and the Bond-Hill Graduate Program. Both of these programs were issued through court orders due to past insufficient appropriations from the state to Cheyney University. Since their inception, these programs have played a major role in the resurgence of Cheyney University as a competitive institution of higher education, and provided countless opportunities for the five hundred plus graduates of the programs.
If this agenda comes to pass, the Governor could very well set the institution back from almost 30 years worth of progress. This was immediately recognized by a number of students, and petitions began circulating the campus to send to elected officials. Numerous smaller campaigns were initiated from all different organizations and interested parties including: fraternities and sororities, NAACP leaders, the Student Government Coorperative Association, as well as faculty and staff unions. However, what the leaders of the different parties ultimately realized was that there needed to be a unified student-lead voice from the university rather than a trickle of messages from organizations. Thusly, the students decided to come together to collaborate on the walkout and the rally initiatives.
The theme that has resonated with the students is, “Where’s the Funding,” which has been represented by the acronym “WTF” in national campaigns supported by the United States Student Association. Cheyney University students feel like this budget proposal is an attack on our futures. It indicates the diminishing importance of education and the increase in unfair appropriations to state prisons, as well as tax breaks to oil companies and corporations such as Marcellus Shale.
What Americans need to realize is that agendas that do not prioritize students’ financial futures are not beneficial to America’s future. Further investment must be made to our education systems rather than aggressive divestment. When the majority of working Americans are not weighed down by extreme debts from student loans, the economy will be strengthened from their significant rise in contributions to the economy. Legislature designed from philosophies, such as “the trickle-down” theory, have allowed our nation’s economy to fall into this recession. Continuing more of the same is more than illogical, it is a form of sabotage to future Americans.
Today students must work to organize the different forms of power we possess as US citizens. We have begun to realize the importance of voting in elections and the power it has to combat corporate lobbyists. While student leaders have long organized for elections, the majority of our peers are starting to realize the effect it has on tuition costs, as they continue to rise, and access to higher education, as it becomes less of a reality for more and more Americans. The call for the strengthening of assemblies and coalitions that lead grassroots movements on behalf of people is louder than it has been in years. Organizations such as USSA are the future of the revolution to protect the true interest of the people.
