Ellington

Susana Contreras can’t understand why she is still fighting for her education.

The sophomore struggled to fund her first year at the UW and is now questioning whether she will be able to attend next year. With tuition expected to increase by 14 percent, a proposed $23 million cut to financial aid and the suspension of the State Work Study program, Contreras is uncertain what her future holds.

“[The Husky Promise] is a guarantee; that’s one of the main reasons I came to UW,” Contreras said, referring to the program that has funded her education at the UW. “Now, it may not be a promise anymore … How is [President Mark] Emmert supposed to promise that to anybody when it’s all in the legislative control? … I’m faced with having to go back home to community college and having to downgrade my education.”

Contreras and an estimated 200 UW students from all three campuses congregated in Olympia this past Friday in an effort to make their voices heard. At 7 a.m., at the foot of the George Washington statue, UW-Seattle students loaded into buses and headed south for an afternoon of lobbying. Higher Education Advocacy Day is an annual tradition at the university; this year, the number of participants multiplied in size. To accommodate the nearly 300 students who registered, ASUW and the UW Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS) coordinated transportation, free lunches and individual meetings with legislators.

“[The legislators’] decision-making affects our tuition, our lives and our future. We have something to say, and that’s why I’m here today. With Higher Education Advocacy Day, we can actually corner legislators in their offices,” Contreras said with a laugh. “I don’t think they take us seriously, because the youth doesn’t typically vote, but this should show them otherwise.”

Most students met with legislators from their own district and were organized into groups of six or seven, each with its own leader. Contreras met with Rep. Deb Wallace, D-17th District and chair of the House Higher Education Committee, who she has worked with in the past, as a high-school student and member of LEAP (Latino/a Educational Achievement Project).

“[Legislators] have been very supportive and open to listening,” Contreras said during Friday’s lunch break. “I think on a personal level, seeing me will really help influence their decisions.”

The primary issues of concern were financial aid, local control over tuition and alternative revenue sources. ASUW and GPSS encouraged students to share their personal stories to hammer home their point when meeting with representatives. Particular emphasis was placed on Sen. Derek Kilmer’s (D-26th District) tuition bill (SB 6562), which would give the UW Board of Regents the authority to set tuition at the UW. Current amendments to the bill have placed a 9-percent cap on tuition, although ASUW still questions whether local control would compromise transparency and accountability.

Contreras worried aloud that transferring tuition control to the Board of Regents would be problematic. She questioned how much input students would have considering that UW regents are appointed by the governor, instead of voted in by students. Legislators, at least, are obligated to listen to their constituents.

Wallace echoed this concern.

“I believe that the authority and responsibility [of tuition setting] is with the legislature because it has more public visibility. … I’m concerned that if we let go of that authority, we’ll let go of the state funding as well, and it’s important that we balance those two out,” Wallace said. “It’s a hard decision, but we’re the ones who are called to make that decision with public input.”

Contreras said that her main goal for the afternoon was to demonstrate that young people were involved in the fate of the university and would vote accordingly.

“Before, [students recognized] that these issues were important, but it didn’t affect them directly,” Contreras said. “This tuition increase affects every single person on campus, so now it’s uniting us, and having this little advocacy day is really going to get the ball rolling.”

Reach reporter Celina Kareiva at news@dailyuw.com.