Category Archives: Student activism

by | March 21, 2011 · 2:48 pm

An excellent op-ed in today’s West Chester Daily Local

I’ll do the usual links page later today, but I wanted to get this column from today’s West Chester Daily Local News out as soon as possible.

It’s an opinion piece contributed by WCU faculty member Dr. Ed Lordan.  Dr. Lordan reminds legislators that cutting the WCU/PASSHE budget as a short-term economic fix has serious and dire long-term consequences, while not proving especially helpful in the short-term either.

Some highlights:

Current and future students of the Pennsylvania state schools like West Chester University — those that are part of the PASSHE system — will be particularly hard hit given the sheer amount of funding being cut. There is a direct connection between the health of the university and the health of the local economy — fewer students means fewer dollars for local businesses…

For instance, WCU has been rated a top 100 best value in American public higher education by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance four years in a row. WCU students contributed a record 233,513 hours of volunteer service in the community for the 2009-2010 school year. Cutting funding for them is a short-sighted decision that will ultimately cost more than it saves and have a direct negative impact of current and future students…

Nice work, Dr. Lordan.  And thanks for taking the time to write it.

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Filed under Advocacy, Budget, Communities, PASSHE, Student activism, Tom Corbett, Tuition increase, Uncategorized, West Chester University

by | March 20, 2011 · 1:34 pm

WCU President Weisenstein’s Budget Info Page

Folks:

If you haven’t already, you should probably take a look at the Budget Update pages on the WCU website.

If you’re looking for fightin’ words to provoke you into rallying, protesting, letter-writing, and so on, you’ll find them sprinkled throughout these resources; don’t expect the President’s style to have that effect on you.  If you’ve been in a room with him, or even listened to him speak, you’ll understand that’s not the kind of tone he strikes.  But neither do I see anything on these pages telling the rest of us that we shouldn’t fight hard for what we think is right.

Or put a different way: go mine the site for what you can use and don’t get frustrated by the institution-speak of the rest!

As you write letters, make signs for rallies/protests and so on, you’ll find very useful and well-presented data here.

If you’re not sure who you’re PA legislators are, you can go here to find out.

 

 

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Filed under Advocacy, Budget, PASSHE, Student activism, Tuition increase, University Presidents

by | March 19, 2011 · 7:33 pm

A little fight from the Prez of Slippery Rock

Via the State APSCUF blog:

“We’d like to believe that we have enough influence with 120,000 [PASSHE] students to convince legislators that the governor’s sense of the importance of public higher education is wrong,” he said. “We’re not just going to roll over.”  – Slippery Rock President Robert Smith

I’m not especially surprised by the wide variety of responses issuing from PASSHE presidents, but I have to say I’m especially heartened to hear one who sounds a little feistier than the others I’ve seen/heard so far.

All I can really hope is that, if the PASSHE presidents collaborate on their responses to this nightmare, the energy that President Smith displays here diffuses (not defuses) to the others.  Under the kind of threat Governor Corbett has thrown down at us, a little anger seems entirely appropriate, doesn’t it?

That’s yet another reason it’s important for everybody, at WCU and system-wide, to attend a rally on your campus this Tuesday, Mar 22.  And to write, call, fax, smoke signal, messenger pigeon, whatever it takes–get word to your legislators that you want them to fight for a budget that will keep our system healthy.

 

 

 

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Filed under Budget, PASSHE, Rally, Student activism, Tom Corbett

by | March 19, 2011 · 12:33 pm

West Chester district superintendent responds to budget proposal

This morning, a WCU faculty member with a child in the West Chester Area School District sent me this link, with a letter issued last week by the district’s Superintendent.

I’m posting it on the blog for a couple of reasons.

First, I’m concerned that some members of the WCU community aren’t yet convinced of the gravity of the situation, and I hope that seeing yet another example (with concrete, and large and scary, numbers included) of what this budget will do to education will light the fire under your toes (or wherever it needs to get lit).

