Students must demand a spot at the discussion table

It has been more than a month since Governor Bobby Jindal submitted his budget proposal to the state legislature, and while conversations are still being held about the finer points of the upcoming budget, students are being left out of the conversation when it comes to more cuts to higher education.

Officials at Louisiana State University have held public forums to discuss the upcoming budget cuts with students and the community, but for students of universities in the University of Louisiana system, which includes Nicholls, only half-hearted efforts have been made to include students in the fight to save higher education.

Optimism is a tricky concept. There is nothing wrong with expecting the best possible outcome in situations. Usually, that is a way to keep spirits high and people moving forward towards a common goal, but blind optimism has the opposite effect.

For students, there is very little positive to see from the media talk about what is happening in the state legislature and there are concerns that need to be addressed. However, as the clock ticks closer to the Doomsday scenario illustrated by some, it seems that students are the last ones being asked for their input ,despite being the ones most directly affected.

While some progress has been made in including students in the discussion, thirty-minute “gatherings” aren’t allowing enough opportunity to reach the largest amount of students possible.

The students should be the voice powering the discussion. We are the reason that universities are able to exist. Yes, state and other forms of funding make up their portion of the budget, but any significant drop in enrollment at Anytown University USA is detrimental to the survival of the University. So, why are students not being allowed to spearhead these talks regarding their futures?

To boil the argument down to the simplest terms, it is not fair to the students that administrators and officials, who have a more reasonable expectation to be able to pick up and go elsewhere should the ax fall, are controlling the dialogue about higher education. Consider the amount of non-traditional students at universities in this state. While the impact may not be as large as has been speculated, any loss of programs and course offerings will turn away students—students who may not be able to pack up and go to another university to pursue higher education.

As LSU President F. King Alexander said during a higher education forum on Mar. 18, “If we accept budget cuts as inevitable, we’ve lost the battle.”

Unfortunately, it seems like students at Nicholls are expected to do exactly that and hope a miracle saves the University from another crippling round of budget cuts.

Despite knowing that this may be beginning to sound like a broken record, we, as students of Louisiana’s universities, must make it known that we want to fight for higher education. We are the ones who stand to lose if programs and courses are cut and therefore, we hold the burden of ensuring that we can achieve what we set out to when we applied to college.

However, step one is demanding a seat at the table.