A crowd of university students and faculty crammed onto the steps of the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg as the chants of disenfranchised college students echoed from the Capitol building’s rotunda.

Approximately 500 Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) students, faculty and alumni crammed into the rotunda to voice their disapproval of the state’s funding of PASSHE schools.

The current state budget, which was recycled from last fiscal year, provides inadequate funding for PASSHE, according to the protestors. The General Assembly once funded PASSHE enough for it to cover 75 percent of students’ tuition when the state system was founded in 1983. Currently, PASSHE funding only makes up about 25 percent of students’ funding, and universities are taking measures to raise tuition rates.

Legislators slashed more than $70 million from PASSHE’s budget from 2008 to 2010 and in 2011. The budget has remained stagnant since that time.

Due to the decrease in state funding, PASSHE has resorted to increasing in-state tuition by 28 percent from 2005 to 2015.

Students filled the rotunda stairs, holding signs inscribed with statements like, “Fund our future,” “Don’t be nuts, restore our cuts,” and “Pennsylvania: Where only the rich can learn.”

The event, which was organized by the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties (APSCUF), allowed PASSHE students and faculty affected by the lack of funding to voice their concerns to citizens and government employees.

Speakers were quick to criticize the state government for its gridlocked budget crisis and the subsequently decreased funding for public universities in Pennsylvania.

Christian Copeland, a senior at Millersville University, said he was inspired to fight for students’ rights after seeing friends and fellow students drop out of school because of the lack of funding.

“If legislators felt the same pain, things would be a lot different,” Copeland said. “They pulled the rug out from under us,” Copeland said, raising his voice before receiving explosive cheers from rallygoers.

Students, however, were not alone in voicing their disdain of the state’s funding of higher education. Among the crowd of students was a group of faculty from Shippensburg University representing the psychology and economics departments.

Lea Adams, professor and psychology department chair, said she was not only disappointed in the state but also the way SU is allocating funds.

“Coupled with the lack of a budget [and] lack of funding, our own administration at Shippensburg is making disastrous decisions in terms of our own funding trying to predict what will happen in the future,” Adams said. “As such, we are not able to offer the number of classes we have, we’re not able to replace faculty [and] we have many students who are not receiving their funding from the state.”

SU student Blake Dennis spoke to the crowd about the challenges of paying for college, citing not only his personal experience but also the experiences of his father. Dennis’ father attended a similar rally in 1974 when the General Assembly decided to impose cuts similar to those PASSHE faces today.

“My dad, he went to Lock Haven University between 1972 and 1976 when he was 20 years old in 1974. He went to a similar rally here [in Harrisburg] to fight for funding for schools,” Dennis said. “I’ve had to work three jobs getting here, I’ve had to pay for my own education and it shouldn’t be that way.”

Brendan Finucane, APSCUF-SU president and economics professor, said he believes that adequate funding is vital to the welfare of the commonwealth.

“I’m very proud,” Finucane said. “This is the best statement that students could have sent. This is more important than going to class right now.” 

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