Lansing — Julielyn Gibbons spent more than a month organizing student representatives from universities across Michigan to meet with state legislators Thursday in Lansing.
And they were almost stood up.
The group gathered at the Anderson House Office Building, 124 N. Capitol Ave., for a roundtable discussion on higher education funding.
The Legislature was kept in session Thursday afternoon as the Senate debated business tax cuts that had passed the House in the wee hours of the morning, after what Rep. Gretchen Whitmer, D-East Lansing, referred to as an "all-nighter."
"We're just kind of rolling with the punches here," said Gibbons, director of legislative affairs for ASMSU's Student Assembly.
ASMSU is MSU's undergraduate student government.
Whitmer and five other representatives managed to make a brief appearance while the House broke for lunch. No senators attended the meeting, but several sent staff members in their place.
The representatives advised students to "keep the pressure up," said Rep. Steve Adamini, D-Marquette.
"When it's a constituent or it's a student in my district talking to me, that's powerful," Whitmer said. "My hope, frankly, is that the students get organized and get into everyone's offices."
Organizing campaigns and finding ways to create "a bigger pie" were the recurring themes of the day.
"One common message we all have is we all need more money," said Michael Boulus, executive director of the Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan. "There's only two sources of revenue — tuition and state dollars.
"The quality is becoming the victim," said Boulus, whose group represents the presidents of Michigan's 15 public universities.
Legislators agreed that, with so many competing priorities, more revenue is needed to increase state higher education funding.
"The governing mode of thought of the legislature is tax breaks are more important than funding these programs," Adamini said. "If tax cuts were the answer … our economy should be boiling."
Despite the no-shows and the improvised schedule, the meeting's organizers said they were satisfied with the results.
"It was unfortunate we couldn't have more legislators there, but I was definitely pleased with the turnout from the students," said Rebecca Thompson, chairperson of the Association of Michigan Universities, or AMU.
Student representatives from 11 state universities made the trip to Lansing, with only Western Michigan University, Wayne State University, Michigan Technological University and Lake Superior State University not represented.
The students intend to discuss higher education funding again at their upcoming AMU conference.
"It was the first step toward a statewide campaign," said Michelle Cox, president of the Associated Students of Northern Michigan University. "I don't think anyone's going to back down."
Following presentations from Boulus and Ellen Jeffries, deputy director of the state Senate Fiscal Agency, the students brought their message to the Capitol, where Whitmer recognized the group in front of the House.
Several students said they plan to continue conversations with their representatives and senators.
"The middle class is really getting squeezed," said Tarek Baydoun, vice chairman of AMU.
"We need to let legislators know that their decisions affect students and families, and that they'll be held accountable on Election Day."
