No Funds, No Future: Southern University stands firm at the capital

On April 22, at 3 p.m. over 300 students, alumni, staff, and supporters within the community gathered outside of the capital building to rally against legislators decreasing the budget allocated to the Southern University System. This marked an important milestone in the fight against budget cuts. Southern officials showed their commitment to the cause by making sure students who wanted a chance to be a part of this movement had the opportunity to show up by designating two buses to transport students to and from the capital building.
Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, Dr.Leon Tarver, summed up a few collective thoughts of attendees when he spoke and said,
“Southern University counts. We want to take today to join hands with our sister campuses and do what we need to do to keep our schools alive, so that we will be able to ascend to the level of excellence that we always talk about.”
The rally held on April 22nd brought representatives and students from all of Southern Universities campus sites. Wesley Bishop, a representative from Southern University in New Orleans, touched on the topic of unity when he said,
“We work best when we work together.” Bishop also expanded on the idea that Southern University is important when he added, “Nobody messes with the SU System. Every now and then people start to question if we are relevant and every now and then it is up to us to show up and show out. We will always be relevant!” Bishop ended is speaking portion with a catchphrase that could sum of the gist of the goals for people who attended the rally when he said, “SU now and SU forever.”
The rally not only consisted of speeches, but chanting and music as well. The Human Jukebox played selections throughout the rally and students showed off their signs that expressed how they felt about budget cuts. In an effort to convey even more unity between the campuses and students t-shirts were handed out during the rally. A large turnout of students showed up to the rally to voice their positions.
Darrian Jessie, a senior Biology major from Mobile, Alabama, shed a little light about his reasoning for attending the rally and saying,
“After finding out the future plans of my institution from a potential candidate who I spoke to a week prior, I made it my personal obligation to attend this event. There was a great turn out today and it was a chance for the SU school systems to gain a lot of attention for our cause. I was proud to see everybody come together today, because I believe there is truly power in numbers.”
Rashad Murphy, a sophomore Psychology major from Atlanta, Ga, also had strong reasoning for his decision to join his classmates at the state capital. Murphy stated,
“I decided to show up to show my support for a good cause, because education is the key for success in anyone’s life, especially in the African American community. I chose to practice my belief of this by supporting my HBCU in today’s demonstration and reminding legislators that black education matters.”
The demonstration at the capital was successful and was a chance to raise a lot of awareness about what is happening with education budgets, but it is important for students to know that there work is not done. It was said many times during the rally that in order for this issue to stay relevant that students and other supporters must “, tweet, email, call, write, and make office visits to state legislators and demand that they do not decrease funding.”