Wednesday, February 17, 2016

You should have been there. Really, you should have.

We should all be proud of the CSU students who made the trip down to Springfield to protest at Governor Rauner’s Budget Address. It was their moment and it was gratifying to see them join with students from many of the other state institutions—Northern, Northeastern, Eastern (“EI-EI-EI-U”—what a cute little cheer). They made the effort, they filled two floors of the State Capital Building, they booed Rauner as he came out of the assembly rooms after his address. They tried to impress the pols with a simple message that for all its troubles, CSU means something and has made a difference in many lives.

You would have been proud of them. Prez Calhoun was there and he seemed pretty pleased with the effort.

Thirty or forty faculty and other CSU supporters joined the protest in Springfield, but one of the Republican legislators who stopped by to talk to the students on the way out told all of us that while this gathering was ok, it would have been far more impressive if we filled the floors of the capital building, if there were many many more people there. So, next time let's bring out the bodies. For whatever it is worth, whether the die is already cast for the future of CSU, we still need to show up. Next time and there will be a next time, we can’t let them say that there weren’t enough of us.

Well done students. Impressive leadership, great spirit.    

4 comments:

  1. Was alot of miss communication and was not organized correctly

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  2. I was told that the bus was leaving at 7 in front of the business building and it was not there. I was totally disappointed.

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    1. I thought I sent you an e-mail with the time of departure and the location, which was behind the SUB and between the Robinson Center and the Dormitory.
      If I did not, I certainly apologize.

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