December Association Update
Upcoming Events
January Conference - January 7-8
Students will learn about the legislative process and learn to effectively advocate to make college affordable! There will also be workshops to strengthen your leadership skills and bring an equity lens to your Senate. Register Here.
Advocacy Day — February 15-16
Join with hundreds of students from across Minnesota's 30 community and technical colleges to advocate for making college affordable, fight for racial justice and ensure that students basic needs are being met. Register here.
Celebrate the 26th — March 23
Let's celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 26th Amendment to the US Constitution. This amendment lowered the voting age to 18, empowering young people to have their voice heard. This event will educate attendees on the passage of the amendment, celebrate high student voter turnout in 2020, and activiate attendees on ways that we can tear down barriers to student voting. Registration will open after the new year.
LeadMN News
Star Tribune: Minnesota colleges vowed to fight for racial equity after George Floyd's death. Are they following through?
Priscilla Mayowa, president of the statewide community college student association LeadMN, said the system task force is "doing more talking than action." She would like to see it move more urgently to finish its review. Leaders of Students United, which represents students at Minnesota State's seven universities, have expressed similar feelings.
Emergency Aid Needs to Support Real College Students
LeadMN joined the Hope Center and over 100 other organizations urging Congress to support real college students during the stimulus talks. We know that the pandemic has hit real college students hard and that they desperately need help.
Star Tribune: Minnesota community colleges are losing students during the COVID-19 pandemic
Mike Dean, executive director of the statewide community college student association LeadMN, said even short-term enrollment loss should be taken seriously. It could lead to a less educated state workforce. Minnesota State colleges could also face state budget cuts in the coming years, and if their enrollment does not rebound, they will have less revenue to fall back on.
Star Tribune: Minnesota State colleges seek $120 million budget increase from Legislature to offset pandemic losses, support students
In a letter to Gov. Tim Walz last month, Priscilla Mayowa, president of the statewide community college student association LeadMN, urged the governor not to impose deep cuts on colleges. State budget cuts of the past have disproportionately affected higher education, she said, resulting in colleges raising tuition to make up for the loss.
Letter to Governor Walz on 2021-22 Biennial Budget
LeadMN sent a letter to Governor Walz on ways that he can address racial inequities in higher education and help grow Minnesota's economy by investing in our community colleges.
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