Issue date: 3/25/08 Section: News

As the clock strikes 1:11 p.m. tomorrow, some students may stand up and walkout of their classes, in an effort to show their disdain for tuition increases.

The student-run Progressive Action Coalition of the University of Louisville is organizing the event. The walkout is being held in protest of Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear's proposed 12 percent cut to higher education funding, and the tuition hikes expected from state universities as a result.

PAC will also be holding a rally at the Thinker statue in front of Grawemeyer Hall immediately following the walkout. According to PAC member Sarah Maddix, one of the group's biggest goals is to give students a chance to have their voices heard.

"The best thing that could happen with the walkout is for the administration to realize the power of the students," said Maddix, a senior philosophy major. "Our tuition makes up about 40 percent of the university's operating budget, so we want a more present student voice to be heard in that budget setting process."

Despite PAC's intentions, the Student Government Association voted not to endorse the walkout in their senate meeting on March 18 (see sidebar). SGA President Brian Hoffman expressed great disappointment at the senate's decision not to endorse.

"Personally, I support the walkout 100 percent," Hoffman said. "Any time students want to come together to advance an important cause that is relevant to students, it is a good idea. If SGA cannot support them, who in the world can we support?"

According to Maddix, PAC formed back in January as a social interest group made up of students from different organizations. Maddix said that when the issue of budget cuts became so prevalent, the group decided to rally around the issue.

"When we were trying to figure out an event to stage, we had a lot of crazy ideas," Maddix said. "But what we wanted more than anything was to have an event where student voices were actually heard. That was really how the idea came out."

Jennifer Wallin, another PAC member, said the walkout is aimed as a message to both the state and the university, but emphasized the university's responsibility to its students.

"Frankfort has put the university in a horrible position, but the university has the final say in whether or not tuition goes up," Wallin, a senior psychology and sociology major, said. "The university spends so much time trumpeting diversity as a cause they believe in, but when tuition goes up, minorities are the first to be affected."

Continued...

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