Students attending Day at the Capitol will meet at the Athletics and Alumni Center at 5 a.m. Wednesday to board shuttle buses to Austin. | File Photo/The Cougar
A delegation from the University of Houston System will travel to Austin Wednesday to meet with representatives of the 85th Texas Legislature for UH Day at the Capitol.
Over 200 students will lobby to avoid a 4 percent base budget cut for the fiscal year 2018-2019, increase base formula funding, and invest more in financial aid, among other issues pertinent to higher education.
“We discuss the priorities of the Universities in terms of what we would like to see from the Legislature,” said SGA president Shane Smith.
“Day at the Capitol” began in 1995 with alumni, faculty, and administration meeting with the legislature when it convenes every other year. This is the first time the delegation will be made up of students from every university in the UH system; UHCL and UHD will be attending on their own days.
In 2014, the House and Senate passed a Capital Construction Bill that included seven system-wide project requests, a 50 percent increase for the state’s Higher Education Assistance Fund, and created the new University Research Initiative at the governor’s request, which provides matching funds to recruit the top research professors to Texas universities.
Students will head to Austin early Wednesday with administrators, staff, and alumni, as well as the Spirit of Houston, who will be performing in the Rotunda.
Included in the event will be a service for Catholic students who observe Ash Wednesday.
We will not be “lobbying”. We are a public institution so we are unable to lobby. Students are going to advocate. While there may only be a small distinguishment between the two terms it is important. This is an opportunity to discuss how certain legislation affects students and their experience at UH.