A day of advocacy for MN private college

Last Tuesday, students at CSB+SJU, including myself, had the opportunity to go to the Minnesota State Capitol. At the Capitol, we lobbied toward inclusiveness of Minnesota private colleges in the creation of legislation that will include a scholarship to support students at private nonprofit colleges, specifically in Minnesota, who are left out of the North Star Promise.

The North Star Promise is a program that was created last year to aid in tuition costs for students from families with incomes of $80,000 or lower. This excluded students that currently attend private institutions across the state. Students from private colleges across the state came together last Tuesday to talk to legislators and get them on board for passing the Promise Equalization Act which will provide $13.9M in scholarships for the 13,000+ students attending nonprofit colleges.

The day started with a bus ride from campus to the Capitol in St. Paul. We attended a briefing for how our day would look before some of us attended a Higher Education Finance and Policy meeting at the State Office Building. After, we split into smaller meetings with legislators where we explained the importance of the passing of legislation to aid students attending Minnesota private and nonprofit institutions. We then had a debrief session where we heard from several Johnnie and Bennie alums in legislative positions (currently working at the Capitol or having previously worked at the Capitol). This gave many political science CSB+SJU students insight into where past graduates have gone with their political science degrees.

Overall, the day was very beneficial and important to private college students across the state. I am happy that I, along with other Johnnies and Bennies, were able to lobby on behalf of our counterparts at CSB+SJU, as well as gain experience in talking to law makers and sitting in on legislative meetings. I am proud that attending St. Bens and St. John’s gives me and other students opportunities to represent our school and our philosophy as an institution. We also better ourselves not only as students, but as influential members of society.