“Those who stand for nothing, fall for anything.”-Alexander Hamilton.Yesterday afternoon, Nicholls students joined other public universities to stand up against higher education budget cuts on the steps of the Louisiana state capitol.
The constant cheering of “Where is Bobby,” “Stand up,” “What do we want? Funding. When do we want it? Now” and countless other cheers filled the air.
The steps of the capitol were crowded with students and countless signs held high in anger of the potential cuts threatening all Louisiana public universities.
In the crowd, people could spot University president Stephen Hulbert. Also present was his wife Becky Hulbert, who held up a sign and chanted alongside students standing up for Nicholls.
“I think it was a good turnout, and we looked at about 1,000 students or more. I think it’s a good representation from everybody,” Becky said.
Also in the crowd was Paul Aucoin, a board member for the Board of Supervisors of the University of Louisiana System from Thibodaux.
Earlier in June, Aucoin was quoted saying, “It’s death by a thousand cuts. It is time for the citizens of this state to determine what kind of higher education they want. There ought to be a sense of outrage by our citizens, and we just don’t see it.”
During the rally, he said it was great the number of students that were present, but he was surprised there were not more, and it was “a shame if we let the cuts happen on our watch.”
However, president Hulbert was pleased with the amount of students who came out to stand up against the cuts.
“There are a large number of Nicholls students. I think it’s because we are a smaller campus, and we can engage people. Our students are concerned. If you look across the crowd, I can guarantee about a third of them are Nicholls students. There are also about eight or ten faulty as well. I’m proud of them. I’m pleased they are standing up for Nicholls and for themselves,” president Hulbert said. “This is an opportunity for people to express themselves in a typical American way.”
After about an hour or so of chanting and standing up against the cuts, speakers from multiple schools took turns speaking.
Lauren Jones, interim vice president of Stand Up, spoke on behalf of Nicholls. She told a story about being from out of state and coming to Louisiana on an athletic scholarship; however, she stayed because she loved the school she attended and is now standing up to save it. She urged others to think about why they love their school and to stand up for those reasons.
“The greatest thing is that we were all together,” Jones said. “It wasn’t like Nicholls was over here and LSU was over there. We were all intertwined for one purpose.”
Leaders of the rally also promised that there would be future rallies on the steps of the capitol and urged students to bring the fire and passion shown at the rally back to their schools.
“I don’t think this rally could have been any better,” Jones said.
