By JACK ARMSTRONG News Editor
Over 100 Western students attended the Rally to Restore Higher Education at the Oregon state capitol building, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2015.
The rally was part of an effort by the Oregon Student Association to push the further investment needed for Oregon to freeze state university and community college tuition rates until 2017.
Representatives from Western joined students from 26 other community colleges and state universities from across Oregon.
The Oregon Legislature would need to invest $755 million for state universities and $560 million for community colleges to ensure that tuition rates could remain the same. If the legislature cannot approve this investment, tuition could rise as much as 10 percent in the next year.
“Education is an opportunity everyone should have a chance to experience,” said Kristen Case, a sophomore and a resident assistant who attended the rally. “There is so much power in it.”
Other students attending the rally were focused on maintaining the financial viability for currently enrolled students.
“The financial burden is always present for students and it’s the most stressful thing, even above grades,” said Emiliano Cruz-Barrera, first year student.
Some students like Javan Davis, a mathematics and dance major, face the possibility of having to drop out if the tuition freeze does not go through.
“Currently if I don’t find a job, I’ll have to drop out before the next term even starts,” Davis said. “If we keep making entry into college harder and we keep raising prices, we won’t get anywhere.”
Students at the rally also had a chance to hear from bi-partisan speakers of the legislature such as house representative Mark Johnson (R), and co-chair of the Ways and Means committee representative Peter Buckley (D).
For more information on the tuition freeze, visit www.orstudents.org
