Students lobby in Washington

By Erica Zucco

Published March 18, 2008

Seven MU students traveled to Washington last week to discuss issues of higher education with members of Congress and make the voices of MU students heard at the “Big XII on the Hill” conference.

Missouri Students Association President Jim Kelley, MSA Vice President Chelsea Johnson, MSA Senate Speaker Jonathan Mays, Associated Students of the University of Missouri Board of Directors members Clint Birdsong and Traci Harr, ASUM Legislative Director Craig Stevenson and ASUM Assistant Legislative Director Jessica Witte attended the conference.

Mays attended a Big XII conference in Austin, Texas, in November to discuss the organization of the event, and MU was selected to manage the legislative platform. MU and the other members of the Big XII conference decided to make the Textbook Transparency Act the main portion of their platform.

Kelley said the conference was an event where student leaders from schools in the Big 12 conference met with government officials and shared their positions and suggestions for improving the state of higher education.

Members of ASUM attended the conference with two main objectives in mind, Stevenson said. The first was to visit with ASUM Federal Intern Larry Vaughn and discuss the federal internship program and possible improvements that could be made, he said. The second was to meet with members of the professional delegation and lobby for the reauthorization of the higher education act.

Witte said the students had a chance to meet with Rep. JoAnn Emerson, R-Mo., Rep. Kenny Hulshof, R-Mo., and a staff member for Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., to thank them for their support of higher education and to discuss reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.

“One particular provision that ASUM is passionate about is the textbook transparency portion of the Higher Education Act reauthorization,” Witte said. “We are working hard on a bill at the state level that will fulfill this goal and fully support national legislation in this direction.”

Mays said the issue is of concern to the MSA Senate as well.

“We really tried to keep that issue at the forefront of discussion,” Mays said. “Now that the bill is in conference, and because only the House version includes textbook transparency, it’s easy for that part to be taken out unless we remind them that it’s very important to us.”

Mays said the students made sure they arrived in Washington on Tuesday before the conference began to ensure they were able to meet with representatives and make MU’s voice heard.

Mays also said meeting with Hulshof was one of the highlights of the trip, and that Hulshof expressed interest in holding a forum on campus to listen to student concerns once he begins campaigning. Hulshof is a candidate for the Republican nomination for governor of Missouri.

Birdsong said he felt the trip was worthwhile for ASUM and MU.

“We found a lot of good ways to improve upon ASUM’s federal internship program,” he said. “We have a lot of interns in Jefferson City and sometimes lose sight of federal concerns. We were able to reconnect with Congress and the federal government.”