By Kara Augustine

On Jan. 20, University of Louisville students gathered in the Red Barn to watch the presidential inauguration. Something else united them, the fight for higher education.
At the entry of the Red Barn, letters were available for people to sign that will be given to Kentucky legislators.
“It’s a letter giving a couple of bullet points about the good things U of L does and how legislators need to support U of L in order to advance Kentucky in the twenty-first century,” Kirk Laughlin, U of L Student Government Association lobbyist said.
Maps were set up in order for students to find the representative they wanted to address their letter to.
Matt Stenger, a junior industrial engineer major, attended the event and said, “I would say it is critical to have a good representation, and when you send the letters, it really helps define what students are looking for. It’s another way to have the voice of students heard. If you have a mass amount of people send it, you can have better results.”
According to Ahmed Awadallah, SGA Academic Vice President, today’s “Listen Up legislators” event will promote students to go to the SGA office in the Student Activities Center or go to http://louisville.edu/sga to obtain copies and sign the letters.
The “Listen Up Legislatures” events have helped to promote and prepare for the Kentucky Rally for Higher Education, which is held Tuesday, Feb. 3 this year.
“Some might send e-mails or letters like this, but actually going to Frankfort and meeting with legislators and engaging with them, is incredibly effective at forming their views. We are teaming up with universities across the state because all of us are significant in building a better Kentucky. This is the overall goal that we have: for one student voice to go to Frankfort and ask for further investment in higher education,” Laughlin said.
Awadallah explained that another SGA goal is to get many students to attend the Rally for Higher Education. Students can apply to attend the rally at http://louisville.edu/sga/rally.
With hope that more students would be able to attend, SGA was successful in making Feb. 3 a university-wide mandated excused absence if attending the rally.
“That means that any student can attend and they are excused from classes, university-wide,” Awadallah said. “They go on the trip and then we validate their attendance on the trip. We will give them all letters to return back to the faculty members. We also give a free t-shirt, a lunch and a free bus ride out there.”
Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear, Murray State University President Randy Dunn and Jonathan Miller, Secretary of the Finance and Administration, will be speaking at the rally.    
“The main focus of this year’s rally will be higher education affordability,” Miller stated. “The Governor’s Higher Education Work Group has been studying and discussing different issues related to affordability, from tuition increases to textbooks and I want to make sure that we send a clear message to students that we are truly concerned about how much it costs to get a degree.”
At the rally, Dunn wants to thank students and the higher education community for their efforts and make sure they know it is important for their voices to be heard. He also wants to give a background to why funding has been decreased for public institutions.
“State funding for higher education in Kentucky is determined by how much money the state actually has to spend,” Miller said. “This past year, the state had a projected revenue shortfall (that is now a reality), and therefore it did not have the money necessary to fully fund everything it has in the past. It would certainly help to have constant and consistent state funding of higher education, but that requires constant and consistent revenues for the state. With the economy in decline as it is now, the state just does not have enough money.”
To increase revenue, a cigarette tax has been brainstormed.
Dunn said, “I don’t speak for my university or my board, but as a president and a citizen of Kentucky. I think a tobacco tax is something that there needs support for among students and that needs to be communicated as a need to increase revenue in the commonwealth.”
Because of the decrease in state funding, public institutions have had to increase tuition to take place of the unfunded money.
“To maintain the level of services, the same quality, the number of courses and instructors and all of the things the students expect of their universities, there has been almost a default response to go to tuition…The reason we have had the tuition increases is to try and maintain the level of educational experiences and outcome they have been used to,” Dunn said.
Many issues are going to be discussed at the Rally for Higher Education and Awadallah believes this will be one of the most effective rallies in Frankfort. He hopes people will be able to see the results that will keep Kentucky moving forward.
“[Students] need to know how important it is to get involved in the process, and this rally provides the perfect opportunity for that,” Miller stated. “The issue of higher education affordability directly affects students, and it is to their benefit to come to Frankfort if possible, and talk to their legislators about ideas to help ease the burden of paying for a higher education.”