Second, I’m concerned that some members of the community believe, for whatever bizarre reason, that the faculty’s (and staff’s, and students’) responses to the proposal are somehow aimed at selfish faculty interests–that somehow the faculty are insidiously pushing a selfish agenda on everyone else as we fight to protect a university system to which we’re deeply committed, and learning conditions for students without which you can’t flourish.  Seeing this letter from the WCASD Superintendent, therefore, is intended to demonstrate that the loud and angry reaction and call for response isn’t ideologically or selfishly motivated.

Go take a good look at what the Governor’s budget will do to our local schools.  And then think about what that means for you–as faculty at WCU, as parents of K-12 students, as WCU students preparing for teaching careers, as anybody who actually cares about the well-being of our state and not just the elite economic interests that paid for your term in the Governor’s mansion.

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Filed under Budget, K-12 Education, Student activism, Tom Corbett

by | March 17, 2011 · 5:34 pm

Poster for Tues 3/22 Rally

With apologies to those you who have already seen this posted on Facebook… 

If you can’t get this version to print well (blurriness, wrong size, what have you), e-mail me and I’ll send it to you in another format. 

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Filed under Budget, PASSHE, Rally, Student activism, Tom Corbett, Tuition increase

by | March 16, 2011 · 10:53 pm

Announcement!!!!! PASSHE Statewide Rally, Tues Mar 22

WCU Community Members:

Please spread as far and wide as you can!

West Chester University APSCUF will be hosting a rally on Tuesday, March 22, to encourage the PA legislature to reject Governor Corbett’s Budget and adequately fund the PA State System of Higher Education next year and in the future.  This is part of a statewide effort to hold rallies at all 14 campuses the day before Senate hearings on the Budget begin.
When: Tues, March 22 from 1:15-2;30.
Where: The lawn by the Ehinger Gym, at the corner of Church St and University Ave, behind the bus stop.
All students, faculty and staff are encouraged to participate.
We are expecting media to be there, so it’s important that the turnout is strong.  We need to make a showing to the Governor and the whole state that our universities matter!
Because of the media presence, however, and the presence on campus of a team from the organization responsible for WCU’s academic accreditation, we (respectfully but firmly) ask that you PLEASE be judicious and respectful in your tone and style if you make signs or banners.  The Governor and his supporters don’t need any more fodder to convince voters and legislators of the wrong message.
More announcements and flyers for the rally will soon be sent around campus through multiple outlets.
In Solidarity,
Seth Kahn, APSCUF-WCU

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Filed under Budget, Rally, Student activism, Tom Corbett, Tuition increase

by | March 15, 2011 · 2:10 pm

Website with info and resources for student organizing against budget cuts

[I posted this yesterday, but am updating it with a live link–and since I figured out how to link the blog to Facebook, I wanted the post to go there too.  –Seth]

For further information
Contact: Kevin P. Kodish (800-932-0587, ext. 3020)

For immediate release
Monday, March 14, 2011

Website Launched to Assist Students
in the Fight Against State Budget Cuts

HARRISBURG – The president of the organization representing the 6,000 faculty members and coaches at Pennsylvania’s 14 state-owned universities today announced that a new website has been established in order to provide a vehicle for Pennsylvania students to fight against Governor Tom Corbett’s proposed 54 percent cut to Pennsylvania’s publically owned universities.

“Students should visit http://www.pastudentsvoice.org in order to acquire information about the budget cuts which could lead to massive tuition increases,” State APSCUF President, Dr. Steve Hicks said. “We encourage everyone to visit, call, or write the members of the General Assembly as we work our way through the budget process.”

The potentially fatal cuts would reduce the state support for the system to 1983 funding levels. When the State System was created, student tuition accounted for less than one-third of the universities’ budgets, but because of steadily declining state support, tuition revenue now accounts for over two-thirds of the budget.

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Filed under Budget, Rally, Student activism