SALEM — Speaking to a deafening crowd of hundreds, state legislators, students, faculty members and business leaders praised Oregon’s universities Tuesday and demanded the schools receive more funding.
The speakers joined nearly 1,500 people on the steps of the Capitol to call for the Legislature to bring the Oregon University System’s funding up to a minimum level and not approve the $96 million shortfall in the budget proposed by Gov. John Kitzhaber.
Students, alumni, faculty and administrators from all seven schools of the OUS carried placards and balloons and dressed in their schools’ colors to show their support for higher education in Oregon. They danced and shouted under the shadow of the Capitol dome to the tunes of the University Green Garter Band.
A contingent of about 250 University of Oregon supporters bused to the rally from Eugene to show their support.
Organized by the Oregon Student Association lobby group, the event began with a speech by Speaker of the House Rep. Mark Simmons, R-Elgin.
Simmons was one of several Republican leaders who voted to give higher education a significant boost in funding during in the last budget session, and he reiterated his support at the rally.
“I believe it’s important we continue the investment we made last session,” he said.
He added that the Legislature needs to “keep a tight rein on tuition increases.”
Rising tuition cost was the other key issue of the rally, which lasted a little more than a hour and culminated with hundreds of the participants heading inside the building to talk to their representatives in person.
One of the most energizing speakers at the rally was Greg Monahan, a history professor at Eastern Oregon University. He said most education funding debates are centered around grades K-12, but the focus should be “pre-school through grad school.”
“The only door to the future is the door to a college classroom,” he said. “A college education is not a luxury; it is an absolute necessity.”
He said the governor was trying to fund a “twenty-first-century university on a nineteenth-century budget,” and called on him to either help or make way.
“We today are begging you to join us … but if you don’t want to join us, get the hell out of the way,” Monahan said.
University President Dave Frohnmayer joined 250 University of Oregon students at the rally.
Senate Majority Leader Sen. David Nelson, R-Pendleton, followed Simmons with a similar message of fighting for more higher education funding.
“We’re going to fight, we’re going to scratch, we’re going to claw, we’re going to do everything to return higher education funding,” he said.
But Nelson reminded those at the rally that it was only the start of the budget process “marathon,” and they would need to stay in touch with those in Salem to ensure their voices are heard.
Rep. Dan Gardner, D-Portland, the House Democratic leader, pledged that higher education will be supported by legislators on both sides of the aisle.
“Higher education is essential to success in life,” he said.
Gardner said Oregon needs to increase funding for its universities to improve accessibility. He said currently more than one-third of all high school graduates can’t afford higher education in Oregon.
To improve this, Gardner said work needs to be done to restore funding and seek out new scholarship opportunities.
Sen. Ryan Deckert, D-Beaverton, and Rep. Tim Knopp, R-Bend, also took to the stage, with Deckert making a promise that he would do his best to maintain higher education funding.
“Today we are here to proclaim we will not go back,” he said. “We will not go back to headlines of department closures, we will not go back to leading the nation in cuts to higher education.”
Knopp provided a fitting analogy for the budget process.
Students from all around the state, such as these students from Western Oregon University, attended the rally to show their support for higher education funding.
“The budget process is like a bowl game,” he said. “It is long and hard fought, but in Oregon we know what happens at the end of bowl games — we win.”
Oregon State University student body president Justin Roach drew the crowd’s attention to the fact that the governor has also proposed a backfill into the state’s general fund through tuition increases.
“We will not support these increases that raise $25 million on the backs of students,” he said.
A member of the Oregon Public Employees Union, Kathie Best, said her fellow union members keep campuses running, and any budget cuts will hurt their ability to perform their jobs. She said the Legislature needs to ensure a proper amount of funding to ensure a proper learning environment.
Business leaders also took to the stage, saying they need the OUS to be funded at an adequate level so their companies can be assured of the best recruits from Oregon, who are knowledgeable about the latest business technology.
ASUO State Affairs Coordinator Brian Tanner, who helped coordinate the student trip to Salem, said he was pleased with the rally.
“I think it went really well,” he said. “I’m definitely encouraged.”
Tanner said there still is much to do, but the rally provided essential momentum to keep the drive for higher education funding going strong.
University President Dave Frohnmayer attended the rally with other members of the administration, and said he thought it was terrific. He said it will be essential in the coming months to retain the solid front “under one flag” that was put together for the rally.
