ANNAPOLIS – University President Dan Mote wanted students to play nice yesterday at the SGA’s annual student lobbying day in Annapolis. But for many of the students that attended Terrapin Pride Day, principle outweighed politics.
Sixty eight students, most of them Student Government Association representatives, descended on Annapolis last night to lobby their state legislators on higher-education issues just a day after the organization unanimously voted to take a stance against the upcoming in-state tuition hike.
Before the group was set loose to navigate the dizzying maze of state buildings in the capital, Mote offered the group some advice: Keep it short and simple, support the governor’s budget and support the tuition increase — or else.
“You should say to them, ‘We don’t really like it but we support the 3-percent tuition increase,'” Mote advised, contrary to the SGA’s stance. “The reason you want to say that is you will get credibility … if you say we don’t support the 3-percent tuition increase, they’ll believe you’re an unreasonable and, really, an incredible person, and they won’t believe anything else you say.”
After Mote’s announcement, SGA President Steve Glickman provided only an ambiguous response to Mote’s advice before giving participants directions to the state buildings and thanking the event’s organizers.
“Feel free to say how you actually feel,” Glickman said. “The talking points are there for your reference, so you can refer to those, you can do whatever, honestly you can do whatever you feel in those rooms when you’re talking to them.”
Organizers of the lobby night gave each student the name and office number of his or her state legislators, and a list of talking points to direct the one-on-one conversation, including a copy of the SGA resolution arguing for a continued in-state tuition freeze and increased university funding from the state. Other talking points included support for Election Day voter registration, Chesapeake Bay conservation efforts and the renewal of the Higher Education Investment Fund —the state’s first dedicated source of funding for higher education that is set to expire later this year.
Glickman said he would support the SGA’s stance when meeting with his legislators regardless of Mote’s instructions, but he added he could not speak for any other members of the association.
The student lobbyists came on a busy night. The capitol was full of other citizens, rallying in support of funding for Baltimore City public elementary schools. Many of the students expecting a face-to-face meeting with legislators encountered only secretaries.
Some SGA representatives who did get in touch with their legislators seemed to try to strike a balance between Mote’s and the SGA’s talking points, saying they understood that the governor’s budget and the tuition increase were the best options for this year but wanted to make sure state officials keep the university in mind in the future.
At least one SGA representative said he would give both his personal opinion as a Republican — that the tuition increase was reasonable and necessary — as well as present the SGA legislation.
Others blatantly disregarded Mote’s appeal.
“Well, I ignored him because it’s bad advice,” said arts and humanities SGA legislator Kenton Stalder, who met with his delegate. “I understand [the administration’s] perspective, but it’s not the students’ perspective.”
He went on to say he didn’t think any SGA representatives would be confused by the university president’s request.
“I think we’re all pretty well informed after the series of debates the SGA had,” he said. “Everyone has their head on straight and knows what the SGA’s position is.”
Andrew Steinberg, SGA vice president of finance, and Cindy Weng, an Ellicott SGA legislator, were standing nearby and enthusiastically agreed.
“The SGA has a firm position against the increase,” Weng said.
apino@umdbk.com
